1963] 



BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLANDS PART V 



99 



for the time being. It is entirely possible that with more material available, they 

 may prove to be worthy of at least varietal rank under 0. florulenta. 



BRAZIL. Amazonas: Secus Rio Negro, inter S. Gabriel et Barcellos, Spruce 

 3791 (fr. isotype of Gymnobalanus Sprucei Meissner, 18 GH, NY). VENEZUELA. 

 Amazonas: along Rio Cuao, Maguire & Politi 28153 (fr. NY) ; frequent along 

 Cano Cupueni, right bank of the Rio Orinoco opposite mouth of Rio Atabapo, 

 Maguire, Wurdack & Bunting 36202 fl. NY) . 



Mention might be made here of the possibility of variation in species resulting 

 from seasonal flooding. It is conceivable that a complex growing for a long period 

 under these conditions might be more susceptible to hybridization, which might 

 perhaps, if it is true, account in part for the instability of certain groups that 

 occur under such conditions. Years of painstaking collecting and field observation 

 would be necessary before any conclusive evidence pertaining to such species 

 could be offered with confidence. 



Ocotea glaucophylla Moldenke in Gleason, Bull. Torrey Club 58 : 364. 1931. 



Inflorescentia axillaris, brevis, erecta, ad 3 cm longa, rubescens, glabra. Flores 

 dioici, £ ad 3.5 mm longi, pedicellati, pedicellis ad 1.5 mm longis, perianthio 

 ± campanulato, gracili glabri, lobis viridescenti-flavis fide coll., ovatis, margin- 

 ibus papillosis, 1.2-1.3 mm longis, tubum subaequantibus ; staminibus ser I & II, 

 ad 0.7 mm longis antheris late ovato-truncatis, apiculatis filamenta satis gracilia 

 aequantibus ser III antheris quadrangularibus ad 1 mm biglandulosis, glandulis 

 magnis filamenta subaequantibus, ser IV O, vel abortivis ; gynoecio vel ; § 

 flores ignoti. 



Type. Bush, with leaves held edgewise to the sun, flowers small, white, calyx 

 persistent, crests of Savanna Hills, summit of Mount Duida, Amazonas, Ven- 

 ezuela, 4400 ft, Aug 1928-Apr 1929, G. H. H. Tate 763 (holotype, fr. NY). 



Distribution. Slender shrub 1-2 m, described from fruiting material alone, 

 growing on crests of Savanna Hills on summit of Mount Duida, Amazonas, at 

 1000-1500 m ; also in the Chimanta Massif, on forested slopes of Torono-tepui, 

 Bolivar, Venezuela from 2000 to 2150 m. VENEZUELA. Amazonas : type local- 

 ity, Steyermark 58274 (J* fl. F). Bolivar: open dwarf forest, north-facing slopes 

 on summit above valley of Cano Mo j ado, Torono-tepui, Chimanta Massif, 2030- 

 2150 m, Steyermark & Wnrdack 1038 (rf fl. NY), south-facing, forested slopes 

 above valley of South Cano, on summit, 1102 (J fl. NY). 



This small, coarsely reticulate and leathery -leaved species is striking in that 

 the leaves are all stiffly erect, densely clustered near the tips of the stout, grey 

 branchlets which are also rigidly curved upwards. The flowering material cited, 

 although generally similar in leaf-habit to the type, lacks the glaucescent lower 

 leaf-surface which gave the species its name. 



Ocotea simulans C. K. Allen, sp. nov. Fig. 52. 



Arbor vel arbor fruticosa ad 15 m alta, gemmis gracilibus minute sericeo- 

 ferruginosis, ramulis teretibus substriatis pallide ferruginoso-pubescentibus mox 

 glabris atro-griseis. Folia alternata, petiolis satis gracilibus molliter pubescentibus 

 mox glabrescentibus atratis, ad 15 mm longis et 1.5 mm latis, laminis supra 

 adpresse pubescentibus mox glabrescentibus, venis exceptis, subtus juventute 

 claro argenteo-sericeo-pubescentibus mox sparsiore fulvo-sericeo-pubescentibus, 



is Considered by Mez to be conspecific with O. florule?ita. 



