THE GENUS ESPELETIA * 
Paul C. Standley 
The genus Espeletia is a member of the Asteraceae, placed by 
Hoffman in the tribe HeHantheae, subtribe Melampodinae, in his 
treatment of the family in Engler and Prantl's Natiirlichen Pflanzen- 
familien.^ Although it has often been referred to other groups, 
systematists are now agreed as to its proper disposal. The plants 
are among the most conspicuous of the composites, because of the 
long wool which closely invests the leaves and inflorescence of most 
species, and because of the peculiar habit of growth of some members 
of the genus. The woolly covering is not peculiar to the Espeletias, 
however, some species of the genus Culcitium, for example, a member 
of the Senecioneae, closely simulating in their general appearance 
certain species of the present genus. 
Two species of Espeletia are tall, much branched shrubs. Others 
have a large tuft of radical leaves borne upon the surface of the 
ground from which one or more flowering stems rise. A few, like 
Espeletia grandiflora,^ develop tall, thick, erect caudices a meter high 
or more, which are naked below but bear at the summit a large cluster 
of leaves from which several flowering stems rise. In their habit of 
growth this group suggests some of the Senecios and Lobelias which 
abound in similar situations in the high mountains of, East Africa.^ 
The species are not numerous and are confined, so far as known, to 
the paramos of the high Cordilleras of Colombia and Venezuela, 
occurring usually at elevations of 3,000 meters, or more. The southern- 
most species, E. corymbosa, was collected not far from the southern 
border of Colombia, and it is not improbable that it or some related 
species may occur in Ecuador. 
The genus Espeletia was founded by Humboldt and Bonpland in 
1809,^ three species being described and illustrated. The name was 
* Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 
^ 4^: 216. 1890. 
2 See Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 4^: /. lOQ. 
3 See the National Geographic Magazine 27: 194, 196, 197, 200. 1915. 
^ PI. Aequin. 2:9. 
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