Aphelandra cuatrecasasii Leonard

Aphelandra cuatrecasasii Leonard

Aphelandra cuatrecasasii Leonard, Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herb. 31:204. 1953.

Aphelandra killipii Leonard, Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herb. 31:202. 1953.

Aphelandra craura Leonard, Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herb. 31:207. 1953.

Plants suffrutescent, erect, brittle, to 3 m high; stems thick, glabrous below, densely retrorsely strigose above, the hairs brownish; leaf blades oblongelliptic to obovate, to 28 cm long and 14.5 cm wide, acuminate, the tip blunt, narrowed from middle or slightly above the middle to the base and decurrent on the petiole, subcoriaceous, entire or undulate, the upper surface pale green, glabrous to sparingly strigose, the lower surface pale ashy and more densely strigose, the costa and lateral veins (10–14 pairs) rather prominent, more so beneath than above; petioles (unwinged portion) to 1 cm long, retrosely strigose similar to the stem; spike solitary, terminal, sessile, slenderly conic to ovoid, 10–12 cm long, 2 cm broad, the bracts rather loosely appressed, spreading with age, subtended by several small lanceolate, bractlike leaves, the rachis glabrous to strigose; bracts pale yellowish green, entire, coriaceous, oblong-elliptic, 30 mm long, 10–14.5 mm wide, slightly obtuse, mucronulate, apparently closely striate-nerved (the meshes of the reticulations compressed), opaque, bordered by a narrow subhyaline margin about 0.5 mm wide, the lower half of the bract strigose, the upper half glabrous; bractlets narrowly lanceolate, to 6 mm long, about 1 mm wide at base, thin, 3-nerved, subhyaline, sparingly strigose dorsally; calyx segments minute, ovate to triangular, 0.5–0.75 mm long and broad, acuminate, thin, subhyaline; corolla reddish to cream-white (Lehmann’s specimen at Kew), about 3 cm long, densely hirsute, the hairs more or less appressed, 0.75 mm long, brownish, the tube slender, 3.5 mm broad at base, 4–5 mm broad at mouth, the lips about equal, the upper lip oblong to ovate, 7 mm long and about 4 mm wide, bilobed at apex, the lobes rounded, 1.5–2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide at base, the middle lobe of the lower lip (spreading) oval, 9–10 mm long and 5.5–6 mm wide, rounded, the lateral lobes lanceolate to oblong, 8–10 mm long and 2.5–3 mm wide at middle, obtuse; stamens reaching the mouth of the corolla and probably slightly exserted; anthers barely 3 mm long, adhering by the webby, dorsally borne hairs; ovary glabrous; capsule not seen.

TYPE.—J.Cuatrecasas 16705 (holotype US), Colombia, Valle, La Trojita, along the Río Calima, 5–50 m alt, 19 Feb–10 Mar 1944.

DISTRIBUTION.—Endemic to Colombia, found in dense forests at low elevations in the departments of Chocó and Valle. COLOMBIA. CHOCÓ: La Concepcion, 15 km E of Quibdo, 75 m alt, 20 Apr–23 May 1931, Archer 2003 (US); Andagoya, 70–100 m alt, 20–30 Apr 1939, Killip 35374 (US, holotype of A. killipii Leonard). VALLE: 10–15 km E of Buenaventura, dense forest along highway, near sea level, 12 Apr 1939, Killip 34938 (US); along highway near Buenaventura, 100 m alt, 8 Dec 1946, Haught 5337 (US, holotype of A. craura Leonard); along Quebrada La Brea, near Cordoba, 7 Nov 1944, Core 1558 (US); Cordoba, 50–100 m alt, 17 Feb 1939, Killip & Garcia 33444 (US); Cordoba, Dagua Valley, forest along Río Calima, 80–100 m alt, 9 Oct 1922, Killip 11788 (US); Río Digua Valley, between La Elsa and Río Blanco, 825 m alt, 2–5 Apr 1939, Killip 34738 (US); near Buenaventura, Lehmann s.n. (K).

Aphelandra cuatrecasasii là một loài thực vật có hoa trong họ Ô rô. Loài này được Leonard mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1953.