Bejaria subsessilis Benth.

  • Family

    Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Bejaria subsessilis Benth.

  • Primary Citation

    Pl. Hartw. 143. 1845

  • Description

    Description: Shrub to 1 m tall; bark striate, glabrous or sometimes hispid, dark gray or gray and brown; twigs subterete, hispid, ferruginous. Leaves coriaceous, flat or slightly revolute, ovate, 1.6-3.9 x 0.9-2 cm, base obtuse or truncate, apex acute to obtuse, bluntly mucronate, margin entire (sparsely ciliate), both surfaces glabrous or sparsely hispid along midvein especially near the base; petiole slightly flattened in cross-section, 1-3.5 mm long, hispid. Inflorescence a terminal raceme, 8-19-flowered; rachis 3.5-7.6 cm long, 1.3-1.9 mm in diam., hispid; pedicels 16.5-26 mm long, 0.5-1.1 mm in diam., sparsely hispid (glabrous or tomentose); bracteoles inserted on basal 1/2 of pedicel, flat or often slightly involute, linear to narrowly ovate (elliptic), 2.2-3.6 x 0.8-1 mm, base truncate, apex acuminate, margin entire, both surfaces glabrous or slightly tomentose; floral bracts flat or slightly revolute, elliptic to narrowly ovate or narrowly obovate, 2.5-15.5 x 0.5-5.3 mm, base cuneate, apex acute to acuminate, margin entire (ciliate), both surfaces glabrous (midvein hispid). Flowers (6-)7(-8)-merous; calyx 4.7-5.3 mm long; tube 1.3-2.2 mm long, 4.2-4.7 mm in diam., glabrous, dark red to maroon; lobes ovate to very widely ovate, apex obtuse to acute, margin entire (ciliolate), 2.6-4.3 x 2.4-3.8 mm, longest lobes 3-4.3 mm, abaxial surfaces glabrous; corolla campanulate or spreading, pink to light red (red-striped), petals narrowly obovate to spatulate, 24-37 x 5-10 mm, margin entire or distally ciliolate, slightly tomentose distally; stamens subequal to corolla, 21.5-35.5 mm long; filaments tomentose; anther 2.1-3 mm long, 0.9-1.4 mm diam., glabrous; ovary glabrous; style exserted, 30.5-42 mm long; stigma capitate. Capsules depressed obovoid, 5.5-6 mm long, ca. 9 mm in diam., brown, exocarp not separating from the valves; seeds not seen.

    Distribution: Endemic to Ecuador, to the dry hills south of the town of Loja, at 2200-2800 m elevation. The species flowers from March to April and July to November; it bears fruit in April, July, and October.

    Illustration: Clemants (1995), fig. 9E.

    Type: Ecuador. Loja: Loja, 1842, Hartweg 797 (holotype: K, photo NY neg. 11703; isotypes: CGE, G, K, LD, LE, OXF, P, W, photo F neg. 28916).

    Source: http://www.nybg.org/bsci/res/lut2/

  • Floras and Monographs

    Bejaria subsessilis Benth.: [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.