20. Themistoclesia KLOTZSCH Linnaea 24: 41 (1851). --Lectotype: Themictoclesia

pendula KLOTZSCH.

Reference: SLEUMER, H. O., Uber die Gattung Themistoclesia Kl. Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Mus. Berlin-Dahlem 13: 108--111 (1936).

Straggly to bushy, often epiphytic shrubs or shrublets. Leaves alternate, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, occasionally thick-fleshy, obscurely plinerved or rarely pinnate, short-petiolate. Inflorescence axillary, fasciculate, racemose, or flowers solitary; pedicel usually inconspicuously bibracteolate. Flowers (4-) 5-merous, without odor; aestivation valvate; calyx continuous with the pedicel, although seemingly articulate in T. alata ; hypanthium obconic or short-cylindric, strongly winged (T. alata ) or bluntly angled; limb erect to slightly spreading; lobes acute to acuminate, minute to well developed; corolla ovoid to cylindric, terete or angled but not winged; stamen 4--5 or 8--10, equal or alternately slightly unequal, more than 1/2 as long as the corolla and often about as long as the corolla tube; filaments distinct, slender and terete to somewhat flattened at the base, lacking spurs; anthers inserted medially or almost basally, lacking disintegration tissue; thecae smooth; tubules nearly equal to or about two times longer than the thecae, generally 2 and separate, rarely 1 by fushion, dehiscing by short, introrse clefts; pollen lacking viscin threads; nectariferous disc annular-pulvinate, glabrous or hispid; ovary inferior; style filiform, about as long as the corolla. Fruit a berry; seeds numerous, small, the embryo green and clearly visible through the surrounding tissue.

Themistoclesia is a genus of about 25 species ranging from Costa Rica and Panama through the Andes from Venezuela into Peru.

1a.

Leaves obovate to oblong, cuneate at base; pedicel to 2.5 mm long, seemingly articluate with the calyx; calyx strongly winged; corolla 3--4 mm long; staminal tubules fused into one tubule

.....................................................................................................T. alata

1b.

Leaves ovate to elliptic, rounded, subcordate, or obtuse at base; pedicel (3--) 6--22 mm long, continuous with the calyx; calyx not winged but conspicuously angled; corolla (6--) 7--11 mm long; staminal tubules 2, distinct.

2a.

Leaves involute, funnel-shaped, amplexicaul, surrounding and totally concealing the inflorescence

............................................................................................T. recondita

2b.

Leaves flat, petiolate, not surrounding nor concealing inflorescence.

3a.

Inflorescence with flowers solitary or few (2--3) in a fascicle; corolla 7 mm long, glabrous; pubescence of pedicel and calyx soft, white puberulent or short-pilose; nectariferous disc glabrous

...................................................................................T. inflata

3b.

Inflorescence with flowers (1-) 2--15 in short (but conspicuous) to elongate racemes; corolla 6--13 mm long, glabrous to hispid; pubescence of pedicel and calyx when present hispid; nectariferous disc glabrous to hispid.

4a.

Leaves apically short-acuminate or cuspidate, hispid beneath and also black-scurfy due to a fungus; corolla 6--8 mm long, hispidulous all over or restricted in lines along the length of the corolla opposite the lobes; rachis 5--10 mm long; pedicel 7--11 mm long

..........................................................................T. campii

4b.

Leaves apically long-acuminate, mucronate, glabrous, glabrate, or hispid beneath; corolla 9--13 mm long, glabrous or with pubescence restricted to the lobes; pedicel 6--20 mm long.

5a.

Corolla cream-colored; nectariferous disc glabrous; inflorescence 1--2-flowered; rachis 3--5 (-8) mm long; pedicel 8--10 mm long; corolla 9--13 mm long; pubescence of inflorescence and stem bright reddish-ferruginous

..................................................................T. orientalis

5b.

Corolla red; nectariferous disc hispid; inflorescence normally 3--15-flowered; rachis 0.3--3.5 cm long; pedicel 6--20 mm long; corolla 9--11 mm long; when present pubescence of inflorescence and stem dark and dull yellowish-brown.

6a.

Leaves 3--8 x 1.2--3.5 cm, flat, the base broadly rounded and usually subcordate, the apex often caudate-acuminate; pedicel 10--20 mm long; rachis 0.3--3.5 cm long

........................................................T. dependens

6b.

Leaves 1.7--2.8 (-3.5) x 0.8--1.4 cm, usually concave, sometimes weakly bullate, the base rounded, obtuse, or broadly cuneate, not subcordate, the apex acuminate and subulate with a mucro 3--7 mm long; pedicel 6--13 mm long; rachis to 5 (-8) mm long

........................................................T. epiphytica