100 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[VOL. 10 



1.7 mm longis, tubo ca. 0.5 mm longo ; staminlbus sterilibus ser I & II mem- 

 branaceis, antheris utrinque late ovatis quam filamentis brevibus satis crassis 

 duplo longioribus, ser III biglandulosis, glandulis magnis, ser IV ad 0.4 mm 

 longis ; gynoecio ad 1.5 mm longo, glabro, ovario obovoideo, quam stylo crasso 

 duplo longioribus, stigmate magno fulgenti-lobato. Infruetescentia gracilis, ad 

 6 cm longa, glabra. Fructus immaturus 1 ellipsoideus, 10 X 6 mm, cupula, ut 

 videtur rubescenti, ad 5 mm longa et 8 mm lata, cyathiformi, stipite 6-8 mm 

 longa et 5 mm alta, aliquando pedicello gracili subtenta. Fructus maturus ignotus. 



Type. Small tree, flowers greenish, along left fork of Cano Yutaje, Cerro 

 Yutaje, Rio Manapiare, Amazonas, Venezuela, 1250 m, 12 Feb 1953, Bassett 

 Maguire & CeliaK. Maguire 35188 (holotype, J fl., fr. NY). 



Distribution. A small tree with dioecious flowers, known only from the type 

 locality and possibly from the nearby Cerro Moriche, on the Rio Ventuari of 

 which the Rio Manapiare is a tributary, from 400 to 1500 m, Amazonas, Ven- 

 ezuela. VENEZUELA. Amazonas : occasional small tree on Northwest ridge above 

 Camp Yutaje in subxerophytic lowbush, Maguire & Maguire 35396 (J* fl. NY) ; 

 on dry open east slope of Cerro Moriche, Maguire, Cowan & Wurdack 30840 

 (?fl. NY). 



A member of the densely reticulate-leaved group of ocoteas distinguished in 

 the dried state by the conspicuously raised, loose, more or less uniform reticula- 

 tion on the upper surface of the smallish, ovate-elliptic, long-acuminate leaves. 

 This type of reticulation is found in varying degrees of density and prominence 

 throughout the genus in the Guayana region, usually, however, with leaves char- 

 acteristically ovate or rotund, not attenuate or acuminate at the tip. 



The number from Cerro Moriche bears broader leaves only a few of which 

 show the coarse reticulation of the material from the type locality. The floral 

 structure is identical in all collections. 



The species appears very close to the description of Ocotea debilis Mez, based 

 on Spruce 2368 from Panure on the Rio Negro, which has loosely paniculate 

 inflorescences pendulous from filiform axes. Also, the flowers and inflorescences 

 of the latter are both described as red — not a significant fact in itself, for in many 

 species, as has been noted by several collectors, yellowish flowers frequently turn 

 red with age. The fruit of O. debilis is lacking, but Mez describes the cupule as 

 being 6-dentate, a condition frequent in the young fruiting stage, the margin 

 often becoming entire at maturity. 



Ocoteanseliana C. K. Allen, sp. nov. Fig. 57. 



Frutex debilis, ad 1 m altus, gemmis parvis ovoideis acutis acuminatisve, 

 ramulis striatis teretibus juventute cupreo- vel brunneo-tomentosis, mox aliquan- 

 tum glabrescentibus, atro-rubescentibus vel griseis. Folia alternata, ± reflexa, 

 petiolis robustis nutantibus, brunneo-tomentosis canaliculars 6-8 mm longis et 

 2 mm latis, laminis supra flavo-viridescentibus ± sparse cupreo- vel brunneo- 

 tomentosis mox glabris, costa nervisque exceptis, subtus dense cupreo- vel 

 brunneo-tomentosis concavis percoriaceis minute areolatis subbullatisque, lanco- 

 lato-ellipticis, (5-) 8-9 (-10.5) cm longis et (1.5- ) 2.5-3 (-4.5) cm latis, margine 

 crasse revolutis, ad basim obtusis vel subcordatis, ad apicem attenuato-acuminatis 

 acutisve, penninerviis, costa utrinque cupreo- vel brunneo-tomentosa, supra valde 

 impressa, subtus valde elevata mox glabrescenti et flavo-viridescenti, nervis 

 plerumque 5-8-paribus supra impressis glabrescentibus tenuissimis leviter arcu- 

 antibus, subtus conspicue elevatis dense cupreo- vel brunneo-tomentosis mox 



