Guatteria venezuelana R.E.Fr.

168. Guatteria venezuelana R.E.Fr. View in CoL — Fig. 70g View Fig , 84 View Fig ; Map 37

Guatteria venezuelana R.E.Fr. (1941) 110,f. 1e, f. — Type: Delgado 180 (holo VEN; iso F 2 sheets, G, K, S 2 sheets, US), Venezuela, Distrito Federal , ‘ Bosques del Papelón’ , Avila, above Caracas, 7 June 1938.

Tree 5–15 m tall, 15–40 cm diam; young twigs densely covered with erect,mostly curly,brown hairs,mostly soon glabrous. Leaves: petiole 4–6 mm long, 1–2 mm diam; lamina narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate, 5–11 by 2–4 cm (leaf index 2–3), coriaceous, not verruculose, shiny, greyish to greyish black above, pale brown below, glabrous above, but sparsely covered with erect, mostly curly, brown hairs when very young, sparsely covered with erect, mostly curly, brown hairs to glabrous below, base acute, distinctly attenuate, apex acuminate (acumen 5–15 mm long), primary vein flat to slightly raised above, secondary veins distinct, 8–10 on either side of primary vein, distinctly raised above, smallest distance between loops and margin 2–3 mm, tertiary veins raised above, reticulate. Flowers solitary in axils of leaves; pedicels 15–30 mm long, c. 1 mm diam, fruiting pedicels to c. 2 mm diam, densely covered with erect, mostly curly, brown hairs, articulated at 0.2–0.4 from the base, bracts 5–7, soon falling, basal one c. 1 mm long, uppermost one to c. 2 mm long, probably much longer to judge by photograph; flower buds depressed ovoid; sepals free, broadly ovate-triangular, 4–6 by 4–6 mm, reflexed, outer side densely covered with erect, mostly curly, brown hairs; petals green, inner side yellowish, base purplish red in vivo, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 15–20 by 6–10 mm, outer side densely covered with erect, mostly curly, brown hairs; stamens c. 1.5 mm long, connective shield papillate. Monocarps 30–50, green, maturing black in vivo, black in sicco, ellipsoid, 9–14 by 5–6 mm, sparsely covered with appressed hairs, soon glabrous, apex apiculate (apiculum <0.5 mm long), wall 0.3–0.5 mm thick, stipes 0–5 by c. 1 mm. Seed ellipsoid, 9–11 by 4–6 mm, dark, shiny brown, rugulose, raphe not distinct from rest of seed.

Distribution — Northern Venezuela (Distrito Federal, Falcón, Mérida, Miranda, Sucre, Táchira).

Habitat & Ecology — In non-inundated, montane forest (‘selva siempreverde’),one collection from ‘pináculos calcáreos’ (Steyermark 99141), another one from ‘ Cinchona henleana woods’ (Steyermark 55097). At elevations of 1100–1800 m. Flower- ing: June, July, August, December; fruiting: March, June, July, October.

Vernacular names — Not recorded.

Field observations — Ripe flowers have a scent of bananas when ripe.

Note — Guatteria venezuelana is quite distinctive by small, coriaceous leaves, an indument of erect, brown, mostly curly hairs on most vegetative parts, and shortly stipitate monocarps. In the last feature and in its small leaves it matches G. schomburgkiana fairly well, but that species has very short pedicels, while in G. venezuelana these are much longer.