98 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[vol. 10 



edge of Savanna No. 1, 34498 (J* fl. NY) ; terrenos arenosos y humedos a orillas 

 del Rio Orinoco en los alrededores de San Fernando, Molina & Barkley 18 V 201 

 (<? ? fl. US). COLOMBIA. Comisaria del Vichada: selvas densas en suelos 

 arcillosos y ricos a orillas del Rio Guaviare en la region de Amanabel (a bocas 

 del rio), Molina & Barkley 18 VI 233 ($ fl., fr. US). 



The species superficially resembles 0. florulenta (Meissner) Mez but is dis- 

 tinguished by the possibly polygamo-dioecious flowers borne in sturdier, smaller 

 and more strict inflorescences, and by its oblong-ellipsoid fruit subtended by a 

 partially enclosing, shallow, suburceolate cupule. The prominent, loose reticula- 

 tion of the leaves, as well as their shape, recalls the widespread Antillean species, 

 Nectandra coriacea (Swartz) Griseb. 



Ocotea sanariapensis bears fruit suggesting that of 0. schomburgkiana which 

 differs in the larger, hemispheric, frequently in the younger stages suburceolate 

 cupule and broader, more elliptic, usually more coriaceous, loose but less regularly 

 reticulate leaf -blades. 



The recent collections of flowering material from The New York Botanical 

 Garden expeditions to Venezuela bear dioecious flowers. The fruit-cupule tends 

 to be more flaring and less suburceolate, and the leaves often more lanceolate- 

 elliptic. In other respects, however, they agree with the type of 0. sanariapensis. 

 The presence of dioecious flowers points to the possibility that the species may 

 be polygamo-dioecious. However, the taxon is here discussed with the several 

 species it most resembles. 



Ocotea florulenta (Meissner) Mez, Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5: 309, 1889. 

 Oreodaphne florulenta Meissner in DC. Prodr. 15 1 : 125. 1864. 



Type. In vicinibus Santarem, Para, Brazil, Apr 1850, Spruce 812 [Ocotea 

 (1)], (isotype,c?fl.NY). 



Vernacular Name. Laurel Blanco, Laurel Negro (Williams). 



Distribution. Shrub or small tree with dioecious flowers growing on wooded, 

 periodically inundated banks of the Amazon, Rio Negro and Rio Orinoco and 

 their tributaries in Brazil and Venezuela, at an altitude of 100-125 m. VEN- 

 EZUELA. Amazonas : en las margenes anegadas y arboreadas del Cano Macasi, 

 Capihuara, Alto Casiquiare, Williams 15598 (<J fl. F, US), 15769 (J fl. F, US) ; 

 en los sitios sombreados en la selva alta, frondosa, fuera de las inundaciones 

 periodicas, San Carlos, Rio Negro, Williams 14461 (fr. A, US) ; frequent on 

 river banks above Cuao Creek, Rio Orinoco, Maguire & Politi 27391 (fr. NY). 



The species resembles Ocotea fallax (Miquel) Mez from the Guianas but 

 differs, according to Mez, in the globose fruits subtended by a shallow cupule 

 with expanded, obconical pedicel, as opposed to the subglobose fruit of O. fallax 

 which is subtended by a smaller cupule seated on a scarcely thickened pedicel. 

 "With the fragmentary fruit and flowering material of cited specimens and no 

 available types of 0. fallax, it is difficult to be certain that Mez was justified in 

 maintaining Miquel 's species. 



It is with hesitation that I cite the following fruiting specimens under 0. 

 florulenta. The branchlets are sturdier in every way than those of Spruce 812; 

 the leaves are more coriaceous and tend to be larger, characteristics not significant 

 in themselves ; but, when coupled with a much coarser inf ructescence with scarcely 

 expanded pedicels, they assume more importance. Because these specimens are 

 not to be distinguished by floral or fruiting characteristics, they are placed here 



