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Family: Acanthaceae
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Vine; stems subquadrangular, glabrous or sparingly and minutely strigose, the bark sometimes separating in shreds loosely attached to the stems; leaf blades oblong-elliptic, up to 19.5 cm. long and 6.8 cm. wide, short-acuminate (the tip itself blunt), narrowed and acute or subacute at base, rather firm, entire or undulate, the upper surface glabrous, the cystoliths minute, up to 0.8 mm. long, the lower surface glabrous except the costa and veins (6 pairs), these sparingly strigose, the hairs up to 0.2 mm. long, the venation prominent, the veinlets coarsely reticulate; petioles up to 5 mm. long, glabrous or sparingly strigose; racemes terminal, slender, up to 25 cm. long, the peduncle 4 cm. long, 1 mm. in diameter, sparingly hirtellous, the hairs 0.25 mm. long, spreading or ascending, the lowermost internode of the raceme 6 cm. long, the others successively shorter toward the tip of the racemes, all rather densely hirtellous with curved ascending septate hairs up to 0.28 mm. long; bracts (the lowermost pair sterile) linear lanceolate, up to 5 mm. long and 0.5 mm. wide near base, hirtellous and ciliate; bractlets narrowly triangular, 1.5 mm. long, 0.25 mm. wide at base, acute, sparingly hirtellous and ciliate; flowers several at each node, the pedicels slender, up to 8 mm. long, hirtellous; calyx 3 to 4 mm. long, sparingly hirtellous, the tube campanulate, the segments triangular, 0.5 to 0.75 mm. wide at base, slenderly acuminate; flowers 2.5 cm. long, red, puberulous with hairs up to 1 mm. long, the tube 3 mm. broad at base, narrowed at 4 mm. above base to 1.25 mm., thence gradually enlarged to 6 mm. at mouth, slightly ventricose, densely and retrorsely pilose within near base, the lips subequal, 4 to 5 cm. long, the lobes 4 to 5 mm. long and 2.5 to 3 mm. wide, rounded, the margins rugose (dried flowers); stamens reaching the tip of the upper lip of the corolla, the filaments flattened, glabrous or bearing a few straight ascending hairs up to 0.24 mm. long, the anthers 3.25 mm. long and 1 mm. broad near base, the cells diverging, densely puberulous dorsally, the hairs stiff, spreading, up to 0.6 mm. long, the staminodes about two-thirds as long as the filaments of the fertile stamens, their filaments flat and glabrous, bearing sterile pilose an- thers, the hairs up to 0.16 mm. long; style somewhat shorter than the stamens, the stigma bilobed, the lobes minute, obtuse; ovary glabrous; Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 1932293, collected at the Hacienda Curiche, El Peñón, between the Ríos Bunque and Murca, Department of Cundinamarca, Colombia, 1,050 to 1,420 meters alti- tude, August 1-3, 1947, by H. García-Barriga (No. 12473). The similarity of the leaf blades and inflorescence of Odontonema ampelocaule and 0. schomburgkianum (Nees) Kuntze of British Guiana suggests a relationship between the two species. O. schom- burgkianum, however, is a shrub only about 1 meter high and has a glandular inflorescence and larger flowers (up to 4 cm. long). |