1963] 



BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLANDS PART V 



115 



Distribution. Tree found in regions of Colombia adjoining the type locality, 

 south in Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina, and in the sandstone areas of British 

 Guiana and Bolivar and Amazonas, Venezuela. VENEZUELA. Bolivar : bank 

 of Rio Tonoro, Alt. Rio Paragua, Car dona 820 (fl. NY, US) ; Amazonas: in light 

 forests, Laguna de la Culebra, near San Carlos, Cojedes, Pittier 7740 (fr. F), 

 11712 (fr. NY). 



Nectandra pichurim, based on the Humboldt collection from Calabozo, south 

 of Caracas, Venezuela, is described as bearing fruit of the size and shape of an 

 olive, subtended by a glabrous, coriaceous cupule with entire rim. The hem- 

 ispheric cupule, actually cyathiform, covers the fruit for about one-third its 

 length, as noted on specimens collected near the area of the type locality and in 

 adjacent Colombia. 



Nectandra grandis (Mez) Kostermans, Meded. Bot. Mus. Utrecht 25: 17. 1936, 

 non Nees. 



Endlicheria ? grandis Mez, Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5: 124. 1889. 



Nectandra praeclara Sandwith, Kew Bull. 1932: 224. 1932. Sandwith 387, (holotype, £ fl. 

 K ; isotype, NY) . 



Type. Ad fl. Maroni, French Guiana, Melinon s.n. (holotype, fr.) 

 Vernacular Names. Shirua (Sandwith) ; Canau-yek, Canau-haure (Steyer- 

 mark). 



Distribution. A tree with polygamo-dioecious( ?) flowers known from the 

 Guianas and the region of Roraima and neighboring mountains of Bolivar, Ven- 

 ezuela.- VENEZUELA. Bolivar: lower portion of wooded slopes of Quebrada 

 O-paru-ma, between Santa Teresita de Kavanaven and Rio Pacairao (tributary 

 of Rio Mouak), Steyermark 60403 (fl. F), Mount Roraima, southwest-facing 

 forested slopes between Rondon Camp and base of sandstone bluffs, 59001 (fl. F). 



Seemingly a very unstable species, the flowers of which bear stamens with 

 anthers usually typical of Nectandra in structure, occasionally varying from the 

 norm sufficiently to raise the question of its inclusion in the genus. Mez had no 

 flowers to guide him in his disposition of Melinon 's collection. The type of 

 Sandwith 's species bears variable flowers. The two I examined differed from 

 each other ; one was a staminate flower with typical Nectandra stamens and 

 aborted ovary, agreeing with the original description; the other, a pistillate 

 flower in the post-anthesis stage with narrower, sterile anthers apparently with 

 only two locules. It has been noted elsewhere that flowers in the post-anthesis 

 stage often show changes particularly in the staminal cycles, thought to be due 

 to desiccation and pressure exerted by the developing fruit. The Venezuelan 

 numbers, though variable in leaf-size and shape, appear to belong with this taxon. 

 At best, the species is one of the few apparently on the border line between 

 Nectandra and Ocotea, having structures and habits typical of both. 



Nectandra cymbarum (H. B. K.) Nees, Syst. Laurin. 305. 1836. Mez, Jahrb. Bot. 

 Gart. Berlin 5 : 465. 1889. Fig. 58. 



Ocotea cymbarum H. B. K. Nov. Gen. Sp. 2: 132. 1817 [holotype, (non Poeppig ex Nees; 



non Sprengel ex Nees.) Humboldt]. 

 Licaria cymbarum Pittier, Bol. Soc. Venez. Ci. Nat. 7: 135. 1941. 



Nectandra elaiophora Barbosa Rodriguez, Vellozia (1866-1888) ed 2. 64, 65. pi 18. 1891 

 (holotype); emend. Ducke, Arch. Jard. Bot. Rio de Janeiro 4: 113, 114, /. 8. 1930. 

 (Ducke 19956, lectotype, fl. NY). 



