in Bogota on July 6, 1949. During his five years as as- 
sistant collector with me, his work, always cheerful, en- 
thusiastic and loyal, added much to our knowledge of 
the Amazon flora of his country. 
In November 1947, Murea Pires, Lopez and I went 
up the Rio Uaupés to investigate the caatinga flora at 
Ipanoré, Spruce’s type locality [‘*Panuré’’], of Hevea 
rigidifolia and many other remarkable endemics. On this 
trip, our attention was arrested one day by the sudden 
appearance on the right bank of a small, bald granitic 
mountain (Serra Tukano), a few kilometers in from the 
bank, near the almost-abandoned settlement of Bela 
Vista, about midway between the mouth of the Rio 
Tikié and the confluence of the Rios Uaupés and Negro. 
Knowing that such mountains are often repositories of 
botanical treasures, we stopped and began to slash our 
way through the forest towards the base of the moun- 
tain. Near the base we emerged into a most beautiful 
and fascinating caatinga-forest. While Mur¢ca Pires be- 
gan to collect the general flora, L6pez and I concentrated 
on Hevea and Micrandra. We were hoping for some in- 
teresting individuals of these laticiferous trees, but we 
were not prepared for the pleasant surprise which was in 
store. Rapid scouting of the caatinga convinced us that 
we were in an almost pure stand of a slender, columnar 
and unbuttressed species of Micrandra. The curious, 
dry, thickly coriaceous leaves of the tree, which had first 
commanded our attention, thickly covered the floor of 
the caatinga where they are strewn each year. Walking 
over them causes a very sharp crunch because of the 
thickness of the carpet. 
Careful search showed that no trees were in flower. 
One individual in sporadic and probably abnormal fruit 
was collected. On our return in late November, we re- 
visited the locality, making a more detailed, but unsuc- 
[ 209 J 
