Agarista nummularia (Cham. & Schltdl.) G.Don

  • Description

    Description: Erect shrub or subshrub to 2 m tall, with bark usually not well developed; twigs with or without scattered gland-headed hairs, otherwise sparsely to densely pubescent, with hollow to irregularly chambered pith; buds to ca. 1.2 mm long, leaves revolute. Leaves coriaceous, ovate to elliptic or orbicular, 0.5-1.5(-2.3) x 0.5-1.6(-2) cm, base cordate to ± truncate (rounded), apex obtuse- to retuse-mucronate (short-acuminate), margin entire to serrulate due to gland-headed hairs (slightly sinuous), plane to very slightly revolute near base, adaxial surface with or without gland-headed hairs, otherwise sparsely pubescent on basal portion of midvein, abaxial surface with or without gland-headed hairs on midvein and blade, otherwise glabrous to sparsely pubescent on basal portion of midvein (with few very inconspicuous glandular dots along midvein); petiole 0.5-2.5 mm long. Inflorescences axillary racemes to 1.5-8 cm long; rachis with or without scattered gland-headed hairs, otherwise densely pubescent; pedicels 4-11 mm long, with or without gland-headed hairs, otherwise densely pubescent; bracteoles 2, alternate to opposite, from nearly basal to within lower 1/3 of pedicel, narrowly triangular to linear, ovate, or elliptic, to ca. 2.5 mm long; floral bracts to 3 mm long. Flowers with triangular calyx lobes, with acuminate to acute apices, (2.1-)2.5-5 x 0.7-1.7(-2.2) cm, abaxial surface with or without gland-headed hairs, otherwise sparsely to densely pubescent; corolla cylindrical, white, 7-10.5 X 2.5-5 mm, glabrous; filaments 4.5-5.5 mm long; anthers 1-1.7 mm long; ovary densely pubescent. Capsules short-ovoid to subglobose, 3.5-5 x 5-7 mm, placentae subapical; seeds 1.3-2.3 mm long.

    Distribution: Endemic to SE Brazil (Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul), in rocky areas, bogs, wet forests, and moist thickets, at 10-1650 m alt. Flowering (August) September through December (January).

    Illustration: Judd (1995), fog. 10.

    Type: Brazil. Rio Grande do Sul: Pôrto Alegre (see Meissner in Martius, 1863), Sellow 1229 (holotype, B, destroyed; frag. of holotype, F; photos of holotype, F, G, GH; isotype, G-DC, n.v.).

  • Floras and Monographs

    Agarista nummularia (Cham. & Schltdl.) G.Don: [Article] Luteyn, James L., et al. 1995. Ericaceae, Part II. The Superior-Ovaried Genera (Monotropoideae, Pyroloideae, Rhododendroideae, and Vaccinioideae P.P.). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 66: 560.