Gaultheria vaccinioides ß humilis Weddell, Chlor. andin. 2: 176. 1860. Type. Bolivia. La Paz: Larecaja, Cordillera de Sorata, Alto de Ticonguaya, 3000-3400 m, Jan-Mar 1857 (fl, fr), Mandon 555 [holotype, P; isotypes, G, GH, L, NY(2x), P, S, W].
Gaultheria saxicola Weddell, Chlor. andin. 2: 174. 1860. Type. Bolivia. Chuquisaca: Tomina, Monte Curi, Dec 1845-Jan 1846 (fl), Weddell 3772 (holotype, P, photo F neg. 38263; isotype, frag. F, P).
Gaultheria barosmoides Rusby, Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 4: 313. 1907. Type. Bolivia. Yungas, Jan 1895(?) (fl, fr), Bang 707 (holotype, NY; isotypes, E, F, photo F neg. 59465, G, GH, K, M, MICH, MO, US, photo NY neg. 12066, W).Rhizomatous or stoloniferous, caespitose subshrub ca. 1 dm tall, to erect thick-stemmed shrub to 0.4(-rarely 2) m tall; mature stem terete, striate, glabrous; bark exfoliating in rectangular strips, reddish-brown; twigs subterete, bluntly angled, striate, puberulent and strigose to hirsute with basally swollen, eglandular, ferruginous, straight hairs to 1.5 mm long; buds ovate, complanate, scales ciliate otherwise glabrous. Leaves ovate, elliptic-ovate, to narrowly elliptic, (0.6-)0.9-1.8(-2.3) x (0.4-)0.6-1.1(-1.5) cm, base obtuse to rounded, or broadly cuneate and short-attenuate, apex acute (rounded), margin slightly incurved, conspicuously serrate to coarsely and bluntly toothed, glabrous above, scattered setose along lamina beneath with gland-tipped, often deciduous hairs to 0.2 mm long (also weakly strigose along midvein), midrib plane to slightly raised or impressed above and raised and conspicuous beneath, lateral nerves (2-3 per side) plane to slightly raised or impressed above and raised and conspicuous beneath, reticulate veinlets obscure above, slightly raised and ± conspicuous beneath; petiole subterete, flattened above, 1-2 mm long, puberulent to glabrous above. Inflorescence with flowers solitary in axils of normal leaves; pedicels subterete, 2-7(-11) mm long at anthesis but lengthening to 15 mm in fruit, puberulent or not (also short-hirsute with straight or crisped, eglandular or weakly gland-tipped hairs, or also mixed with setose gland-tipped hairs to 0.5 mm long, or puberulent only); bracteoles 2-6(-9), scattered along pedicel, ovate to oblong, 1.5-3.5 x ca. 2 mm, acute or obtuse, ciliate and often distally puberulent, usually also margin glandular-fimbriate; floral bract similar to bracteoles. Flowers with calyx 4-5.4(-7) mm long, lobes triangular-ovate, 2.7-4 x 2-2.3 mm, long-acuminate, often nearly reaching to corolla throat, ciliate and often distally puberulent without, densely puberulent distally within, usually also marginally glandular-fimbriate; corolla urceolate, terete or 5-angled when fresh, conspicuously inflated basally and constricted at throat at anthesis when fresh, 4.5-8 x 4-6 mm, pink to rose, glabrous within and without, lobes oblong, obtuse; stamens (2.5-)3.3-4 mm long; filaments (2-)2.3-3 mm long, glabrous; anthers (0.8-)1-1.3 mm long, awns conspicuous; ovary sparsely to densely pilose to short-pilose to glabrous; style 3-4.2(-5) mm long, glabrous. Fruiting calyx globose, 5-9(-15) mm diam., glabrous, blue-black.
Distribution (Map). Found in disturbed forest, dry to humid rocky slopes, ceja, Polylepis forest, elfin forest, puna slopes, "ch'ampa," and often growing in Sphagnum habitats of Peru and northern Bolivia at elevations of (1400?)(2400-)3000-3500(-4570) m. Flowering and fruiting troughout the year.
Common names and uses. Peru: macha-macha
(Ancash); miumanka (Cuzco); tampe (San Martín). Steinbach
572 (from Cochabamba, Bolivia) reports the fruits to be "sweet." However
in Ancash and Cuzco (Peru) the fruits are said to intoxicate or "to
be poisonous to cows." This adverse reaction to the fruits is similar
to that reported for Pernettya prostrata, a frequent associate,
and may perhaps be the result of a case of mistaken identity.