1952] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN ECUADOR 



73 



sinibus complanatis vel late obtusis; corolla cylindrica sub anthesi 8-9 mm. 

 longa 4-6 mm. diametro superne conspicue crasso-carnosa, lobis 5 deltoideis 

 circiter 2x2 mm. acutis sub anthesi inflexis; staminibus 10, filamentis submem- 

 branaceis pallidis ligulatis 2-3 mm. longis superne intus obscure puberulis in 

 connectivos latos omnibus obtuse sed manifeste calcaratos transeuntibus, antheris 

 4.5-6 mm. longis, thecis crassis subquadratis 3.5-4.5 mm. longis basi incurvatis 

 et obtusis in tubulos graciles 1-1.5 mm. longos cum rimis elongatis ovalibus 

 abrupte angustatis; stylo tereti corollam fere aequante stigmate obscure lobato; 

 fructibus juvenilibus late subglobosis ad 1 cm. latis calycis limbo persistente 

 inflexo et disco coriaceo pulvinato coronatis. 



Santiago-Zamora: Cordillera Cutucu, ridge between Rio Ontza and Rfo Chupiasa, 

 4,300-4,700 ft. elev., Nov. 17-Dec. 5, 1944, Camp E-1195 (type US 1,989,009; 

 dupl. NY) (leaves deep green above, pale green beneath, dull on both surfaces; 

 pedicels and hypanthium coral-red; corolla green in bud, red as it begins to open, 

 and purple with age). Same locality and altitude, ridge ascending into central 

 Cutucu, Camp E-1156 (small shrubs 1 m., epiphytic or terrestrial; pedicels and 

 calyx deep coral-red; corolla green, carnose, very hard when open; plants later 

 seen in shade, with nearly white flowers). 



Psammisia sclerantha is another of the species with pinnatinerved leaves, 

 characterized by having the calyx-limb and distal part of its corolla extraordinar- 

 ily thick in texture and its anthers with broad, spurred connectives and very short, 

 slender tubules. From P. sodiroi Hoer. and the other species of this alliance 

 except P. oreogenes Sleumer, the new species differs in its merely denticulate 

 (rather than conspicuously lobed) calyx-limb. Psammisia oreogenes, however, has 

 comparatively short-petioled leaves and a differently proportioned calyx (the limb 

 being shorter and thinner) and anthers. 



Psammisia columbiensis Hoer. Bot. Jahrb. 42: 303. 1909. 



Azuay: The eastern Cordillera, 1-8 km. north of the village of Sevilla de Oro, 

 8,000-9,000 ft. elev., Camp E-4470 (large vine, scrambling to 7 m.; leaves deep 

 green and dull above, pale and subnitid beneath; peduncles bright green; pedicels 

 red at base, becoming crimson above; hypanthium dull crimson, the calyx-lobes 

 tipped with yellow; corolla doubly constricted, crimson to second constriction, the 

 apex and lobes white; filaments united at base; immature fruit dull green). 



I am unable to distinguish the cited specimen from P. columbiensis, typified 

 by a specimen from Cauca and also now known from Antioquia and Putumayo in 

 Colombia. The species is characterized by its narrow, few-nerved leaves, its 

 elongate inflorescence, and its flowers of medium size for the genus, with large 

 calyx-lobes and connate filaments. The Camp collection has the filaments only 

 loosely united and the anthers very inconspicuously spurred, these points of dif- 

 ference from typical material being the only ones observed. 



Another specimen that should be considered here is: Camp E-1144 (Santiago- 

 Zamora: Cordillera Cutucu, ridge ascending into central Cutucu, 4,400-4,700 ft. 

 elev., a high-climbing often epiphytic vine; pedicels, calyx, and base of corolla 

 deep coral-red, the apex of corolla white). This specimen differs from no. 4470 

 and Colombian material of the species in having its leaf-blades thinner in texture 

 and with more obvious venation, and in having its anthers only about 7 mm. (rather 

 than 10-11 mm.) long; the filaments are clearly connate in some flowers and 

 essentially free in others, while the inflorescence is characteristically elongate. 

 Until a more comprehensive suite of specimens of this immediate alliance is 

 available, I hesitate to suggest that more than one species is included, although 

 this may prove to be the case. 



