192 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW STORE BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[vol. 10 



white, the lobes pink; 10 Jul 1959, J. J. Wurdack t& L, S. Adderley 43383 (holo- 

 type NY, isotype VEN). 



This species differs from C. decorticans Spruce, its nearest affinity, in the 

 shorter and differently colored corolla, the more broadly infundibuliform limb 

 of the corolla, the longer petaloid appendage of the calyx, the shorter style, the 

 rounded instead of acute or abruptly acute calyx-lobes, and the somewhat shorter 

 stipules. 



Capirona decorticans Spruce, Jour. Linn. Soc. 3 : 200. 1859. 



VENEZUELA. Amazonas: near Base ( amp. CerrO Sipapo (Paraque); in 

 forest along trail; alt. 125 m; tree 7 m high; 25 Jan 1949, Maguire & Politi 

 28613 (NY). 



The species has not been reported previously from Venezuela. 



Chalepophyllum Hook. f. in Benth. & Hook. Gen. PI. 2: 50. 1873; Ic. PI. t. 111-. 

 1873. 



This genus was based upon C. guyanense Hook. f. in Hook. Tc. 12. pi. 771*. 

 1873, collected by Schomburgk in "British Guiana.'' The flowers were described 

 as being "solitarii, breviter pedicellati. ' ' with the lobes "late oblongi" and 

 "obtusi," the capsule as "septicide 2-valvis." In Carolus Schumann's treatment 

 in Martius's Flora Brasiliensis 6(6) : 246. 1889. the capsule is described as 

 glabrous ("ut videtur glabra"). In the plate referred to, the leaves are shown 

 as of an obovate type, the flowers are solitary on short pedicels, and the corolla- 

 lobes are rounded at the summit and only half the length of the corolla-tube. 



In the collections of this species made subsequently in British Guiana and 

 adjacent Venezuela, it is evident that there is considerable variation in foliage 

 and flower, even on the same plant. Leaf-blades are found to vary from oval- 

 oblong to suborbicular and nearly as broad as long to oblong-obovate or obovate 

 and up to 2 1/2 times as long as broad, the flowers may be solitary on short 

 pedicels or two or three together borne on an elongated peduncle up to 5 cm long, 

 and the corollas may be variable on the same plant, differing not only in relative 

 length of tube but in the type of apex from rounded or obtuse to distinctly 

 acuminate. Moreover, the capsules are appressed-pubescent with varying degrees 

 of pubescence. Such variation is well brought out in the collections by Maguire & 

 Fanshawe 23169 from British Guiana and Stcycrmark & Nilsson 348 from Ven- 

 ezuela, showing complete ranges of variation. In the latter collection some of the 

 calyx-lobes are greatly elongated to 17 mm long and some of the capsules are as 

 much as 18 mm long. 



These polymorphic variations make it necessary to emend the original descrip- 

 tion as follows : 



Chalepophyllum guianense Hook, f . var. guianense 



Folia variabilia, laminis ovali-oblongis vel suborbicularibus vel oblongo- 

 obovatis 2-9 cm longis 1.5-5.5 cm latis, in petiolum ad 10 mm Ion gum angustata ; 

 floribus solitariis breviter pedicellatis vel inflorescentiis axillaribus ad 5 cm longe 

 pedunculatis cum floribus 1-4 ; calycis tubo turbinato adpresso-canescenti, lobis 

 subaequalibus vel valde inaequalibus ovatis vel lanceolatis vel oblongo-spatulatis 

 obtusis vel acutis 2-17 mm longis 1-3.5 mm latis ; corollis variabilibus, tubo 10-16 

 mm longo, lobis ovatis vel ovato-ovalibus obtusis vel acuminatis 8-12 mm longis ; 



