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L161— O-1096
FIELDIANA: BOTANY
A Continuation of the
BOTANICAL SERIES
of
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
VOLUME 31
The Library of the
JAN 1 8 1979
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
CHICAGO, U. S. A.
520.5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
1. Two New Species of Palms from Nicaragua. By S. F. Glassman ... 1
2. Tropical American Plants, VI. By Louis O. Williams 11
3. Agriculture, Tehuacan Valley. By C. Earle Smith, Jr 49
4. Flora, Tehuacan Valley. By C. Earle Smith, Jr 101
5. Preliminary Studies in the Palm Genus Syagrus Mart, and Its Allies.
By S. F. Glassman 145
6. Tropical American Plants, VII. By Louis O. Williams 165
7. Supplement to Orchids of Guatemala. By Donovan S. Correll .... 175
8. Preliminary Notes on Scrophulariaceae of Peru. By Gabriel Edwin . . 223
9. New Species in the Palm Genus Syagrus Mart. By S. F. Glassman . . 233
10. Tropical American Plants, VIII. By Louis O. Williams 247
11. Notes on the Flora of Costa Rica, I. By William C. Burger 273
12. A New Eurystyles from Nicaragua. By Alfonso H. Heller 279
13. New Species in the Palm Genus Syagrus Mart. By S. F. Glassman . . 285
14. A Revision of the Family Geastraceae. By Patricio Ponce de Leon . . 303
15. Studies in American Plants. By Dorothy N. Gibson 353
16. Two New Nicaraguan Juglandaceae. By Antonio Molino R 357
17. Studies in the Palm Genus Syagrus Mart. By S. F. Glassman .... 363
18. Tropical American Plants, IX. By Louis O. Williams 401
PRELIMINARY STUDIES IN THE PALM GENUS
SYAGRUS MART. AND ITS ALLIES
S. F. GLASSMAN
muMuunreni
TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, VII
LOUIS 0. WILLIAMS
SUPPLEMENT TO ORCHIDS OF GUATEMALA
AND BRITISH HONDURAS
DONOVAN S. CORRELL
I
oo
FIELDIANA: BOTANY
VOLUME 31, NUMBERS 5, 6 AND 7
Published by
CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
DECEMBER 22, 1965
BIOLOGY LIBRARY
ifU BURRIU HALH
TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, VII
LOUIS 0. WILLIAMS
Chief Curator of Botany, Chicago Natural History Museum
FIELDIANA: BOTANY
VOLUME 31, NUMBER 6
Published by
CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
DECEMBER 22, 1965
PUBLICATION 998
Printed with the Assistance of
The Edward E. Ayer Lecture Foundation Fund
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-17730
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS
Tropical American Plants, VII
The notes which make up this small paper result from the study
of the Ericales for a forthcoming part of the Flora of Guatemala and
from the study of material from our recent collections in Central
America, as well as from material sent for determination.
Grants from the National Science Foundation for the Flora of
Guatemala and for Central American field work have assisted very
materially in our work.
CLETHRACEAE
Clethra oleoides L. Wms., sp. nov.
Arbor parva vel frutex usque ad 6 m. Folia elliptica vel elliptico-lanceolata,
acuta vel obtusa, glabra vel obscure pubescentes, punctato-glandulosa; inflores-
centia racemosa; lobi calycis ovati, acuti, ciliati; corolla alba, lobi libri vel ad basem
leviter adnati; petala oblongo-obovata vel late oblongo-ovata, emarginata et apice
truncata, laciniata; stamina 10.
Small evergreen trees or shrubs to 6 m. or more tall. Young branchlets gray,
terete, glabrous or essentially so; leaves elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, acute or ob-
tuse at the apex, mostly obtuse at the base, glabrous or rarely with a few peltate
scales, distinctly paler below and gray-green, densely but obscurely punctate-
glandular below, (2-) 3.5-8 cm. long and 1.5-3.5 cm. broad, petiole 3-8 mm. long;
inflorescence a several-flowered terminal raceme or sometimes several racemes in a
fascicle, about as long as or slightly longer than the subtending leaves, sparsely
peltate or stellate pubescent, becoming glabrous; flowers slightly cernuous and uni-
lateral on the rachis; pedicels short, about 3 mm. long; calyx-lobes ovate, acute,
about 3-3.5 mm. long, sparsely stellate or peltate pubescent, ciliate, obscurely
punctate-glandular; corolla white, the lobes free or only slightly adnate at the bases,
the lobes (petals) oblong-ovate to broadly oblong-oval, emarginate and the trun-
cate apex usually laciniate, 6-7 mm. long and 4-5 mm. broad, not all the same
shape in one flower; stamens 10, lightly attached at the base of the corolla or below
it and shorter than the lobes; pistil about 3 mm. long, trilobate at the stigmatic
apex; mature capsules not seen.
167
168
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 31
MEXICO : Flowers white, tree 20 feet, steep slope with Quercus on
the southwest side of Zontehuitz, municipio of Chamula, Chiapas,
alt. 8500 feet, July 30, 1964, Breedlove 6686 (F, type; DS).
GUATEMALA: Department of Huehuetenango, Steyermark 484.66,
49092, 49933, 51925, all sterile.
Most closely allied to Clethra gelida Standl. which is known only
from the paramolike region of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa
Rica.
The strong contrast between the color of the two sides of the
leaves as well as the many small punctiform glands on the lower sur-
face of the leaves remind one of Olea europaea L.
The Guatemalan material cited is all sterile but seems exactly to
match the type vegetatively.
FIG. 51. Clethra oleoides. A, Habit; X 1A. B, Expanded flower; X Yi. C, Bud
partly opened; X 4. D, Average petal; X Z}/z. E, Anther, X 20. F, Types of
pubescence from the inflorescence; X ± 20.
WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, VII 169
ERICACEAE
Cavendishia guatemalensis Loesner, Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 3:
221. 1903.
This is the commonest Cavendishia of Guatemala and quite a
variable one in need of detailed study. It is quite commonly used
as decoration for shrines or altars, or in homes at holiday times in
western Guatemala. The species should be found in Mexico but we
have no specimens from there.
Cavendishia guatemalensis var. chiapensis (Brandegee) L.
Wms. comb. nov. C. chiapensis Brandegee, Univ. Cal. Publ. Bot.
6: 188. 1915; A. C. Smith, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 28: 458. 1932.
This is nothing more than a glabrous variety of C. guatemalensis
and one more widely distributed than the typical pubescent variety.
It is known to me from Chiapas, Mexico, where it is not uncommon,
as well as from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
Chimaphila umbellata (L.) Barton var. mexicana (DC.) L.
Wms. comb. nov. C. umbellata /3 mexicana DC. Prodr. 7: 775. 1839.
C. mexicana Rydb. No. Am. Fl. 29: 31. 1914. C. umbellata mexicana
DC. ex Rydb. I.e., in synon.
The Mexican and Guatemalan specimens of this species seem to
vary but slightly from the typical Old World form and from the tem-
perate North American forms. To separate them all as species, fol-
lowing Rydberg, seems hardly justifiable.
GAULTHERIA IN GUATEMALA
The Gaultherias of tropical North America are certainly not one
of the easiest groups of plants to understand and as they are studied
one is impressed with the large number of names for one "swarm" of
plants. With a few exceptions, the characters which have been used
to segregate species in this genus are not impressive and those which
have been chosen, in lieu of any others, are obviously subject to vari-
ation which is almost endless. When Dr. Small revised Gaultheria
(No. Am. Flora 29: 73-80. 1914) he knew, or separated, 18 species
for the region from Mexico to Panama. Twelve of these were appar-
ently known from a single specimen, and nine were described as new.
Eleven new species and three varieties have been added to the list
from the same area since Small's revision of 1914. One begins to
wonder if perhaps the systematics of the group may not have degen-
170 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 31
erated to the naming of specimens rather than an attempt to name
biological units.
Dr. Standley accepted, with considerable reluctance, nine species
for Guatemala when he prepared the preliminary draft for the Flora
of Guatemala. We hope that the treatment which will appear in the
Flora of Guatemala will be more realistic. Certainly it will be easier
to use. We have reduced those Gaultherias accepted for Flora of
Guatemala to three and one of these (perhaps two) departs from
G. odorata in minor ways. There follows comments on those species
which have been credited to Guatemala.
G. odorata Willd. — A widespread species extending from Mexico
well into the South American Andes. The plant is quite common and
occasionally abundant in the highlands of Central America. It is
probably in all the departments of Guatemala that reach elevations
of more than 1600 meters. Many of the species which have been
segregated have been based on the kind and placement of pubescence.
The mass of material available indicates that there is almost as many
combinations of placement of pubescence as there are specimens. A
single specimen may have glandular-pubescent branchlets on one
branch and glabrous branchlets on another branch. The calyces
may be glandular-hispid on one flower and puberulent on its neigh-
bor. They change in size and proportion as the flowers mature and
when mature are quite fleshy and accrescent. The leaves are usually
oblong-ovate, ovate or even cordate and those on different branchlets
of the same branch may be quite different, especially if one branchlet
is fertile, the other sterile. They are almost always truncate at the
base or even quite deeply cordate.
G. chiapensis Camp. — This species is another variation of G. odo-
rata and is distinguished from it only by having the rachis, the calyx
and the corolla merely puberulent and not with stronger pubescence
often or usually gland tipped.
G. cumingii Sleumer (as Cummingii) in Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin
12 : 125. 1934. I know authentic material only from a fragment and a
photograph of the lectotype in Geneva (Sleumer cited "Gumming
anno 1859, Typus in herb. Berlin und Genf.") There are several
specimens that would seem to fit into this species. One of these, of
which there are several collections, comes from Pacaya Volcano in
Guatemala. Dr. Camp long since had indicated this as new and had
applied to it a specific name indicating the volcano from which it
came. The name was never published. This is the smallest of the
species in Guatemala and normally has elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate
WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, VII 171
leaves hardly, if ever, more than 5 cm. long and mostly much less.
However, the leaves sometimes are broader — ovate to ovate-cordate
—and on the same specimen indicating perhaps that this is a segre-
gate from the G. odorata complex so common in Guatemala. Camp
at one time thought that it might be a generic hybrid between Gaul-
theria and Pernettya.
G. hartwegiana Klotzsch ex Loes.- — Dr. Camp maintained that
this species was distinct from G. odorata Willd., even though Small,
Standley and Sleumer had placed it there as a synonym. When he
prepared the preliminary manuscript for Flora of Guatemala, Stand-
ley maintained the species, following Camp, but wrote that it was
probably not distinct. Reviewing the material I find no reason to
maintain the species. Camp's surmise that Hartweg collection 541
was actually made in Mexico or near the international boundary
(Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 66: 15. 1939) has no basis in fact. Hartweg's
localities are reasonably well known and the plant was doubtless col-
lected near Quezaltenango (Guatemala) as stated on the label of the
type. Hartweg was not in the locality in which Camp assumed him
to be, which, considering the country and time, was several days'
travel away.
G. hirtiflora Benth.- — This species was described from Mexico and
certainly very similar plants are in Guatemala, including one deter-
mined by Camp, probably in 1942. It belongs in the complex that is
G. odorata and how it can be separated I do not know. The glandular
pubescence of the stems and sometimes of the leaves is the most
abundant of any of the forms of G. odorata that I know. Although
Camp maintained the species (Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 66: 15. 1939)
he was hard put to find even one distinguishing character. The spe-
cies will be reduced to synonomy in Flora of Guatemala.
G. lancifolia Small. — Several Guatemalan specimens have been
referred to this Mexican taxon but most of them seem to be a form
of G. odorata — as G. lancifolia itself may well be.
G. lancifolia var. dulcis Camp. — There seems to be no great differ-
ence between this entity and G. odorata. It was based on El Salva-
doran and Guatemalan material.
G. nelsonii Small. — Guatemalan material so named does not be-
long here.
G. tacanensis Camp.- — The species has not been credited to Guate-
mala but the type was collected along the international border just
inside Mexico and for this reason was included in the preliminary
account for the Flora of Guatemala. Even though Dr. Camp thought
172 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 31
the species to have "no near relatives," which hardly seems credible
in this group of plants, it certainly belongs to the G. odorata complex
and characters to separate it are not immediately evident.
Macleania insignis Mart. & Gal. var. linearifolia (Donn.-Sm.)
Standl. & L. Wms. comb. nov. M. cordifolia var. linearifolia Donn.-
Sm. Bot. Gaz. 16: 12. 1891. M. linearifolia A. C. Smith, Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 28: 368. 1932.
Recent collections of this narrow-leaved variation are very close
to M. insignis and it seems that Captain Smith probably was correct
in considering it only an extreme form of M. insignis. It occurs in
the same localities with the typical form of the species in both Guate-
mala and Honduras.
Macleania subracemosa L. Wms. sp. nov.
Frutex epiphyticum. Folia coriacea, elliptica vel elliptico-ovata, obtusa, basi
rotundata vel leviter cordata; inflorescentia terminalis vel axillaris, racemosa,
pauciflora vel non nunquam uniflora; calyx quinquelobatum, lobi apiculiformes;
corolla cylindrico-urceolata, lobi anguste triangulares, leviter pubescentes; an-
therae 10, aequales.
Epiphytic shrubs to 1-2 m. Branches reddish then the epidermis shredding off
and the branches gray; leaves elliptic to elliptic-ovate, obtuse, the base rounded or
slightly cordate, coriaceous, (2-) 4-7 cm. long and 1-3 cm. broad, petioles 2-4 mm.
long, thick; inflorescences terminal or axillary, few-flowered racemes or sometimes
the flowers solitary, puberulous, becoming glabrous; rachis mostly 1 cm. long or
less, pedicels striate, puberulous, about 1 cm. long, each subtended by a ciliolate
bract ±1 mm. long and with a pair of bractlets near the base, articulate to the calyx;
calyx 5-6 mm. long at anthesis, 5-angulate, the angles reaching the sinus between
the calyx lobes, puberulous, the limb spreading, 1-2 mm. long, the lobes apiculi-
form; corolla cylindric-urceolate, about 20-25 mm. long, 4-5 mm. in diameter at
the base, the throat contracted to about 2 mm. in diameter, 5-lobed, the lobes nar-
rowly triangular, about 2 mm. long, sparsely puberulent outside, more densely so
inside on the lobes; stamens 10, isomorphic, about 10 mm. long, the filaments free
or united at the base, about 4 mm. long, anther 2-celled, prominently granulose at
the base and less so at the apex, about 5 mm. long, alternate ones more rugose at
the apex, tubules about 4 mm. long and completely joined in a tubule with one
ventral opening; style exceeding the corolla.
NICARAGUA: Flowers pink, epiphytic shrub to 1-2 m., cloud forest
area, Sta. Maria de Ostuma, Cordillera Central de Nicaragua between
Matagalpa and Jinotega, department of Matagalpa, alt. 1300-1500 m.,
January 8-15, 1963, Williams, Molina & Williams 23503 (type F, G,
EAP, US, NY).
The species is most closely allied to Macleania racemosa Cuf.
which is known only from Costa Rica. The raceme is shorter and
WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, VII 173
fewer flowered, pubescent as is the calyx and tip of the corolla inside
and out, the petiole shorter, the calyx prominently angled. The genus
is new to Nicaragua although it was to be expected there.
Vaccinium haematinum Standl. & Steyerm. Field Mus. Bot.
23: 139. 1944. V. hondurense A. C. Sm. Ceiba 3: 185. 1953.
Known from Guatemala and Honduras. The Honduran material
seems to be a very good match for the type.
Vaccinium lundellianum L. Wms. nom. nov. Malea pilosa
Lundell, Am. Midi. Nat. 29: 484. 1943, non Vaccinium pilosum A.
Cheval. 1930.
I find very little reason for separating the monotypic genus Malea
from Vaccinium. The ovary is incompletely 10-celled as Dr. Lundell
has stated, a condition known in Vaccinium. A fine fruiting speci-
men collected in Guatemala, Steyermark 5201 7, has 6 calyx lobes and
an incompletely 12-celled ovary in some flowers. The species is known
from Guatemala and adjacent Mexico. It is closely related to V.
haematinum Standl. & Steyerm.
Vaccinium matudae Lundell, Phytologia 2: 4. 1941, as V. Ma-
tudai;Gaylussacia cordifolia Mart. & Gal. Bull. Acad. Brux. 9: 529.
1842, non Vaccinium cordifolia Stapf; Vaccinium cordatum Hemsl.
Biol. Cent. Am. Bot. 2: 274. lS8l;Gaylussacia cordata Mart. & Gal.
ex Hemsl., I.e., nomen.
Hemsley's name Vaccinium cordatum, which has been used occa-
sionally for this plant, is based on a sphalm and consequently I shall
treat it as a nomen nudum. The first legitimate name which I find
is that of Dr. Lundell. The plant, still quite a rare one, is known
from Mexico and Guatemala.
Vaccinium stenophyllum Steud. Nom. Bot. ed. 2. 2: 740. 1841.
V. angustifolium Benth. PI. Hartw. 45. 1840, non Ait. 1789.
This species will be included in the Flora of Guatemala even
though I believe that the material from Guatemala is hardly if at
all distinguishable from V. leucanthum Cham. & Schlecht.
Vaccinium breedlovei L. Wms., sp. nov.
Arbuscula vel arbuscula epiphyticae. Folia coriacea, ovato-lanceolata, acumi-
nata, reticulata. Inflorescentiae racemosae, pauciflorae axillares; calyx quinque-
174 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 31
lobatus, lobi triangulares, acuti; corolla anguste campanulata, lobi triangulares;
stamina 10.
Shrubs or possibly epiphytic shrubs of unknown size; branches terete or ob-
scurely angled, completely glabrous; leaves coriaceous, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate,
glabrous, 8-10 cm. long and 4-5 cm. broad. The reticulate venation prominulous
on both surfaces, especially so below, petioles fleshy, 7-10 mm. long; inflorescences
axillary or on defoliated nodes, racemose, few-flowered, 3-4 cm. long; flowers green-
ish, borne on pedicels to about 7 mm. long, articulate with the ovary, these sub-
tended by cucullate triangular bracts about 1 mm. long and usually provided above
the middle with two bracteoles; ovary about 2 mm. in diameter, constricted near
the summit; calyx about 2 mm. long, 5-lobate, the lobes triangular, acute, about
1 mm. long; corolla narrowly campanulate, 5-6 mm. long, the lobes triangular,
acute, about 2 mm. long; stamens 10, lightly adnate to the base of the corolla, the
filaments free from one another and about 3 mm. long, glabrous, the anthers almost
2 mm. long, obscurely papillate, the tubules about 1 mm. long and 0.2 mm. in
diameter, the pores completely terminal; style about 5 mm. long, the slender apex
stigmatic.
GUATEMALA: Flowers greenish; [shrub] on slope with Pinus, Quer-
cus, and Drimys, 6 miles north of Santa Eulalia along road to San
Mateo, municipio de Santa Eulalia, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes,
Dept. Huehuetenango, alt. 9,200 feet, February, 1965, Breedlove 8594
(Ftype;DS).
Vaccinium breedlovei is most closely allied to V. poasanum and
like that species might as well be placed in the Thibaudieae as in the
Vaccinieae of the Ericaceae. Certain of these coriaceous-leaved Vac-
ciniums remind one of the Thibaudieae. This particular one has no
characters, except the small size of the flowers, to indicate that it
should go into a genus of the Vaccinieae rather than into a genus of
the Thibaudieae. Dr. A. C. Smith has expressed the opinion that
whatever difference exists between these two tribes is a matter of
degree and any definition must admit many exceptions.
The smaller and differently shaped corolla, the more prominently
veined coriaceous leaves with longer petioles; the size of the anthers
with much longer tubules and longer glabrous filaments are all mi-
nutiae that distinguish this species from Vaccinium poasanum.
Publications 997, 998 and 999
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA