1953] 



BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLAND 



111 



longo, ovarium ca. 1 cm. longum, 8- 12-ovulare, stylo ca. 3 cm. longo, glabro, 

 stigmate terminali, capitato; fructus ignotus. 



TYPE: tree 5 m. tall in mixed forest, petals bright orange-red, Cano Cuao, 

 Territorio Amazonas, Venezuela, February 2, 1949, Bassett Waguire & Louis Po- 

 liti 28700; Ne* York Botanical Garden. Paratype: Base Camp, Cano Cuao, Febru- 

 ary 11, 1949, Waguire & Politi 28968-A. 



B, similis, so-named because of the characters it shares with several other 

 species, has its nearest relatives in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador in the spe- 

 cies B. ariza, B. herthae, B. loretensis, and B. multijuga; only one other spe- 

 cies in Venezuela, B. grandiceps, has the multifoliolate leaves of the new spe- 

 cies; B. grandiceps may be recognized by its immense heads of flowers and 

 the densely strigose leaf parts. Of the previously mentioned species the new 

 one is perhaps most nearly related to B. ariza and B. multijuga. It may be sep- 

 arated from these by the sulcate- quadrangular branchlets, which character is 

 shared with B. grandiceps. The very strongly oblique leaflet bases of 8. similis 

 also distinguish it from either of its nearest relatives, but this is also character- 

 istic of B. loretensis to nearly as great a degree; the latter has larger petals and 

 the stem is subterete and glabrous. The sepals of B. similis tre longer than those 

 of its near relatives and the shape of the petals is also somewhat different. From 

 B. herthae the new species may be separated on its glabrous sepals and much 

 smaller inflorescence. 



The specimens cited above show considerable variability in the number of 

 leaflets per leaf and in their dimensions; the vegetative leaves have about ten 

 pairs of leaflets which measure about 15 cm. long and 4.5 cm. wide. However, 

 leaflets of leaves subtending the inflorescence are much smaller, averaging about 

 10 cm. long and 3 cm. wide, and the number of pairs is about five. 



Campsiandra Benth. Jour. Bot. Hook. 2: 93. 1840. 



Several collections of this genus were made and efforts toward their identifi- 

 cation were quite unsatisfactory in the published literature; it therefore seemed 

 profitable to undertake an introductory study of the genus. Besides the materials 

 which are deposited in the Herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden (NY), the 

 collections in the U. S. National Herbarium (US), including one type, were bor- 

 rowed and studied. To this organization and particularly to F. P. Killip, I wish to 

 express my appreciation for this cooperation. 



Key to the Species and Varieties of Campsiandra 



1. Calyx tube 2-3 mm. long, 2-3 mm. in diameter at apex, sepals mostly lanceolate or ob- 

 long-lanceolate, about 1.5 mm. wide. Petals plane or margins a little inflexed. Stipe 

 of ovary 2.5-3 mm. long. Leaflets completely glabrous above. (Plants principally of 

 headwaters of Amazon River in Brazil, Peru and Colombia). ... 2. C. angustifolia 



1. Calyx tube 4-5 mm. long, 3.5-5 mm. diameter at apex, sepals mostly ovate-triangular or 



lance-ovate, 2.5-3 mm. wide. Petals moderately cucullate. Stipe of ovary 4-10 mm. 

 long. Leaflets appressed-pubescent or glabrous above. (Plants principally of north- 

 ernmost Brazil and Venezuela or British Guiana.) ( C. comosa) 2 



2. Leaflets appressed-puberulent above. Sepals mostly ovate-triangular, about 2 mm. long. 



Filaments 3.5-4 cm. long. Style 3.5-5 cm. long, stipe of ovary 7-10 mm. long. 



(Plants of northernmost Brazil and Venezuela.) lb. C. comosa var. laurifolia 



2. Leaflets glabrous above. Sepals mostly lance-ovate, 3-4 mm. long. Filaments about 2.5 

 cm. long. Style 2 cm. long, stipe of ovary 4-4.5 mm. long. (Plants endemic to British 

 Guiana.) la. C. comosa var. comosa. 



1. Campsiandra comosa Benth. 

 la. Campsiandra comosa Benth. var. comosa. 



C. comosa Benth. Jour. Bot. Hook. 2: 93, as to type. 1840. 



C. surinamensis Kleinh. Rec. Trav. Bot. Neerl. 22: 406. 1925. 



