9. Psammisia KLOTZSCH Linnaea 24: 42 (1851). -- Lectotype: Psammisia falcata

(H.B.K.) KLOTZSCH.

Reference: LUTEYN, J. L., New species and notes on neotropical Ericaceae, Opera Bot. 92: 109--130 (1987).

Epiphytic or terrestrial shrubs. Leaves alternate, coriaceous, pinnate or plinerved, petiolate. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, subfasciculate or racemose with few to many flowers; pedicel bibracteolate. Flowers 5-merous, without odor; aestivation valvate; calyx articulate with the pedicel; hypanthium short-cylindric or campanulate; limb erect or spreading; lobes (2--4-) 5, ovate or triangular, apiculate or acute; corolla carnose, subcylindric, elongate urceolate or subglobose, the lobes triangular and subacute; stamen (8-) 10 (-12), equal, from about 1/3 to often nearly as long as the corolla; filaments equal, distinct or connate, the connectivess all or alternately 2-spurred (rarely spurs obscure or lacking), the spurs either acute and conspicuous or rounded and not very apparent; anthers equal, inserted dorsally near the base, stout, lacking disintegration tissue; thecae strongly granular; tubules distinct, 1/4 to about as long as the thecae, dehiscing by elongate introrse clefts; pollen lacking viscin threads; ovary inferior, 5-locular; style filiform and often exserted. Fruit a berry.

Psammisia consists of approximately 70 species ranging from Costa Rica southward into Bolivia and eastward to French Guiana and Trinidad.

1a.

Corolla subglobose, broadly urceolate, or cylindric-urceolate to cylindric-subglobose, up to 14 mm long.

2a.

Leaves plinerved.

3a.

Inflorescence with a conspicuous peduncle 2.5--6 cm long

..............................................................................P. dolichopoda

3b.

Inflorescence without a peduncle.

4a.

Leaves 10--30 cm long, the apex acuminate or cuspidate.

5a.

Leaves 13--25 cm long; rachis 0.4--2.2 cm long; calyx 8--11 mm long; corolla bright butter-yellow; staminal filaments distinct

............................................................P. flaviflora

5b.

Leaves 10--15 cm long; rachis 2--4 cm long; calyx 6--7 mm long; corolla coral-red; staminal filaments connate.

............................................................P. corallina

4b.

Leaves 2--10 cm long, the apex rounded to bluntly acute.

6a.

Inflorescence subfasciculate, 1--3-flowered; rachis 0.2--0.5 cm long; leaves 2--4 cm long; staminal filaments connate

............................................................P. cuyujaensis

6b.

Inflorescence racemose, 4--25-flowered; rachis 1--8 cm long; leaves 2--10 cm long, if less than 7 cm then densely pubescent beneath; staminal filaments connate or distinct.

7a.

Leaves beneath and inflorescences (corolla excepted) hoary-canescent; staminal filaments distinct.

...................................................P. incana

7b.

Leaves and inflorescences glabrous; staminal filaments connate

...................................................P. amazonica

2b.

Leaves pinnately nerved.

8a.

Lateral nerves 18--24 per side; leaf base rounded or broadly cuneate; calyx 4.5--8 mm long; corolla 8--9 mm long

................................................................................P. caloneura

8b.

Lateral nerves 2--10 per side.

9a.

Lateral nerves 2--5 per side (leaves rarely plinerved on the same plant)

.....................................................................P. graebneriana

9b.

Lateral nerves 5--10 per side.

10a.

Leaves chartaceous; corolla cylindric, 10--15 (-16) mm long; anthers 6--7.5 mm long

............................................................P. sodiroi

10b.

Leaves coriaceous or subcoriaceous; corolla globose to urceolate, or cylindric to conical, 7--9 mm long; anthers less than 6 mm long.

11a.

Calyx lobes apiculate, less than 1 mm long; anthers conspicuously spurred; leaves often appearing asymmetric; stem without bracts

...............................................P. sclerantha

11b.

Calyx lobes well developed, 2--3 mm long; anthers without spurs; leaves symmetric; stem with bracts 5--10 mm long scattered along the length

..............................................P. idalima

1b.

Corolla tubular, cylindric or cylindric-urceolate, usually greater than 14 mm long (shorter in P. fallax, P. debilis, and P. sclerantha).

12a.

Leaves pinnately nerved.

13a.

Corolla less than 10 mm long

..............................................................................P. sclerantha

13b.

Corolla greater than 10 mm long.

14a.

Calyx hypanthium bluntly 5-winged or deeply grooved; leaf lamina papillose on both surfaces due to internal hydathodes

...................................................................P. oreogenes

14b.

Calyx hypanthium terete; leaf lamina not papillose as above.

15a.

Corolla 17--21 mm long; leaf lamina beneath with circular, concave glands 0.2--0.5 mm diam

..........................................................P. montana

15b.

Corolla 8--15 (-17) mm long; leaf lamina with or without glands as above.

16a.

Corolla 8--11 mm long, white at extreme base turning red to dark wine-red in lower 1/2 then pale green in upper 1/4, the limb and lobes white; anthers 5 mm long

.................................................P. debilis

17a.

Rachis ca 0.7--1 cm long, usually glabrous; inflorescence (1-) 2--3 (-5)-flowered; leaves glabrous beneath, flat, the nerves not conspicuously impressed above, the lamina not bullate

.......................................14a. var. debilis

17b.

Rachis 2--3.5 cm long, densely short-pilose; inflorescence 4--5-flowered; leaves short-pilose along nerves beneath, weakly bullate, the nerves conspicuously impressed above

.......................................14b. var. ecuadorensis

16b.

Corolla 10--15 (-16) mm long, orangish-red in lower 2/3 and green in upper 1/3; anthers 6--8 mm long.

18a.

Calyx 6--7 mm long; corolla 10--15 (-16) mm long, gradually tapering distally and there without glandular fimbriae, the lobes 2--3 mm long; leaves without circular glands on lamina beneath

.......................................P. sodiroi

18b.

Calyx 3--4 mm long; corolla 15 mm long, distinctly and abruptly constricted distally and there glandular-fimbriate, the lobes ca 3--4 mm long; leaves with circular glands on lamina beneath

.......................................P. orientalis

12b.

Leaves plinerved.

19a.

Calyx lobes 4--8 mm long, often irregularly fused into 3--4, these often bifid.

20a.

Rachis 1--2 (-3.5) cm long; plants essentially glabrous throughout; Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe provinces (and adjacent Peru)

.....................................................................P. fissilis

20b.

Rachis (4-) 5--26 cm long; plants usually pubescent, sometimes densely; Esmeraldas south to Loja (and adjacent Colombia).

21a.

Inflorescence densely ferruginous-tomentose, with septate hairs; calyx lobes 5; bracteoles 6--10 mm long; staminal filaments connate

............................................................P. ferruginea

21b.

Inflorescence subglabrous or short-pilose, with simple hairs; calyx lobes 3 or 4; bracteoles 3.5--4.5 (-5) mm long; staminal filaments distinct

............................................................P. ecuadorensis

19b.

Calyx lobes not exceeding 4 mm in length, usually 5 although the limb sometimes irregularly split.

22a.

Staminal filaments connate for at least half their length

....................................................................P. columbiensis

22b.

Staminal filaments distinct (or only weakly connate at very base).

23a.

Anther spurs obscure or essentially lacking.

24a.

Corolla 15--29 mm long, distally conspicuously constricted and narrowed, the throat short, ca 7--8 mm long; leaves 5--10 x 1.5--3 cm; inflorescence strictly racemose, 4--7-flowered; pedicel 8--13 mm long; floral bracts 1--2.5 mm long; rachis 1--1.2 cm long; anther connectives alternately weakly spurred

...................................................P. aurantiaca

24b.

Corolla (18-) 20--37 mm long, basally or medially conspicuously constricted and narrowed, the throat long, ca 9--18 mm long; leaves (10-) 20--40 x (4-) 6--13 (-17.5) cm long; inflorescence a corymbose raceme, 8--23 (-35)-flowered; pedicel 20--60 mm long; floral bracts 2--5 mm long; rachis 0.7--5 (-6) cm long; anther connectives without spurs.

25a.

Rachis 0.7--2 cm long; leaves apically tapering and long-acuminate, basally rounded or cuneate, but not attenuate onto petiole; calyx hypanthium campanulate, broadly rounded at the base, conspicuously articulate with the pedicel, broader than long

..........................................P. ulbrichiana

25b.

Rachis 2--5 (-6) cm long; leaves usually apically abruptly long-acuminate, basally narrowed and short-attenuate onto the petiole; calyx hypanthium narrowed, cylindric, truncate at the base, sometimes inconspicuously articulate with the pedicel, often longer than broad

..........................................P. aberrans

23b.

Anther spurs obvious to prominent.

26a.

Rachis 5--8 cm long, clearly pedunculate; calyx 11--15 mm long

.......................................................P. chionantha

26b.

Rachis 0.5--6 cm long, not pedunculate; calyx 4--9 (-13) mm long.

27a.

Corolla 15--18 mm long; calyx ca 4 mm long; rachis 0.5--1.2 cm long

..........................................P. roseiflora

27b.

Corolla (18-) 27--35 (-40) mm long; calyx 4--9 (-13) mm long; rachis 0.7--6 cm long.

28a.

Pedicels 20--40 (-55) mm long; calyx lobes prominent, 3, 4 or 5 in number, often in a state of fusion, 1--3 mm long; anthers 9--10 mm long

.................................P. guianensis

28b.

Pedicels 10--14 mm long; calyx lobes lacking (i.e., limb truncate) or 5, apiculate, and less than 0.4 mm long; anthers 6--7 mm long

.................................P. elliptica