76 



MEMOIRS OF THE \E\V STORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[vol. 10 



ad 8 mm longa et 6 mm in diam., ad marginem tepalis pubescentibus persist ent- 

 ibus ferenti, pedicello satis crasso ad 3 mm longo. 



Type. Tree 15 m, buds and fruit green, occasional in slope forest, just north 

 of Camp 3, Cerro de la Neblina, Rio Yatua, Amazonas, Venezuela, 650-700 m, 

 17 Nov 1957, Bassett Maguire, John J. Wurdack & Celia K. Maguire 42085 

 (holotype, fl., y. fr. NY). 



Distribution. Tree from 4 to 15 m, known only from the type locality. VEN- 

 EZUELA. Amazonas: Maguire, Wurdack & Maguire 42572 (fl. NY). 



The rather thinly chartaceous, elliptic leaves, with the veins ascending 

 arcuately towards the margin at regular intervals and becoming confluent about 

 4-8 mm from the margin, are outstanding for their minute but rather conspicuous 

 areolation, particularly noticeable at the midrib. The short, rather few-flowered, 

 somewhat large inflorescences are densely cinereous, and the leaves are usually 

 condensed near the tips, often leaving the branchlets bare for a large part of 

 their length. It is impossible to predict the exact size and shape of the mature 

 fruit ; but from the young stage it would appear to be subtended by a subhem- 

 ispherical eupule, and typical of the genus Phoebe, as is the flower. The alliance 

 is with Ocotea sericiflora, rather than with any Ph-Oebe from this area. It is 

 separated from (). sericiflora, by the texture of the leaves with bases attenuately 

 acute, and by minute reticulation, as well as by generic characters. 



Ocotea aciphylla (Nees) Mez, Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5: 243. 1889. 



Orcodaphnc aciphylla Nees, Linnaea 8: 43. 1833. 



Type. Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sellow, s.n. (syntype? fl. B), 978 (isotype? F). 



Distribution. Tree with hermaphrodite flowers, from 10 to 12 m, described 

 from southern Brazil and reported generally from the interior and the upper 

 Amazon, occurring in the Guayana areas of Venezuela and Suriname. VEN- 

 EZUELA. Bolivar: wooded ridge of fila de La Danta, following the provisional 

 carretera between campamento 125 and km 127 between Luepa and • Cerro 

 Venamo, Steyermark & Nilsson 222 (fl. NY). 



The greater portion of herbarium material seen was collected in central and 

 southern Brazil. These collections are all characterized by sericeous flowers and 

 lanceolate-acuminate leaves with the blade strongly recurved at the base. Mez 

 described them as ' ' ovate, ' ' but this is not true of the above-mentioned material. 

 The type material of Nectandra regnelli Meissner (isotype, Regnell III. 84, fl. & 

 If. fragni. NY), from Minas Gerais differs by the lack of conspicuous staminodia. 

 For the affinity of the species, see the following, Ocotea costulata. 



Ocotea aciphylla var. chimantaensis C. K. Allen, var. nov. 



A var. aciphylla differt foliis ellipticis vel leviter obovato-ellipticis, latioribus, 

 ad basim leviter recurvatis. 



Type. Tree 15 m, leaves . chartaceous, dark green above, paler green below, 

 pedicels greyish-green, petals and filaments white, anthers pale yellow, locally 

 frequent at base of southwest-facing escarpment, Chimanta Massif, Amuri-tepui, 

 Bolivar, Venezuela, 1365 m, Julian A. Steyermark & John- J. Wurdack 1359 

 (holotype, fl. NY). 



A survey of more material from the sandstone areas of Guayana may make 

 it advisable to include this in var. aciphylla as another variant only. Scarcity of 

 fruiting specimens, particularly in the northern limits of the range of O. 

 aciphylla, adds further complication to delimitation of the species. 



