Blakea elliptica (Gleason) Almeda

• Region

  Central America

• Country

  Panama

• State/Province

  Chiriquí

• Locality

  Cerro Hornito (Cerro Pata de Macho) Southern rim of the Edwin Fabrega Dam and Reserve watershed, ridge leading to the summit

• Elevation

  Alt. 1800 - 1950 m. (5906 - 6398 ft.)

• Coordinates

  8.7511, -82.0844

• Distribution

  Map all specimens of this taxon

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CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Plants of Panamá
e.(í (’ ptVoau (¿le
&t\. Pt	(3^0
Chiriquí Province: Cerro Hornito (Cerro Pata de Macho)
Southern rim of the Edwin Fabrega Dam and Reserve
watershed, ridge trail leading to the summit. Dwarf
cloud forest vegetation. 8°45’04"N, 82°05’04"W.
Epiphytic shrub 1 m tall or small terrestrial tree to
2.5 m tall. Calyx lobes red, petals white flushed with
pink like the filaments, anthers yellow, style dark
pink. One of the dominant plants on windswept ridge.
1800-1950 m
F.	Almeda 6261	17 January 1989
G.	de Nevers, G. McPherson
(Gleason* Phytologia 3: 353# 1950«)
More peculiar species of Blakea and Topobea continue to
arrive from the wetter parts of tropical America, and there
is good reason to believe that still others await discovery«
As I have noted before, there is no means of distinguishing
the two genera except by the stamens, and these may be lack-
ing in herbarium material* Of the eight described below, all
but two exhibit stamens* These are placed in Topobea because
they have a distinct similarity in habit to other species of
that genus*
Topobea elliptica sp* nov. Prutex epiphyticus, caules
primo sparsim furfuracei pilis ovato-inflatis atque glandu-
loso-hirautia; folia sessilia amplexicaulia oblonga vel ob-
ovato-oblonga; flores 6-meri, long© pedicellati ex axillis
foliorum; bracteae distinctae foliaceae rotundatae hypanth-
ium aequantes; sepala triangulariaj petala staminaque desid-
erantur*
Epiphytic shrub about 2 m. tall; upper part of the stem
with a sparse and deciduous indument of short, stoutly conic
hairs interspersed with slender, spreading, glandular haire,
the same developed on the bracts and sparsely on the leaves*
Leaves sessile, oblong or.obovate-?oblong,up_td:7fern*-long
and 4*5 cm* wide, rounded at the summit, subc or date-clasping
at base, >-nerved* Pediciis axillary, solitary, up to A cm*
long* Flowers 6-merous* Bracts foliaceous, separate to the
base, broadly rounded, about equaling the hypanthium* Sepals
triangular, recurved after anthesis*
lype, Allen 5001. from Robalo Trail, northern slopes of
Cerro Horqueta, Province of Bocas del Toro, Panama, altitude
1800 to 2100 m*# preserved in the herbarium of the Missouri
Botanical Garden* In general aspect the plant is reminiscent
of T* Brenesii of Costa Rica, to which it is probably close-
ly related* Our plant has much longer pedicels and narrower
leaves*
BOTANICAL
03144639