1957] 



THE BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLAND— PART II 



279 



10 cm tall and to 2 cm thick, surmounted by a very dense crown of leaves; leaves 

 herbaceous, rather bright-green on both surfaces, shiny, grass-like, 5-7 cm long, 

 about 4 mm wide at the middle and 6 mm wide at the base, gradually tapering 

 from the base to the acute apex, entire, long-ciliate with whitish hairs on the 

 margins, the cilia spreading and conspicuous especially on younger leaves, 

 otherwise glabrous on both surfaces, many- striate with parallel veins, not fenes- 

 trate; peduncles very numerous, filiform, light-brown, erect, 10-13 cm long, 

 rather obscurely 4-costate, more or less pilose-pubescent with appressed or 

 slightly spreading antrorse hairs; sheath about 1.5 cm long, usually hidden by 

 the surrounding leaves, very closely appressed to the peduncle, brown, glabrous 

 except at the long-pilose mouth, the blade very small, about 2 mm long, erect, 

 closely appressed, acute or acuminate, long-ciliate; heads obconic, gray, about 

 5 mm wide, sometimes binary; involucral bractlets brownish-stramineous, herba- 

 ceous, lanceolate, about 1.5 mm long, 0.75 mm wide, attenuate-acute at the apex, 

 appressed-pilose on the back; receptacle long-pilose; flowers sessile; recepta- 

 cular bractlets oblanceolate, pale-stramineous or yellowish, navicular, concave, 

 about 2.5 mm long, 0.5 mm wide, subacute at the apex, long-pilose at the base, 

 barbate at the apex; staminate florets not seen; pistillate florets: sepals 3, sep- 

 arate, oblong-elliptic, about 1.7 mm long, 0.6 mm wide, subhyaline, obtuse or 

 subacute at the apex, short-pilose on the back; petals 3, hyaline, oblong, about 

 1.2 mm long, 0.2 mm wide, subacute at the apex, long-pilose at the apex on the 

 back; style slender, stramineous, about 1 mm long, glabrous, its 3 appendages 

 borne about 0.5 mm from the base; stigmas 3, terminating the style. 



Type: Bassett & Celia K. Maguire 35314; below the summit of Cerro Yutaje, 

 alt. 2100 m, Serrania Yutaje, Rio Manapiare, Amazonas, Venezuela, between 

 February 17th and 19th, 1953, New York Botanical Garden. Several heads were 

 dissected and no staminate florets discovered. Possibly the species is dioeci- 

 ous. The collectors note that it is "rare, one specimen only seen." 

 Leiothrix flavescens var. alpina Moldenke, var. nov. 



Haec varietas a forma typica speciei recedit foliis 1.4-7 cm longis obscure 

 puberulis vel utrinque glabris nitidisque et vaginis obscure puberulis vel glabris 

 nitidisque. 



This variety differs from the typical form of the species in having its leaves 

 only 1.4-7 cm long, very obscurely puberulent or glabrous and shiny on both sur- 

 faces, and the sheaths very obscurely puberulent or glabrous and shiny. 



TYPE: George Henry Hamilton Tate 1109, alt. 2200 m, Mount Auyan-tepui, 

 Bolivar, Venezuela, New York Botanical Garden. 



Paepalanthus capillaceus var. spiralis Moldenke, var. nov. 



Haec varietas a forma typica speciei foliis regulariter spiraliterque undulatis 

 recedit. 



This variety differs from the typical form of the species in having all of its 

 leaves regularly contorted in a spirally undulate or corkscrew fashion. 



TYPE; Bassett Maguire & D. B. Fanshawe 32292, in rapidly running water of 

 a river at 1250 m alt., Maipuri Falls, Karaurieng River, Imbaimadai Savannas on 

 the Upper Mazaruni River, British Guiana, October 25, 1951, New York Botanical 

 Garden. The collector notes that it is an abundant aquatic perennial at this lo- 

 cality and completely uniform in regard to leaf-character throughout the colony. 

 Paepalanthus fulgidus Moldenke, sp. nov. 



Herba perennis; caulibus elongatis dense foliosis simplicibus erectis; foliis 

 subcoriaceis erectis dein patentibus denique reflexis dense imbricatis subacutis 

 utrinque parce albo-pilosis dein glabrescentibus; pedunculis stramineis 4-costatis 

 minute pilosulis; vaginis arete adpressis multistriatis minute albido-pilosulis, 



