Corresponding author: Carmen Ulloa Ulloa (
Academic editor: Susanne Renner
Se describe e ilustra
Explorations in the remote Cordillera del Cóndor in southern Ecuador yielded a shrub erroneously identified in the field as the genus
Herbarium and laboratory work involved taking measurements of the vegetative parts from the dry herbarium specimens; the flowers were rehydrated before taking measurements under a dissecting scope. Seeds were sputter coated with gold/palladium and photographed with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JCM-5000). Herbarium specimens were consulted and compared at HA, K, LOJA, MA, MO, QCA, and QCNE; necessary herbarium specimens were requested on loan, and additional material was consulted over the internet in various virtual herbaria (COL, NY, US, JStor Plant Science types).
Haec species ad
Small, profusely branched shrub 0.5–1.2 m tall; internodes 1.5–7.0 × 1.2–2.4 mm. A thick indument of pinoid trichomes densely covering and totally concealing the surface of branches, petioles, both surfaces of young leaves, bracts, pedicels, hypanthium, calyx lobes outside surface, and fruits, the indument reddish-brown (cinnamon) colored on young parts and becoming darker, maroon-brown, and caducous on older organs, leaving the base of older branches and the adaxial surface of leaves with scattered trichomes. Leaves decussate, the petiole erect and nearly parallel to the stem, and the blade ascending at an angle of 90-120º with the petiole, 11.8–35.1 × 2.2–10.5 mm, narrowly elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, coriaceous, with 15–22 pairs of faintly visible nerves adaxially, the base acute, the margins revolute and remotely crenate, the minute teeth dark, the adaxial surface dark green with scattered pinoid whitish trichomes on the surface and covering the midrib, the abaxial surface concealed by the indument, the apex bluntly acute and mucronate; petiole 1.6–4.5 mm. Inflorescences 10–20 mm, panicles, terminal at the tip of the branches or on short lateral branches, 1–3 flowers open at a time; bracts 3–9 mm, spatulate, persistent. Hypanthium 1.0–2.4 mm, campanulate, maroon red, glabrous inside. Flowers 5-merous; calyx lobes ca. 1.2 × 1.2 mm, maroon red and glabrous adaxially, the external teeth thick, ca. 0.35 mm, projecting, concealed by the indument. Corolla pale yellow, the petals 1.3–2 × 1.5–1.7 mm, concave, the apex oblique, the margin minutely erose, the outer surface granulose. Stamens 10, slightly dimorphic in size, the filaments 2.0–2.3 mm, geniculate above the middle, twice as wide below the folding point towards the base, cream colored, tinged with pink in older flowers, the anthers 0.9–1.2 mm, 2-celled, obovate, retuse at apex, initially uniformly cream colored and later tinged with pink, opening by two broad, apical, ventrally inclined pores, the connective at the base ventrally with a blunt, bilobed appendage and dorsally with a blunt, minutely notched tooth, slightly longer than the ventral lobes; ovary 3-celled, 3/4 inferior, ridged, with a ring of pinoid trichomes at the apex, the style ca. 3.5 mm, straight, pale yellow, glabrous, the stigma clavate but not conspicuously so, pale yellow. Infructescences with up to 22 mature fruits. Berries 5–7 × 5.5–7.5 mm, nearly globose, fleshy, the surface concealed by the indument, maroon red apically, ridged and with a few trichomes at the base of the attachment of the style; seeds 15–25, globose, ca. 0.99 × 0.93 mm.
Scanning electron micrograph of a seed of
Vegetation at the summit of the Machinaza plateau, Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador, 2450 m (photograph D.A. Neill).
The specimens collected in June have just a few open flowers and several fruits, while the specimens collected in March have abundant fruits. The Cóndor is an eastern outlier of the main Andes chain and has revealed a fascinating and unexpected biogeographical connection between the sub-Andean cordilleras and the Guayana Shield in northeastern South America (
The species name
Ecuador. Zamora-Chinchipe:Centinela del Cóndor, Cordillera del Cóndor, Machinaza plateau summit area, adjacent to obelisk-shaped border marker, at end of trail from upper Paquisha military post, precisely at Ecuador-Peru border.
The species compared in Comparison of
†Colombia: Antioquia, Boyacá, Caldas, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Santander, Tolima. Ecuador: Azuay, Cañar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Imbabura, Loja, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Pichincha, Tungurahua. Peru: Ancash, Cusco, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Pasco.
Distribution map of Characters Internode length (mm) 1.5–7 1.8–6.4 8–14 2–7.1 2–4.3 2.6–3.4 Leaf blade length (mm) 11.8–35.1 10–15(–22) 40–60 20–50 8–14 8–15 Leaf blade width (mm) (2.2)3–10.5 1.5–2.5(–4) 20–30 3–7 1–2 4–7 Leaf blade main nerves 1-nerved 1-nerved 3-nerved 3-nerved 1-nerved 1-nerved Petiole length (mm) 1.6–4.5 1–3 2–4 2–5 1–2 1.5–3 Flower merosity five five five four four four calyx lobes length (mm) ca. 1.2 4–5 ca. 3 4–5 ca. 2 3–4 Calyx external teeth thick thick inconspicous not projecting appressed inconspicous Petals color pale yellow pale yellow white and pink cream-white pink unknown Petals length (mm) 1.3–2 1.5–1.7 ca. 2 1.7–1.8 ca. 1.4 ca. 1.1 Filaments indument glabrous glabrous glabrous moderately puberulous abaxially apically sparsely glandular-setulose apically sparsely glandular Stigma shape clavate not expanded barely clavate-expanded subpeltate elongate capitate capitate capitate Ovary cells and position 3-celled and 3/4 inferior 3-celled and 1/3 inferior 3-celled and 3/4 inferior 3-4 celled and 2/3 inferior 3-celled and 1/2 inferior 3-celled and 1/2 inferior Ovary apical cone indument ring of pinoid hairs glabrous or sparsely furfuraceous glabrous stylar collar densely glandular-puberulous stellulate furfuraceous and glandular Fruit length × width (mm) 5–7 × 5.5–7.5 2.4–3.9 × 2.8–3.8 4–6 × 4–6 2.5–4 × 2.5–5.4 2–3 × 2.8–3.5 1.4–2 × 1.4–2.1 Seed number per fruit 15–25 6–9 15–23 55–95 ca. 50 9–15 Country (Division) Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe); Peru (Amazonas, not collected) Ecuador (Azuay, Loja) Colombia (Boyacá) N Colombia to C Peru (divisions below†) Ecuador (Azuay, Loja) Ecuador (Azuay, Cañar, Morona-Santiago) Elevation (m) 2315–2420 2200–3800 3105–3450 2600–4400 2500–3500 3200–3500 Section within Miconia Cremanium Cremanium Cremanium Chaenopleura Chaenopleura Chaenopleura Representative specimen Neill 16167, 16909 (MO) Ulloa 1508 (HA, MO) Cuatrecasas 9787 (COL, US) Ulloa 2117 (HA, MO, QCA) Prieto P-312 (MO) Camp E-4872 (US)
The Ministry of Environment of Ecuador granted research and collecting permits. We thank the curators at HA, K, LOJA, MA, MO, QCA, QCNE, and US for facilitating visits, or for loans of the material kept at those institutions, and B. León for data at USM. Special thanks to the staff of the Ecuadorian herbaria for logistic support. R. Liesner brought this plant to our attention; R. Gereau translated the diagnosis into Latin; D. Bogler and S. Fuentes helped with the SEM; B. Bassüner prepared the base map, V. Torrez provided the IUCN category; A Arbeláez prepared the line drawing, F. Keusenkothen digitized the illustration; P. Hoch coordinated the undergraduate student program between Washington University and the Missouri Botanical Garden; G. Yatskievych commented on the manuscript. We thank R. Goldenberg and D. Penneys for their careful review comments. SEM lab work was supported by the US National Science Foundation (DBI-0958873, coordinated by D. Bogler); Ulloa’s visit to the Ecuadorian herbaria was partially supported by a travel grant through the NSF PBI-Miconieae project (DEB-0818399, coordinated by F. Michelangeli, NY).