1961] 



BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLANDS PART IV (2) 



21 



along Cano Mo j ado, east of North Escarpment above upper falls, alt. 1975 m; shrub 0.3-1.5 

 m high, calyx mahogany-colored, petals pink, staminodia purple, open savanna form; 20 Feb 

 1955, Steyermark 4' Wurdack 986 (paratype) ; frequent, summit of Torono-tepui alt, 2167- 

 2182 m, Steyermark 4' Wurdack 626, 375A (paratypes) ; rare, summit of Torono-tepui at base 

 of zanjones, alt. 2152 m; shrub 3-1 m high, inflorescence and leaves extremely developed as 

 compared with depressed swampy savanna type; 21 Feb 1955, Steyermarlc 4' Wurdack 1005 

 (paratype); occasional at base of escarpment, Camp 8, alt. 2050 m; shrub 3 m high, buds 

 maroon, petals white apically pink; 23 Jan 1953, Wurdack 34162 (paratype); northwest 

 summit of Abacapa-tepui, Steyermark 7500 (paratype) ; Apacara-tepui, Steyermark 75849 

 (paratype). 



Philacra Dwyer, Brittonia 5:124. 1944. 



Dwyer (I.e.) removed from the genus Luxemburgia two species, then known 

 only by specimens collected by Tate on Cerro Duida in Amazonian Venezuela, 

 and placed them together with a third, P. auriculata Dwyer, which he knew only 

 from specimens collected by Holt and Blake in the relatively nearby Amazonian 

 Brazil, in his new genus Philacra. 



Our own field studies extend the known range of P. longifolia to Cerros 

 Sipapo (Maguire & Politi 28360-A), to Cerro Paru (Cowan c£* Wurdack 31071 

 and 31341), and to Cerro Huachamacari (Maguire, Cowan & Wurdack 29877 

 and 30323), all in Amazonas, Venezuela, north of Cerro Duida. For the first 

 time, P. auriculata Dwyer is known from Venezuela, this attractive golden- 

 flowered shrub occurring frequently in peripheral regions of the upper montane 

 forests of Cerro Neblina, lying some one hundred miles to the northwestward of 

 the original locality: Maguire, Wurdack & Bunting 37265, and Maguire, Wur- 

 dack d: Maguire 42035, 42135 and 42187. 



GUTTIFERAE 



Clusia sect. Omphalanthera PL & Tr. Ann. Sci. Xat. ser. 4. Bot. 13: 319. 1860. 



The section Omphalanthera was set up by Planehon and Triana to accom- 

 modate Clusia eugenioides, then based on a single collection, Schlim 934, from 

 Santa Marta, Colombia, and even now known certainly only by that collection. 

 To the section (as a subsection : Fl. Bras. 12 1 : 404. 1888) Engler added C. colum- 

 naris, /rom the region of the Rio Xegro where the species is abundant, and where 

 it is now well represented in the herbaria. More recently, Cuatrecasas (Rev. Acad. 

 Colomb. Ci. 8: 40. 1950) has described C. densinervia from two collections made 

 in the region of the Pacific Coast in Dep. Valle, Colombia. At the present writ- 

 ing the authors propose three additional species, for which they have consider- 

 able material, from Venezuela. 



Full characterization remains impossible at this time for C. eugenioides and 

 C. densinervia. Relationship among the six recognized species seems to be clear. 

 On whether the species of Sect. Omphalanthera should be considered to repre- 

 sent a discrete section or should be placed in Sect. Polythecandra (as was done 

 by Engler, I.e.), we must defer decision until we have a better understanding of 

 intraspecific relationships throughout the genus. 



1 Type species: Clusia eugenioides PI. & Tr. 



Fig. 28. a-e, Clusia drachystyla. a, leaf and stem, habit, X 0.5. b, inflorescence, X 0.5. 



c, $ flower, .X 1- d, 9 flower, X 1. e, fruit, X 2. f-k, Clusia gratula, f, leaf and stem, 



habit, X 0.5. g, inflorescence, XL h, $ flower, X 2. i, 9 flower, X 2. j, synandrium, 

 X 5. k, fruit, X 2. 



