32 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[VOL. 10 



Chuare, Dept. Cauca, Colombia, Dec 23, 1946, Oscar Haught 5387 (US 1903798; 

 Herb. Lehmanniaxmm s.n. s. dat. K). No other collections are known to me. 



This genus, because of general similarity of form and habit, must be consid- 

 ered to be an offshoot of the large Guayanan genus Stegolepis. Numerous clear- 

 cut and distinctive differences suggest that the trans- Andean segregate, with its 

 two greatly disjunct species, has been separated from its progenitor larger 

 generic assemblage for geologically a long time. 



Saxofriderieioideae, Schoenocephalieae 

 6. Kunhardtia Maguire, gen. nov. 



Inflorescentia hemisphaerica magna solitaria, bracteis bivalvatis involucrali- 

 bus subtenta ; spiculis rubris sessilibus, porrectis, inferioribus reflexis ; bracteolis 

 gradatis; sepalis ad basim liberis; petalis rubris lanceolatis valde exsertis ad 

 basim connatis; antheris linearibus murieulatis bithecatis, poris duabus termi- 

 nalibus annularibus dehiscentibus ; ovario triloculare loculis pluriovulatis ; se- 

 minibus subpyramidalibus striatis, non appendiculatis. 



Herbae terrestres perennes; foliis gladiatis linearibusque, pedunculo pseudo- 

 terminali solitario. Genus monotypicum. 



Typus : Kunhardtia rhodantha Maguire. 



Mr. H. R. Kunhardt, before his recent retirement, had long been a resident 

 of Venezuela and a student of its remarkable orchid flora. Outright he financed 

 The New York Botanical Garden Expeditions in 1948 and 1949 to Cerros Sipopa 

 and Marahuaca in remote Venezuelan Amazonas, and among his broad circle of 

 acquaintances found support for the expedition of 1951 to Cerro Guaiquinima 

 in Estado Bolivar. As President of the Venezuelan Petroleum Company he was 

 instrumental, during a large part of our Guayana field work, in procuring for us 

 from the Sinclair Oil Company transportation to and from Venezuela. Constant- 

 ly by friendship and enthusiasm he has been a source of guidance and encourage- 

 ment. It is a considerable satisfaction to dedicate this handsome new genus 

 to him. 



Kunhardtia rhodantha Maguire, sp. nov. Figures 5, 6. 



Herbae perennes terrestres ; caulibus succulentis, crassis, 1-3 dm longis ; foliis 

 3-7, 7-14 dm longis, vaginis valde distichis equitantibusque, in uno piano dis- 

 positis, coriaceis, 15-25 cm longis, conduplicatis, 3.5-5.5 cm latis, extus laevigatis 

 enervatis exauriculatis eligulatis ; laminis 5-12 dm longis, 4-5 cm latis, linearibus, 

 subtiliter^multinervatis, apice falcato-acuminato subobtuso; peduncelo pseudo- 

 term inali solitario, 7-12 dm longo, 7-10 mm lato, ad apicem valde dilatato et 

 compresso, 2 cm lato ; inflorescentia depresso-globosa, 7-8 cm diam. ; bracteis in- 

 volucralibus spathulatis bivalvatis ovato-acuminatis, 5-6 cm longis, 3-4 cm latis, 

 maturis reflexis; receptaculo conico, ca, 2 cm alto; spiculis vulgo 50-60, sessilibus, 

 porrectis, inferioribus reflexis, 3-4 cm longis, sepalis inclusis; bracteolis 16-20, 

 valde gratatis, purpureo-rubris,. apice rubrimaculato, inferioribus late ovatis, ca. 



Fig 5. A-M, Kunhardtia rhodantha. A, habit. XM>; B, young inflorescence, showing saccate 

 connate involucral bracts, X V2 ; C, spikelet with exserted corolla lobes, X 1; upper bracteole, 

 X 2; E, sepal, X 2; F, diagrammatic representation, portion of spread-out corolla, X l 1 /^ 5 

 Gr, anther, X 2; H, cross section of anther, X 10; I, mature capsule, X 2 ; J, diagrammatic 

 cross section through upper V3 of capsule, X 2 ; K, through lower % of capsule, X 2 ; L, seed, 

 lateral view, X 5 ; M, seed, basal view showing attachment scar ; drawn from Maguire $ Politi 

 28195. 



