|
|
Family: Acanthaceae
|
Herbs or shrubs usually up to 2 meters high but sometimes becoming scandent and reaching 10 meters in height, the upper portions of the stems subquadrangular, glabrous or sparingly puberulous, the hairs up to 0.2 mm. long, subappressed or ascending, septate, the cystoliths few or sometimes numerous and parallel, the lower portions of the stems tough, woody, subterete, glabrous, sparingly branched, the bark brown and becoming shredded; leaves of each pair unequal, the smaller leaf of each pair alternating with the larger of the next pair, the blades oblong-lanceolate or oblong-obovate, up to 30 cm. long and 9 cm. wide, slightly panduriform, more or less slenderly acuminate, the tip slender, narrowed to a rounded narrow subcordate base, rather firm, entire or undulate, both surfaces nitid, glabrous or sparingly puberulous, the hairs ascending, the costa, lateral veins (14 to 16 pairs) and the coarsely reticulated veinlets prominent beneath, obscure. above, the cystoliths obscure; petioles thick (unwinged portions), glabrous or sparingly hirtellous, the cystoliths sometimes numerous; flowers numerous, borne in terminal pyramidal panicles up to 30 cm. long and 26 cm. wide, the nodes bearing 3 or 4 branches, the branches of the ultimate nodes slender, 1 to 3 cm. long, several- flowered, dichotomously branched, forming lax dichasia or the flowers sometimes secund on the racemes; peduncles up to 6 cm. long, these and the rachises sparingly to rather densely hirtellous, the hairs ascending, up to 0.25 mm. long, septate, the pedicels slender, hir- tellous, up to 5 mm. long; bracts subulate, up to 1 cm. long, 1.5 mm. wide at the base, sparingly hirtellous, the lowermost often foliaceous; calyces up to 4.5 mm. long, the segments 4 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide at base, gradually narrowed to an acute tip, sparingly hirtellous with ascending hairs about 0.06 mm. long; corollas purplish blue or lilac, 10 to 17 mm. long, sparingly puberulous with a mixture of glandular papilliform hairs (about 0.03 mm. long) and curved ascending eglandular ones up to 0.13 mm. long, the corolla tube cylindric, 1 cm. long, 2 mm. broad at base, narrowed to 1.5 mm. at 2 mm. above base, thence gradually enlarged to 2 mm. at mouth, or the tube of the smaller flowers only about 7 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide at base and 1 mm. wide at their narrowest point, the corolla lobes oval, 4 to 6 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide, rounded at the tip; stamens included, those of the smaller flowers 1.5 mm. long, the anthers 0.75 mm. long, the staminodes 0.5 mm. long, the stamens of the larger flowers 3.5 mm. long with anthers 1 mm. long, the staminodes 1 mm. long; capsules 16 mm. long, 3 mm. broad, about 2 mm. thick, the solid basal stipe about 1 cm. long and 1.25 mm. broad, the surface of the capsule glabrous or bearing a few small papilliform glandular hairs near tip, the retinacula curved, about 1.75 mm. long, the tip rounded, thin, finely striate and subfimbriate; seed ovate, flat, 3 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, the margin winged, the wing 1.5 mm. long at tip of seed, obtuse, rather densely puberulous with whitish hairs, the basal angle bearing a small, spikelike projection. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 1772005, collected in the Corcovada Region of the upper Río San Juan, in a dense forest on a ridge along the Yeracüí Valley, Intendencia of Chocó, Colombia, 200 to 275 meters, April 24, 25, 1939, by E. P. Killip (No. 35270). ANTIOQUIA: Mariquita, 2,200 meters altitude, February 1852, Triana 8.n. (K) CAUCA: Damp forests at Coteje, along the Río Timbiquí, 0 to 500 meters altitude, February 1898, Lehmann s.n. (K). CHOCÓ: Between Carmen de Atrato and Tutunendo, 500-600 meters, July 25, 26, 1944, Garcia-Barriga 11128 (US). La Concepcion, 15 km. east of Quibdó, 75 meters altitude, April 20 to May 23, 1931, W. A. Archer 2097 (US). Be- tween La Oveja and Quibdó, April 1-2, 1931, W. A. Archer 1673 (US). Tutunendo, 20 km, north of Quibdó, 80 meters altitude, May 19, 20, 1931, W. A. Archer 2120 (US). Damp woods along the Río Huanchiradó (Cuenca del Atrato), June 2, 3, 1949, Rosa Scolnik 1636 (NY). EL VALLE: Quebrada del Corosal, Río Cajambre, 0-5 meters altitude, May 17, 1944, Cuatrecasas 17736 (NY). San Isidro, Río Cajambre, 5-100 meters altitude, May 2-5, 1944, Cuatrecasas 17317 (NY). META: Tiramena, Llano de San Martin, 250 meters altitude, J. Triana s.n. (Col). Pseuderanthemum chilianthium must be an attractive plant with its large dense panicles of lilac flowers. Archer states that the pedicels are also colored like the corollas. Archer's No. 2120, representing the small flowered form, has lavender colollas with darker stripes on the lobes. The plant of the holotype had leaves deep purple beneath. More material should be examined before any of these variations can be used as characters on which to base varieties or closely related species. The specific epithet is from the Greek xo-, thousand, and ǎvetov, blossom, in allusion to its numerous flowers. |