1963] 



BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLANDS PART V 



97 



Vernacular Name. Tavan-yek (Arekuna, Bernardi). 



Distribution. Shrub or tree of varying height, bearing dioecious flowers, 

 occurring in coastal Dutch and British Guiana, westward into the adjoining 

 sandstone areas of the Guayana region. BRITISH GUIANA. Occasional in forest 

 on white sands overlying bauxite, east of Ituni, 35 miles south of Mackenzie, 

 Cowan 39237 (<j> fl. NY), occasional in margins of "islands" of forest in savannas, 

 39269 (fr. NY). VENEZUELA. Bolivar: (Hierba?) en calceta o sabanna de 

 Urei, Rio Chicanan, Alto Cuyuni, Car dona 2773 (fr. NY), selvas del valle de 

 Canaracaru, Alto Caura, 423 (fr. US) ; rainforest along Rio Apacara, Apacara- 

 tepui, Chimanta Massif, Steyermark 74650 (J fl. NY), wet, mossy forest with 

 sandstone boulders, between Camp 3 and main line of sandstone bluffs, north- 

 western part of Abacapa-tepui, 75090 (fr. NY) ; las orillas del Rio Apacara, 

 confluencia del Ancapa, region de Uriman, Bernardi 1404 (fr. NY) ; on Cerro 

 Negro Parado, an east-west crystalline range on right bank of Rio Parguaza, 

 just below El Carmen (about 50 river km from mouth), Wurdack & Monachino 

 40984 (fr. NY). 



An extremely variable species occurring widely within these areas. It is con- 

 sistent in bearing leaves with usually prominent, loose reticulation on the upper 

 surface, whereas on the lower surface, the reticulation is more compact. The small 

 fruits are ovoid, tapering at the apex and apiculate, enclosed for one-third to 

 one-half of their length by a thin-margined, hemispheric cupule, which, appar- 

 ently owing to unequal growth, frequently appears to be suburceolate, at least 

 in young stages. The aspect of the cited numbers collected by Steyermark, 

 Bernardi, and Wurdack and Monachino appears at first glance to separate them 

 from the typical material from British Guiana. The leaves are less broad and 

 their venation dissimilar in that the reticulation on both surfaces is more compact 

 as well as minute, in contrast to the loose reticulation above and the somewhat 

 more dense reticulation beneath the leaf -blade of the syntypes. In other respects, 

 the specimens from Venezuela closely resemble Schomburgk 's numbers. 



Ocotea sanariapensis Lasser, Bol. Tee. CaracasS: 12. pi. 7. 1942. 



Type. Arbusto de 4 m de altura con flores de color amarillo pallido, pequefias ; 

 en el medio del Rio Sanariapo, cerca de su desembocadura, y casi completamente 

 sumergido ; la corteza es gris, la albura amarillenta y el duramen moreno, Puerto 

 Ayacucho, Amazonas, Venezuela, 100 m, 25 May 1940, Llewelyn Williams 13051 

 (isotype, ?<?fl.F). 



Distribution. Shrub or small tree with possibly polygamo-dioecious flowers 

 growing chiefly in sandy, wet soil often periodically inundated on the banks of 

 the Rio Negro and its tributaries in Bolivar and Amazonas, Venezuela; and 

 occasionally at the edge of savannas at the base of the neighboring Cerro 

 Yapacana; and along Rio Guaviare, Comisaria del Vichada, Colombia. VEN- 

 EZUELA. Bolivar: frequent along Cano Coroso (Rio Caripo) between Lago 

 Coroso and Rio Orinoco, Wurdack & Monachino 41187 (J* fl., fr. NY) ; Amazonas: 

 Puerto Ayacucho, Williams 14960 (fr. A) ; in Sabanita on right bank of Cano 

 Cupueni, 0.5 km above mouth, region of San Fernando de Atabapo, Maguire, 

 Wurdack & Bunting 37687 ($> fl. NY) ; Cano Cupaven, Rio Orinoco at mouth of 

 Rio Atabapo, Level 69 (^ fl. NY) ; occasional in sandy soil of clearing above 

 Cano Guasuriapana, 1 km above San Fernando de Atabapo, Maguire, Wurdack 

 <$c Bunting 36248 (fr. NY) ; occasional in scrub forest near Yapacana cano 

 laguna, northwest base of Cerro Yapacana, Maguire & Wurdack 34494 (fr. NY), 



