Polylepis sericea, Wedd., Chlor. And.

5. POLYLEPIS SERICEA Wedd. View in CoL ,

Chlor. And. 2: 238. 1857.

TYPE: VENEZUELA. Mérida, Sierra Nevada, 3500 m, Jun 1847, Funck & Schlim 1546 (lectotype, designated by Simpson (1979, p. 28): P!; isolectotypes: G!, photograph in F!).

Polylepis hypargyrea Bitter , Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 45: 600. 1911.

TYPE: VENEZUELA. Paramo de la Culata, Sierra Nevada Moritz 1120 (holotype: B destroyed; isotype: BM!, photograph in F!, GH!).

Polylepis quindiensis Cuatrecasas View in CoL , Revista Acad. Colomb. Ci. Exact. 4: 343 0.1941.

TYPE: COLOMBIA. Caldas, Cordillera Central, W of Macizo del Quindio , Nevado del Ruiz , 3400–3500, 5 May 1940, Cuatrecasas 9327 (holotype: COL!; isotypes: BC!, US!).

Trees 3–7 m tall. Leaves strongly congested at the branch tips, imparipinnate with 3–4 pairs of leaflets, obtrullate in outline, 3.9–4.2 X 2.5–3.8 cm; rachises glabrous, points of leaflet attachment with a tuft of long, straight whitish hairs; stipular sheaths apically acute with spurs, almost glabrous with some hairs at the edges on the outer surfaces and glabrous in the inner surfaces; leaflets elliptic in outline, second pair from the terminal leaflet the largest, one of this pair 1.8–2.1 X 0.8–1.0 cm; margin entire, coriaceous, apically emarginate to retuse, basally unequally cordate; upper leaflet surfaces glabrous; lower leaflet surfaces densely sericeous with whitish hairs 0.7–1.0 mm. long. Inflorescences pendent, 3.3–4.5 cm long, bearing 9–15 flowers; floral bracts 4.1–6.4 mm long, narrowly triangular, densely sericeous on the outer surface; rachises sericeous. Flowers 4.2–8.1 mm diam; sepals 4, ovate, green, densely sericeous outside; stamens 13–15, anthers orbicular, with a dense tuft of straight white hairs on the upper half; styles fimbriate, 1.9–2.5 mm long. Fruits turbinate, with variable numbers and placement of flattened spines, densely sericeous; 4.0–7.4 X 3.4–9.6 mm, including spines.

Distribution and Habitat — Polylepis sericea is found in two distinct geographic areas, the Cordillera de Mérida in the Andes of western Venezuela and the Cordillera Central of Colombia in Caldas, Quindio, and Risaralda departments. It grows at 3300–4200 m in humid montane forest, where it is the only species of the genus ( Fig. 2 View FIG ).

Conservation Status —The estimated Extent of Occurrence (EOO) for Polylepis sericea is 20,856 km 2. The Area of occupancy (AOO) is 84 km 2. This would likely qualify the species as NT.

Notes —This species can be distinguished from P. ochreata by the number of leaflet pairs (3–4 vs. 5–8), leaflet margin (entire vs. crenate), leaflet hair density (glabrous above and densely sericeous beneath in P. sericea vs. glabrous to sparsely sericeous above and sparsely sericeous beneath in P. ochreata ), inflorescence length (3.3–4.5 cm vs. 5.8–20.0 cm), and flower number (9–15 vs. 21–50).

Additional Specimens Examined — Colombia. — CALDAS: Cordillera Central , vertiente occidental, vert. sudoeste del Ruiz, El Prisco, páramos, 04°58’N 075°22’W, 05 May 1940, J. Cuatrecasas 9327 ( COL) GoogleMaps ; Cordillera central, vertiente occidental ; cabeceras del r´ıo Otún, Laguna del Mosquito y plan del Villar, 26 Nov 1946, J. Cuatrecasas 23257 ( COL) ; El Cisne, Laguna del Otúm , 20 Mar 2009, W. G. Vargas 20063 ( COL) .— QUINDÍO: Salento, Vereda Cocóra, below Nevado del Quindio   GoogleMaps [Andean forest between 3300–3400 m; subpáramo and Polylepis -forest between 3500–3900 m; GoogleMaps páramo starting about 3700 m to 3950 m], 04°40’N 075°20’W-04°45’N 075°25’W, 20 May 1989 – 22 May 1989, J. L. Luteyn et al. 12974 ( MO) GoogleMaps .— RISARALDA: Pereira. Cordillera central, en el paso de la Laguna del Otúm hacia la Quebrada Africa, 09 Feb1980, J. M. Jaramillo D. et al. 6276 ( COL) . Venezuela. — LARA: Páramo del Jabón , Vertiente Oriental, 3100–3400 m, 2 Nov 1969, Cuatrecasas et al. 28216 ( MERF) .— MÉRIDA: Caserio Mifafi, camino quebrada de rio Chama-Caserio Mucumpis a través del páramo Piedra Blanca (entrada por la carretera Apartaderous-Pico Aguila), 14 Aug 1980, B. Stergios 2116 ( MO) ; Páramo seco y húmedo en el sector de Sto, Domingo de Mucubaj´ı los alrededores de la Laguna de Mucubaj´ı, 29 May 1986, B. Stergios 8378 ( MO) ; Distr. Rangel. Sierra Nevada de Santo Domingo , road between Laguna de Mucubaji and Laguna Negra. Woodsample Uw: U 24380 , 7 Mar 1979, E. G. B. Kieft 87 ( MO) ; Carretera hacia Pi ~ nango, páramo Piedras Blancas , Dtto. Rangel, 03 Mar 1982, G. Aymard et al.1050 ( MO) ; Sierra Nevada , 27 Jul 1934, H. Farenholtz 1927 ( GOET); 1833 (GOET) ; Pico Bolivar , 17 Jan 1968, H. U. E. Walter 443 ( GOET) ; 25 Nov 1959, H. G. Barclay 9816 ( MO) ; 3 Dec 1959, H. G. Barclay 9951 ( MO) ; Sierra Nevada, Páramo alrededores de La Laguna Verde próximo Picos Humboldt y Bonpland, 4 Dec 1959, H. G. Barclay & P. Juajibioy C. 10034 ( COL, MO) ; Paramos de Laguna Grande , 21 Jan 1929, H. Pittier 13253 ( MO) ; Distrito Rangel, cascada SE of Laguna de Mucubaji and below Pico Mucu ~ nuque, páramo and Polylepis Woods, Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada, 08°48’N 070°49’W, 15 Jun 1988, L. J. Dorr & L. C. Barnett 5524 ( MO) GoogleMaps ; Margenes del rio Chama , cerca de Apartadevos, Jul 1971, L. Aristeguieta 7886 ( MO) ; La Nevada, Hauteur : 11,000, 1817, L. J. Schlim 1546 ( MO) ; E. Moraine at the head of the valley above L. Mucubaj´ ı, on a small rocky cliff just above and east of the lowest falls, 21 Jul 1972, L. Loveless 1722 ( MO) ; Distrito Justo Brice ~ no, páramo y chirivital en la vertiente NW del Alto del Totumo , hoya del R´ıo Chirur´ı, a 19.5 km de El Aguila por la carretera a Pi ~ nango, groves of trees at base of rocky cliff with large boulders, 2 Apr 1982, P. E. Berry 3812 ( MO) ; Distrito Justo Brice ~ no, páramo y chirivital en la vertiente NW del Alto del Totumo , hoya del R´ıo Chirur´ı, a 19.5 km de El Aguila por la carretera a Pi ~ nango, 29 Apr 1982 – 1 May 1982, P. E. Berry & J. A. Gomez 3844 ( MO) ; Quebrada Yoyo , 12 Apr 1930, W. Gehriger 73 ( MO) ; Andes de Merida / Steilhang oberhalb Laguna Negra , Aug 1958, W. Schwabe s.n. ( GOET) ; Andes de Merida , Jan 1973, W. Schwabe s.n. ( GOET) ; Berghange oberhalb Laguna Negra / Paramo , W. Schwabe s.n. ( GOET) ; Libertador, Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada, Loma Redonda Teleférico station and south, 08°33’N 071°05’W, 20 May 1988, L. J. Dorr & L. C. Barnett 5220 ( AAU) GoogleMaps .— TRUJILLO: Mun. Carache, P. N. Dinira , arriba de Mesa Arriba, debajo del Pico Cendé, ladera SO, 09°32’N 070°07’W, 1 Apr 1999, R. Duno et al. 767 ( MO, VEN) GoogleMaps .