6. Mendoncia mirabilis Leonard, sp. nov. FIGURE 5 Planta volubilis, caulibus quadrangularibus, leviter sulcatis, hirsu- tis, pilis patentibus vel leviter retrorsis, palide brunneis; lamina folio- rum membranacea, oblongo-ovata vel elliptica, apice breviter acumi- nata vel subapiculata, basi rotundata vel obtusa, in petiolum decurrens, parce hisuta, supra pilis e basi stellata orientibus instructa; flores solitarii, axillares; pedicelli pilosi; bracteae membranaceae, oblongo- ovatae, apice rotundatae, mucronatae, basi cordatae, hirsutae; corolla alba, glabra, lobis rotundatis; ovarium glabrum. Slender twiner up to 5 meters high; stems subquadrangular, shallowly sulcate, hirsute, the hairs straight, spreading or slightly retrorse, up to 1.25 mm. long, light brown; leaf blades oblong-ovate to elliptic, 6 to 10 cm. long and 5.5 cm. wide, short-acuminate and subapiculate at tip, rounded to obtuse at base and decurrent on the petiole, thin, both surfaces sparingly hirsute, the hairs ascending, up to 1 mm. long, those of the upper surface arising from flat rounded more or less star-shaped bases, the costa and lateral veins (3 or 4 pairs) barely conspicuous; petioles up to 2.5 cm. long, pilose, the hairs ascending, up to 1 mm. long, confined mostly to the channels; flowers solitary, borne in the axils of the leaves, the peduncles 3 to 3.5 cm. long, 1 mm. thick at base, gradually enlarged to 2.5 mm. at tip, retrorsely pilose, the hairs up to 1 mm. long, the bracts oblong- ovate, subpanduriform, rounded and mucronate at tip, cordate at base, 4.5 to 5 cm. long, 23 to 25 mm. wide near base, 20 to 23 mm. wide near middle, thin, hirsute, the hairs spreading or ascending, brownish, up to 1 mm. long, the costa and veins obscure; corolla 6 cm. long, white, bearing a dark blotch at throat (Haught), glabrous, the tube sub- cylindric, 1 cm, broad at base, about 8 mm. broad at middle, 12 mm. broad at throat, the limb 32 mm. broad, oblique, the lobes rounded, about 13 mm. long and wide; calyx thin, cupular, subhyaline; ovary glabrous; capsule not seen.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 1950200, collected at edge of forest near Nicoclí, Department of Antioquia, Colombia, alti- tude 50 meters, June 27, 1946, by Oscar Haught (No. 4922). An isotype is likewise in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 1950201. Mendoncia mirabilis is related to M. speciosa but differs in having smaller leaf blades and cordate subpanduriform bracts. The leaf blades of M. speciosa are usually 10 to 17 cm. long instead of 6 to 10 cm. as in M. mirabilis, and its bracts are ovate, rounded, and connate at base,