Gaultheria glabra A. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 7: 596. 1839. Brossea glabra (A. P. de Candolle) O. Kuntze, Rev. gen. pl. 2: 388. 1891. Type. Peru. Amazonas: Prov. Chachapoyas, Mathews s.n. (holotype, G-DC fragment). Note: There are many sheets with the label Peru, Prov. of Chachapoyas, leg. Mathews, but it is impossible to say if they are isotypes. These may be seen in the following herbaria: BR, CGE, FI-Webb, G (photo F neg. 8627), GH, K, NY, OXF, P, W (photo F neg. 31956).
Gaultheria glabra A. P. de Candolle forma brachyphylla Herzog, Meded. Rijks. Herb. Leiden 27: 18. 1915. Type. Bolivia. Santa Cruz: Comarapa, 2400 m, Apr 1911 (fl), Herzog 1921 (holotype, L; isotypes, S, Z).
Erect shrub, (0.1-)0.5-2(-6) m tall;
mature stems terete, glabrous; bark reddish-brown, thin, cracking
into longitudinal strips; twigs subterete, sulcate, striate, angled,
glabrous or puberulent, sometimes with inconspicuous, short (0.1 mm long),
basally swollen, minutely gland-tipped hairs, reddish-brown; buds
ovate to 3 mm long, scales ovate, glabrous but ciliate. Leaves coriaceous,
elliptic to oblong, 1.5-5.5(-7) x 0.8-2(-3) cm, base broadly cuneate, obtuse,
or rounded, apex acute to rounded and often shortly and bluntly mucronate,
margin serrate-crenate, with each tooth terminating in a minute gland ca.
0.1 mm long, glabrous on both surfaces but conspicuously reddish- to
blackish-punctate especially beneath; midrib, lateral nerves (2-5
per side), and reticulate veinlets usually conspicuous and slightly raised
on both surfaces; petiole subterete, shallowly canaliculate above,
2-3(-4.5) mm long, glabrous or puberulent above, reddish-brown. Inflorescences
clustered at branch tips, axillary, racemose, 12-20-flowered; rachis
subterete, striate, bluntly angled, (3.5-)5.5-8.5 cm long, weakly to densely
white puberulent (densely short-pilose and sometimes also weakly short-hirsute
with basally swollen, minutely gland-tipped, ferruginous hairs to 0.4 mm
long), surrounded at base by a series of ovate to oblong, striate, glabrous,
ciliate bracts to 4 mm long; pedicels subterete, striate, 3-8(-13)
mm long, elongating to 20 mm after anthesis, puberulent (densely short-pilose),
usually weakly to conspicuously short-hirsute as on rachis but with hairs
only to 0.2 mm long; bracteoles nearly basal, membranous, striate,
ovate, 2-3 x 0.75-1.5 mm, acute to long-acuminate, ± glabrous (or
short-pilose), ciliate and marginally glandular-fimbriate; floral
bract membranous, striate, oblanceolate to oblong, (3-)5-6(-8) x 1-2 mm,
obtuse, glabrous or short-pilose, ciliate and marginally glandular-fimbriate.
Flowers usually nodding at anthesis; calyx 3-3.5(-4.3) mm long, lobes
ovate, 2-2.5(-3) x 1.6-2 mm, short-acuminate, glabrous without (or weakly
short-pilose at base), usually puberulent within, ciliate; corolla
urceolate, terete, 5-6.5 x 5-7 mm, glabrous without (or weakly puberulent),
short-pilose within, white to cream-colored when fresh, lobes ovate, 1-1.5
mm long, obtuse; stamens 3-4.5 mm long; filaments 2.2-3.3 mm
long, villous; anthers (0.8-)1.5-2 mm long, awns conspicuous;
ovary densely short-pilose; style 3-4 mm long, glabrous or short-pilose
basally. Fruiting calyx ca. 7-8 mm diam., glabrous, white to reddish.
Chromosome number: 2n=44 (Middleton & Wilcock, 1990b).
Distribution (Map). Commonly found from central Ecuador to north-central Bolivia in physiognomically drier sites than most Ericaceae. Habitats include montane cloud forest, cloud forest-páramo ecotone, open grassy páramo, shrubby slopes, seasonally dry secondary scrub, and ceja de la montaña at elevations from (1525-)2000-3200(-3900) m. Flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year.
Common names and uses. Peru: monte pespita (Cuzco); supaybasundi (Lambayeque); mulacis (Mito); maique de burro (Piura). Bees were noted collecting nectar from the flowers of Luteyn & Lebrón-Luteyn 5547.
Cultivated: E.