24 



MEMOIRS- OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[VOL. 10 



ovarium 3-loculare, loculis 3-2-ovulatis, ovulis ad pulvinum subbasilarem in 

 loculo quoque affixis, 7-6 in toto ovario; spadix fructiferus plus minusve levi; 

 fructus angulari-sphaeroideus, latitudine longitudinem subaequanti, apice trun- 

 cato ; semina ovulos numero aequantia, obliquo-ovoidea, superficie foveolato. 



Type collection: B. Maguire & D. B. Fanshawe 32469, 1 1 terrestrial, spathe 

 green ; spadix green ; on rocks in stream, Moruka Creek, locally common, 1200 m 

 alt., Kamarang River, Wenamu Trail," British Guiana, 9 Nov 1951 (holotype 

 NY, isotype US). Known only from the type collection. 



Though aS". maguirei occurs in eastern Guayana, it seems as closely related to 

 the western Venezuelan species (8. neblinae and S. sipapoanum) as to 8. schom- 

 burgkii from nearby Mt. Roraima. The lanceolate leaf-blade of 8. maguirei is 

 distinctly different from the narrowly elliptic blade of 8. schomburgkii. 



8. maguirei finds its closest relative in 8. neblinae, from which it is geo- 

 graphically separated by some 500 air miles. The spathe is often deciduous in 

 these species and their floral characteristics are similar. 8. maguirei differs by 

 its proportionally narrower leaf-blade which is widest below the middle, and in 

 the shorter stipe of the spadix. 



No Spathiphyllum has been found in the intermediate area of great sandstone 

 mountains of Bolivar to the west of Mt Roraima. 



12. S. schomburgkii Schott, Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 7: 158. 1857. Figure 7. 



S. candolleanum Schott var. scliomburgMi (Schott) Engl, in DC. Monogr. Phan. 2: 225. 

 1879. 



Leaf -blade oblique, narrowly elliptic, to 18 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, the apex 

 acute-acuminate, the base attenuate, primary lateral veins ca. 4 pairs arising at 

 an angle of 15-25°; petiole to 12.5 cm long, prominently alate nearly to the 

 geniculum ; geniculum ca. 0.8 cm long. Peduncle 26 cm long ; spathe lanceolate- 

 elliptic, 6.2 cm long and ca. 1.6 cm wide, the apex acute-acuminate, the base 

 acute; spadix ca. 2.5 cm long, on a stipe ca. 0.7 cm long; perianth of separate 

 segments; pistil obpyramidal, scarcely exceeding the perianth, the apex obtuse- 

 subtruncate, the stigma coronate; ovary 2-locular ( ?), the ovules affixed on a 

 sub-basal pad in each locule, (apparently) 4-3 in each of the locules, totaling 

 7-6 ovules per ovary; fruit unknown. 



Type collection: B. H. Schomburgk s.n,, 11 1st Coll. M. Roraima," Venezuela 

 (holotype K). Unicate(?). Probably found at lower elevations on slope of Mt. 

 Roraima. ^Known only from the type collection. 



8. schomburgkii stood for a long time as the only known species of this genus 

 from a sandstone mountain of Guayana. Subsequent exploration of this region 

 has yielded several collections of Spathiphyllum. All represent plants of small 

 size. The pistil is nearly identical in all, viz., cylindrical-obpyramidal and scarce- 

 ly exceeding the perianth, the apex obtuse-subtruncate, the stigma nipple-like 

 or coronate. The pistil of 8. schomburgkii was described initially as attenuate 

 with a conical apex exceeding the sepals. On this basis (apparently), Bngler 

 made it a variety of 8. candolleanum. Considerable attention to the nature of 

 the pistil of this species has led me to conclude that it is unquestionably similar 

 to that in other collections from sandstone areas of Guayana. 



It is difficult to determine the number of taxa represented among the Gua- 

 yana collections. In view of the small number of collections, I was reluctant to 

 create new names that might later fall in the light of further collections. Never- 

 theless, it is felt that no collections are conspecific, and six species are described 

 as new to science. 



