Gaultheria itatiaiae Wawra

  • Family

    Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Gaultheria itatiaiae Wawra

  • Primary Citation

    Oesterr. Bot. Z. 31: 280. 1881

  • Common Names

    urze do itatiaia

  • Description

    Description: Erect shrub 0.3-1 m tall; mature stem terete, striate, glabrous; bark reddish-tan, exfoliating in longitudinal strips; twigs subterete, striate, reddish-tan, strigose with basally swollen, ferruginous, eglandular hairs to 3 mm long; buds strongly laterally compressed, ca. 1 mm long, scales few, glabrous, reddish. Leaves coriaceous, ovate to elliptic, (1-)1.5-3(-3.5) x (0.4-)0.7-1.4(-2) cm, base rounded to obtuse, apex acuminate, sometimes sharply so, margin crenulate, glabrous above, strigose beneath with basally swollen hairs to 2 mm long, these deciduous and then leaving dark-colored punctae; midrib, lateral nerves, and reticulate veinlets slightly raised on both surfaces; petiole subterete, flattened above, striate, 2-3 mm long, glabrous. Inflorescence axillary, flowers solitary in axils of strongly reduced leaves and leaf-like bracts, these congested near branch tips and appearing as a terminal pseudoraceme; pedicels subterete, 3-6 mm long to 8 mm after anthesis, puberulent or not but strigose (densely) with straight to crisped, eglandular hairs to 1 mm long; bracteoles 2, basal, ovate, 1.5-3 x 1.8 mm, acuminate, ciliolate, margin minutely glandular-fimbriate; floral bract ovate, striate, from 5 x 2 mm to leaf-like and then up to 12 x 4 mm. Flowers with calyx 4-6.5 mm long, lobes narrowly triangular to narrowly ovate, often nearly as long as corolla or rarely surpassing it, 3.5-6 x 1.3-1.6 mm, long-acuminate, sometimes striate, glabrous or strigose without, puberulent within, ciliolate, margin strigose with few, eglandular hairs to 1.2 mm long; corolla cylindric or cylindric-campanulate to slightly cylindric-urceolate, (4.5-)5.5-6(-8.3) x 2.5-4.5(-5) mm, glabrous without but pilose within, white sometimes flushed with pink (or dark red?), lobes oblong to ovate, obtuse; stamens 3.2-4(-4.6) mm long; filaments 2.2-2.5(-3.5) mm long, glabrous; anthers 1.5-2 mm long, slightly narrowed apically appearing as short tubules, these apically weakly bifid but not noticeably awned; ovary densely pilose; style 3.5-4(-5) mm long, glabrous. Fruiting calyx apparently remaining membranous, capsule with slightly thickened sutures.

    Distribution: Endemic to the cloud forest zone in Santa Catarina, Brazil at elevations of 1000-2300 m. The species prefers dry or moist campos, but has a wide tolerance and may also be found in rocky-humic places, open forest near bases of mountains, marshes and swamps, and forest edge. Flowering and fruiting occurs from Dec to Jun.

    Local name: Brazil: urze do itatiaia (Santa Catarina).

    Type: Brazil. Minas Gerais: Itatiaia plateau, Wawra II.457 (holotype, W, n.v.--I was not able to locate the specimen in W in Dec 1986).

    Illustrated: Itin. Princi. Coburg. 1, t. 68. 1883; Flora Il. Catarin. ERIC, p. 12. 1975.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Gaultheria itatiaiae Wawra: [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.