Aphelandra decorata (Nees) D. C. Wassh.

Aphelandra decorata (Nees) Wasshausen

Stenandrium decoratum Nees in Martius, Fl. Bras. 9:79. 1847.

Lagochilium decoratum Nees in de Candolle, Prodr. 11:291. 1847.

Decumbent herb, the reclining portion rooting, the erect portion 5–10 cm high, strigose-hirsute; leaf blades oblong-oval, 8–10 cm long, obtuse at apex, narrowed at base, reticulate, entire, the costa and veins bordered with a narrow band of white or yellow, strigose; petioles 6–10 mm long, strigose-hirsute; spike short, up to 2 cm long, terminal, sessile; bracts obovate-cuneate, acute and mucronate, 9 mm long, 4 mm wide, 3–5-nerved, the nerves ending in small ascending teeth, more or less hirsute; corolla red, somewhat glabrous, about 1.3 cm long, the tube shorter than the throat, the lobes subequal, ovate, the upper slightly shorter than the lower; stamens included.

TYPE.—Sellow 114 and 234 (holotype B, destroyed), Brazil, locality not given. A photograph (F photo 8703) of a Sellow specimen at Berlin gives the following data: Southern Brazil, between Campo and Vitoria.

DISTRIBUTION.—Known only from the typelocality.

The photograph of A. decorata shows a close affinity with A. ornata. As no specimens other than the Sellow photograph were available for study, the description was compiled largely from the original.