|
|
Family: Acanthaceae
|
Shrubs up to 3 meters high; stems subquadrangular, puberulous, the hairs upwardly appressed, up to 0.32 mm. long, brownish; leaf blades oblong-elliptic, up to 22 cm. long and 10.5 cm. wide, short-acuminate, acute at base, moderately firm, entire or undulate, the upper surface sparingly hirsute, the hairs 0.5 mm. long, the lower surface rather densely and evenly hirsute, the hairs ascending or appressed, about 0.5 mm. long, light brownish, the costa, lateral veins (18 to 20 pairs) and coarsely reticulated veinlets prominent beneath, obscure above; petioles up to 4 mm. long and 2 or 3 mm. thick, the pubescence that of the stems; spikes numerous, in 3's, forming a terminal panicle about 25 cm. long and 12 cm. broad, the peduncles up to 4 cm. long, the secondary peduncles 8 to 10 mm. long, all closely appressed-pubescent or subtomentose, the rachis floccose, the hairs brown; bracts reddish- green (Fosberg), ovate, 7 mm. long, 4 mm. wide, subacute, coriaceous, tomentose, the margins tomentose-ciliate, the glands in groups of three, elliptic, brown, well-defined, 0.46 mm. long, 0.16 mm. wide; bractlets linear-lanceolate, 2.5 mm. long and 0.25 mm. wide, subobtuse, glabrous, subhyaline, the posterior calyx segment ovate, 7 mm. long, 3 mm. wide near base, ciliolate toward tip, otherwise glabrous, striate- nerved, subobtuse, lateral segments lanceolate, 1 mm. wide, the an- terior segments lanceolate and 1.5 mm. wide, subacute, in other respects resembling the posterior segment; corolla scarlet, 4 to 5 cm. long, papillose-puberulent except the glabrous base, the corolla tube 1.5 mm. broad at base, slightly enlarging over the ovary, 8 mm. broad at mouth, the lips 12 mm. long, the upper lip erect with acuminate recurved tips, ovate, 7 mm. wide near base, the terminal lobes tri- angular, finely pilose on inner surface, 5 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide at base, the middle lobe of the lower lip recurved, lanceolate, 4.5 mm. wide at middle, slenderly acuminate, puberulous on the inner surface, the lateral segments small, subtriangular, subobtuse, adnate to the lowermost part of the upper lip; stamens nearly reaching the tip of the upper lip, the anthers 4.5 mm. long, 1 mm. broad, acute at both ends, arachnoid dorsally, otherwise glabrous, the filaments hirtellous at base, glabrous toward tip; ovary glabrous; capsules not seen. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 2045405, collected on forested hill east of the Río Valegrá and south of Quebrada Valegrá, in the Municipio of Chitagá, Department of Norte de Santander, Colombia, 2,000 meters altitude, November 16, 1942, by F. R. Fosberg (No. 19131). Alphelandra coccinantha would follow A. macrophylla in the key. It differs, however, from that species in its relatively shorter leaf blades, these evenly and rather densely hirsute beneath instead of glabrous or subglabrous. In A. macrophylla, furthermore, the panicles are smaller and the spikes are noticeably shorter and thicker, and, lastly, the corollas are orange-red instead of scarlet as in A. coccinantha. The specific epithet is from the Greek KóKKIPOS, Scarlet, and areos, flower. |