Sphyrospermum dissimile (S.F.Blake) Luteyn

  • Family

    Ericaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Sphyrospermum dissimile (S.F.Blake) Luteyn

  • Primary Citation

    Opera Bot. 92: 126. 1987

  • Basionym

    Vaccinium dissimile S.F.Blake

  • Common Names

    kogh

  • Description

    Description: Terrestrial, or more commonly, creeping epiphytic, scandent shrublets with branches interwoven amongst bryophytes along ground or high in trees; stems wiry, to 1 m long; twigs densely spreading puberulent, becoming glabrescent. Leaves ovate, lanceolate or elliptic, 1-3( 5.5) x 0.8-1.5( 2) cm, base rounded to cuneate, apex acute, margin eciliate, flat to very slightly revolute especially in proximal half, ciliolate, lamina glabrous on both sides or often puberulous with inconspicuous, sparse to moderately appressed glandular hairs beneath; 3(-5)-plinerved from base, midrib impressed above along entire length or in proximal 2/3 and then plane to slightly raised in distal 1/3, strongly raised and often a lighter color beneath, lateral nerves impressed, slightly raised or inconspicuous above, obscure to inconspicuously raised (rarely conspicuously) beneath, tertiary veinlets indistinct to obscure above and rarely slightly raised beneath; petiole subterete, 1-2 mm long, puberulent. Inflorescences axillary, flowers solitary, not exceeding the subtending leaves; floral bract 1, broadly reniform, rounded, ca. 0.3-0.4 mm long, glabrous; pedicel subterete, coarsely striate, 1-2( 4 or fide A.C. Smith [1933] to 8) mm long, weakly hispidulous with eglandular hairs; bracteoles 2, nearly basal, opposite, ovate to broadly oblong, obtuse to broadly rounded, 0.8-1 mm long, puberulent. Flowers 4-merous, diplostemonous; calyx ca. 2.2-2.8 mm long, sparsely to densely hirsutulous without with hyaline to golden-yellowish eglandular hairs 0.1-0.2 mm long; tube campanulate, 0.8-1.2 mm long; limb erect-spreading, ca. 1.3 mm long; lobes broadly deltate, acute or obtuse, 0.7-0.8 mm long; corolla campanulate, 7-10 mm long and 6-9 mm across the top, dark red to maroon, sparsely and inconspicuously glandular pubescent without, the hairs 0.1-0.2 mm long, the lobes erect to spreading, deltate, acute, 1.5-2 x ca. 3.5 mm; stamens 8, equal in length, ca. 4.3-6.2 mm long, black to brownish-red; filaments 1.3-4 mm long, sparsely to densely pilose; anthers 2-5 mm long; thecae ca. 1.7-2.2 mm long, the base straight, without basal appendages, granular; tubules 1.6-3 mm long, dehiscing by oblique clefts 0.5-0.7 mm long or terminal pores (Ecuador); style ca. 5-7 mm long, glabrous. Berry oblate, 4-angled, 0.75-1 cm diam., translucent white, weakly short-pilose to glabrate; embryo color white.

    Type: Costa Rica. San José: La Palma, 1550 m, August 1898 (fl), Tonduz ("n. 12546 herb. nat. Cost") and distributed as Smith 7380 [lectotype (designated by Luteyn 1987) K!; isolectotypes BM!, F! (photo NY neg. 11925), US!].

    Distribution: Widely distributed from Costa Rica and Panama to western Colombia, northwestern Ecuador, and northwestern Peru. It grows from tropical rainforests to montane cloud forest, at (50–)600–1900(–2300) m.

    Updates and other relevant taxonomic sources: Description updated on Jan 2013. For generic synopsis, keys, and evaluation of conservation status see Phytotaxa.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Sphyrospermum dissimile (S.F.Blake) Luteyn: [Article] 1987. Opera Bot. 92: 126.