smooth with black and grey patches. Basal diameter 1-14 ft. Nom. 
vulg. palo de leche.”? April 1-7, 1943, Richard Evans Schultes 5357. 
RUBIACEAE 
Cephaelis barcellana (Muell.-Arg.) Standley in 
Field Mus. Publ. Bot. 8 (1980) 184. 
Known from Amazonian Brazil and from the 'Terri- 
torio del Amazonas of Venezuela, Cephaelis barcellana, 
although enumerated by Standley in ‘‘The Rubiaceae 
of Colombia, ’’ apparently had not hitherto been collected 
in the Republic. The collection, H. Antonio Camilo 8é, 
from Florencia, Comisaria del Caqueta, is also probably 
referable to Cephaelis barcellana and would widen the 
known range of this species in Colombia. 
Co.toms1A: Comisaria del Putumayo, Rio Putumayo, trocha entre 
Puerto Ospina y Concepcién, alt. 250 m. “*Flowers white. Bracts 
red and yellow.’’ April 20-23, 1943, Richard Evans Schultes 3678. 
Duroia hirsuta (Poepp. & Endl.) K. Schumann in 
Pringsh. Jahrb. Wiss. Bot. 19 (1888) 3861. 
The type of Duroia hirsuta was collected in Villavi- 
cencio. Although known from Amazonian Brazil, this 
species has apparently never been recorded from the 
Amazon drainage-area of Colombia. 
This small tree occurs in dense forests, but I have never 
seen it growing individually. It forms colonies of twenty 
or more and invariably nothing grows underneath ex- 
cept Selaginella. Known widely in Amazonian Colombia 
as soliman, Duroia hirsuta is believed by the Indians to 
be a plant whose roots ‘“‘poison’’ all other plants. Thus 
they explain the curious ecological phenomenon of the 
absence of other plants in colonies of Duroia hirsuta. 
The real reason may have some connection with the fact 
that the swollen internodes of the treelet are inhabited 
in all cases by ants. 
Cotompia: Comisaria del Vaupés, Apaporis River, near confluence 
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