1963] 



BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLANDS PART V 



143 



Comolia prostrata Wurdack, sp. nov. 



Ex descriptione et photicone C. berberidifoliae (Bonpl.) DC. affinis sed habitu 

 prostrato foliorum venis secundariis tertiariisque non evolutis et laminis minor- 

 ibus hypanthio glanduloso-setuloso. 



Fruticulosa e basi ramosissima ; rami 5-20 cm longi divaricati nodis juvenil- 

 ibus setulosis exceptis glabri. Petioli ca. 1 mm longi; lamina 3-5 X 2-4 mm 

 obovato-elliptica apice obtusa basi acuta membranacea, supra glabra, subtus 

 primum in nervis primariis sparse glanduloso-setulosis extemplo glabrata, in- 

 distincte trinervata venis secundariis tertiariisque non evolutis, apicem versus 

 crenulato-serrulata serratulis primum glanduloso-setulosis extemplo glabratis. 

 Flores in ramis brevibus terminalibus solitarii. Hypanthium 2.5 mm longum 

 sparse glanduloso-setulosum ; calycis tubus vix 0.2 mm altus, lobis ovato-oblongis 

 apice acutis ad margines sparse glanduloso-ciliolatis. Petala 7-8 X 4.5 mm asym- 

 metrice obovata apice obtusa et seta unica glandulifera terminata. Stamina 

 dimorphica ; filamenta 5 mm longa ; antherae subulatae. Stamina maiora : thecae 

 3.5 mm longae, connective) 1 mm prolongato postice distincte calcarato calcari 

 0.5 mm longo appendicibus ventralibus 1 mm longis. Stamina minora : thecae 3.5 

 mm longae, connectivo 0.5 mm prolongato postice non calcarato appendicibus 

 ventralibus 0.5 mm longis. 



Type. Entire plant red-tinged, petals pink, anthers purple-pink, locally 

 abundant in sabanita opposite Venezuelan town of Manacal, Rio Atabapo, Co- 

 lombia, alt. 125 m, 12 Jun 1959, J. J. Wurdack <& L. S. Adderley 42987 (holotype 

 US 2342626). 



C. berberidifolia has the shrubby habit of the common C. lythrarioides 

 (Steud.) Naud., leaf blades 8-13 mm long with evident secondary veins on the 

 lower surface, and a glabrous hypanthium. In distinguishing the various species 

 of Comolia, Cogniaux emphasized the presence or absence of a dorsal stamen 

 connective calcar ; this character, however, may prove of little significance, at 

 least in the species grouped around C. leptophylla (Bonpl.) Naud., C. veronicae- 

 folia Benth. (including in R. O. Williams' interpretation also C. lythrarioides, 

 and probably C. amazonica Cogn.) and C. berberidifolia. As interpreted up to 

 now, the generotype, C. berberidifolia, is known only from the original collection 

 which is of uncertain origin. In Sabana de Moyo on the right bank of the Rio 

 Orinoco 10 km above the mouth of the Rio Ventuari, the common species of 

 Comolia in the open savanna is C. leptophylla in a depressed form (Wurdack & 

 Adderley 43687) ; the more typical less-branched erect phase of C. leptophylla 

 is common in the Edo. Bolivar savannas of the middle Orinoco (Wurdack & 

 Monachino 39943). In both of these collections the large stamen connectives are 

 often dorsally calcarate. Sheltered thicket-edge habitats in Sabana de Moyo have 

 a Comolia with distinctly trinerved leaf blades and evident secondary nerves, 

 but the habit of typical C. leptophylla; Wurdack & Adderley 43686 shows both 

 this broad-leaved type and intermediates towards C. leptophylla. On the basis 

 of these collections, C. leptophylla should probably be regarded as an open- 

 savanna subspecies of C. veronicae folia, but both in turn may be subordinated to 

 C. berberidifolia (of which I have seen only the type photograph, Macbride 

 36179). Among this assemblage, however, the character combination in C. 

 prostrata seems sufficient to justify specific recognition. 



