Gaultheria reticulata Kunth

  • Family

    Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Gaultheria reticulata Kunth

  • Primary Citation

    Nov. Gen. Sp. (Kunth) 3: 284. 1819

  • Common Names

    galloruro blanco, maique de burro, mulacis, mullacus, supaybasundi, monte pespita

  • Description

    Description: Erect shrub, (0.1-)0.5-2(-6) m tall; mature stems terete, glabrous; bark reddish-brown, thin, cracking into longitudinal strips; twigs subterete, sulcate, striate, angled, glabrous or puberulent, sometimes with inconspicuous, short (0.1 mm long), basally swollen, minutely gland-tipped hairs, reddish-brown; buds ovate to 3 mm long, scales ovate, glabrous but ciliate. Leaves coriaceous, elliptic to oblong, 1.5-5.5(-7) x 0.8-2(-3) cm, base broadly cuneate, obtuse, or rounded, apex acute to rounded and often shortly and bluntly mucronate, margin serrate-crenate, with each tooth terminating in a minute gland ca. 0.1 mm long, glabrous on both surfaces but conspicuously reddish- to blackish-punctate especially beneath; midrib, lateral nerves (2-5 per side), and reticulate veinlets usually conspicuous and slightly raised on both surfaces; petiole subterete, shallowly canaliculate above, 2-3(-4.5) mm long, glabrous or puberulent above, reddish-brown. Inflorescences clustered at branch tips, axillary, racemose, 12-20-flowered; rachis subterete, striate, bluntly angled, (3.5-)5.5-8.5 cm long, weakly to densely white puberulent (densely short-pilose and sometimes also weakly short-hirsute with basally swollen, minutely gland-tipped, ferruginous hairs to 0.4 mm long), surrounded at base by a series of ovate to oblong, striate, glabrous, ciliate bracts to 4 mm long; pedicels subterete, striate, 3-8(-13) mm long, elongating to 20 mm after anthesis, puberulent (densely short-pilose), usually weakly to conspicuously short-hirsute as on rachis but with hairs only to 0.2 mm long; bracteoles nearly basal, membranous, striate, ovate, 2-3 x 0.75-1.5 mm, acute to long-acuminate, ± glabrous (or short-pilose), ciliate and marginally glandular-fimbriate; floral bract membranous, striate, oblanceolate to oblong, (3-)5-6(-8) x 1-2 mm, obtuse, glabrous or short-pilose, ciliate and marginally glandular-fimbriate. Flowers usually nodding at anthesis; calyx 3-3.5(-4.3) mm long, lobes ovate, 2-2.5(-3) x 1.6-2 mm, short-acuminate, glabrous without (or weakly short-pilose at base), usually puberulent within, ciliate; corolla urceolate, terete, 5-6.5 x 5-7 mm, glabrous without (or weakly puberulent), short-pilose within, white to cream-colored when fresh, lobes ovate, 1-1.5 mm long, obtuse; stamens 3-4.5 mm long; filaments 2.2-3.3 mm long, villous; anthers (0.8-)1.5-2 mm long, awns conspicuous; ovary densely short-pilose; style 3-4 mm long, glabrous or short-pilose basally. Fruiting calyx ca. 7-8 mm diam., glabrous, white to reddish. Chromosome number: 2n=44 (Middleton & Wilcock, 1990b).

    Distribution: Commonly found from central Ecuador to north-central Bolivia in physiognomically drier sites than most Ericaceae. Habitats include montane cloud forest, cloud forest-páramo ecotone, open grassy páramo, shrubby slopes, seasonally dry secondary scrub, and ceja de la montaña at elevations from (1525-)2000-3200(-3900) m. Flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year.

    Type: Ecuador. Loja: Páramo de Saraguro, 2340 m, Humboldt & Bonpland s.n. (holotype, P, photos F neg. 38221 and NY neg. s.n.).

    Common names: Peru: monte pespita (Cuzco); supaybasundi (Lambayeque); mulacis (Mito); maique de burro (Piura)

    Uses: Bees were noted collecting nectar from the flowers of Luteyn & Lebrón-Luteyn 5547.

    Cultivated: E.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Gaultheria reticulata Kunth: [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.