1958] 



THE BOTAXY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLAND PART III 



3 



250 ^ diam., sphaeroideis, non aperturatis spinosis ; ovario 3-loculari, placentis 6, 

 axialibus 2-3-seriatis ; stylo simplici ad basini a 3 valde recurvatis simplieibus 

 appendieibus subtento ; stigmate oblique terminali aliquantum fimbriato erateri- 

 formi ; seminibus valde eompressis, late alatis, oblong-is irregulariter mitriformi- 

 bus; embryone recto. 



Herbae perennes cauleseentes ; larainis lineari-lanceolatis acute acutis, rosu- 

 latis vel confertis. Typus: Orectanthe sceptrum (Oliver) Maguire. 



Orectanthe from opexTO?, stretched outward, avOo?, flower; because of the 

 porrectate flowers. 



Key to the Species of Orectanthe 



Plants essentially acauleseent, the stem 1 dm or less long ; leaves densely rosulate ; usu- 

 ally unipedunculate ; cephalar bracts commonly 3 in a single cycle. 1. Orectanthe sceptrum. 



Plants caulescent, the stems 4-15 dm long ; leaves conferted but not rosulate ; often 



pluripedunculate ; cephalar bracts commonly 6 in 2 cycles. 2. Orectanthe ptaritepuiana. 



1. Orectanthe sceptrum (Oliver) Maguire, comb, now Figure 1. 



Caudex short; leaves numerous, stiffly rosulate, linear-lanceolate (1.2) 1.5-4.5 

 em wide, (10) 15-30 cm long, conspicuously brown-margined, the base broad 

 and more or less clasping, the apex pungently acute or acuminate ; scapes terete, 

 usuall}- solitary. 3-12 dm high, subtended at the base by 2 or 3 lanceolate bracts 

 2-8 cm long; heads ovate before anthesis, enclosed by 3 (2) ovate to lanceolate 

 sterile bracts, at maturity globose-hemispheric, the flowers porrect, each sub- 

 tended by an ovate-lanceolate bract shorter than the sepals ; sepals 3, the lateral 

 keeled pair 5-7 cm long, the anterior sepal not keeled and somewhat shorter ; 

 corolla yellow (5) 6-8 cm long, the tube ± equaling the lobes; style shorter 

 than the corolla; capsule obovate-obpyriform, 3-celled, loculicidal, 1.5-2.0 cm 

 long; seed compressed, winged, orbicular or oblong, irregular, mitten-shaped, 

 (3.5) 4-5 mm long. 



Key to the Subspecies of Orectanthe sceptrum 



Subtending cephalar bracts lanceolate, 3-5 em long; herbage glaucous. subsp. sceptrum. 



Subtending cephalar bracts ovate, 1.5-2.0 cm long; herbage not glaucous. subsp. occidentalis. 



Orectanthe sceptrum subsp. sceptrum. 



Abolboda sceptrum Oliver, Trans. Linn. Soe. II. Bot. 2: 286. 1887. 



Plants ordinarily 1.0-1.5 m high; herbage glaucous; cephalar bracts lanceo- 

 late to ovate-lanceolate, 3-5 cm long, very acute or merely acutish. 



Type: "Roraima summit," im Thurn 312 (K). The type consists wholly of 

 a single . . well developed capitulum and 8-9 inches of its scape." 



Distribution : plants of open marshy or boggy areas, and wet savannas, Brit- 

 ish Guiana Pakaraima Mountains and the Gran Sabana, Venezuela, at 500 m 

 upwards to cumbre summits at more than 2000 m altitude. 



Specimens examined: BEITISH GUIANA: Pakaraima Mountains: perennial herb with 

 solitary scape and basal rosette of linear-lanceolate, brown-margined leaves, occasional in 

 marshy area, Imbaimadai Savannas, Upper Mazaruni River, at 550 m altitude, Oct 24, 1951, 

 Maguire 4' Fanshawe 32254; acauleseent marsh herb, scape 1 m high, flowers pale yellow, 

 savannas 15 km. n. Mt. Ayanganna, at 1200 m altitude, Feb. 2, 1955, Maguire, Bagshaw 4' 

 Maguire 40567. VENEZUELA : Gran Sabana, Edo. Bolivar: "Roraima summit," F. F. 

 im Thurn 312 (holotype, K) ; Emerald Swamp, southwest-facing slope at 1520 m alt., Sept 

 25, 1944, Steyermarlc 58615 (NY, F) ; summit Mt. Boraima at 2620-2740 m alt., Sept 27, 

 1944, Steyermarlc 58861 (F) ; frequent, marshy savanna, between San Rafael and Enemasic, 



