base, hypanthium 1.1 - 1.5 mm deep, glabrous outside, more or less sericeous inside, sometimes 
sparsely so, pistil 2.8 - 4.1 mm long, glabrous, ovary 1.3 - 2 mm long, | - 1.7 mm wide; fruit 
known only in young stage, ca. 10 mm long, 7.5 mm wide, ellipsoid, cupule ca. 11 mm long, 9 
mm wide, basal section of pedicel thick ca. 3.5 - 4.5 mm long, 2.4 mm wide, tepals not persistent 
in fruit, with an oblique abscission line right at their base, falling as one piece, leaving a smooth 
border toward the interior of the cupule, and a sinuous border with the very base of tepals on the 
exterior edge of cupule's rim. 
Flowers present in July; fruits (young) in August. C. formicarium is known so far only 
from a small area in central Ecuador and southeastern Colombia, in remnants of wet mountain 
forest, between 1700 - 2300 m along the Andean mountains. 
Paratypes. COLOMBIA. El Cauca: Cordillera Occidental, La Gallera, Micay Valley, 
1500-1800 m, (fl), E. Killip 7904 (NY); Valle: Hoya del Rio Cali, Rio Pichindé, entre Los 
Carpatos y El Olivo, 2025-2920 m, (fl), J. Cuatrecasas 21726 (F); monte La Guarida, filo de la 
cordillera sobre La Carbonera, entre Las Brisas y Alban, 1950-2000 m, (fl), J. Cuatrecasas 
22176 (F). ECUADOR. Bolivar: along road Chillanes - Bucay, 2100 m, (fr), V. Zak & J. 
Jaramillo 2564 (MO); along road Chillanes - El] Tambo, 1700 - 2300 m, (fl), van der Werff et al. 
12478 (MO). 
C. formicarium is a very peculiar species among neotropical Cinnamomum. Sizes of 
vegetative and floral characters are the largest recorded for any species, which in combination 
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