Columnea (Collandra) skogii M. Amaya

Columnea (Collandra) skogii M. Amaya View in CoL , s p. nov.

TYPE: COLOMBIA. Santander: municipio Suaita, inspección de policía San José de Suaita, camino al bosque de la fundación San Cipriano (6 ° 9’ N, 73 ° 27’ W), 1600 m alt., Nov. 8 1988, Galeano 6098 (holotype: COL). Figure 1. View Figure 1 GoogleMaps

A Columnea ericae Mansf. differt foliis loratis, floribus longe pedicellatis, bracteis minutis, corollis curtioribus cum, limbo subactinomorpho.

Suffrutescent vines; often branched; stem quadrangular, 0.2-0.5 cm diam., apically sericeous with 10-12 celled uniseriate trichomes, internodes 0.7-2 cm long. Leaves opposite, strongly anysophyllous in a pair, membranaceous; larger leaf sessile or shortly petiolate, petioles 0.1-0.3 cm long; blade asymmetrical, lorate 9.5- 18 x 1.2-3 cm, base oblique, apex attenuate, margin slightly serrate, adaxially green, densely sericeous with 8-10 celled trichomes and with sparsely distributed white unicellular setulose hairs; abaxially green or reddish with contrasting deep purple in the apical half or two third (2/3) of the leaf, sericeous with 5-celled trichomes, more densely packed on the veins, 8-9 veins on the larger side of the blade; smaller leaf sessile, blade asymmetrical, lanceolate 1- 2 x 0.3-0.7 cm, base oblique, apex attenuate, adaxially green, sericeous with 8 celled trichomes, veins obscure; abaxially golden sericeous with 5 celled trichomes. Inflorescence 1-2 flowers on the larger leaf axil; bracts 1-2, yellow, densely sericeous, lanceolate, 0.4- 1 x 0.2- 0.5 cm. Flower pedicelate, pedicel 3.5-5 cm long, densely sericeous. Calyx yellowgreenish; lobes 5, nearly free; lanceolate, 1.4-2.5 x 0.2-0.4 cm, margin dentate, two teeth each side, outside densely sericeous, inside glabrous. Corolla oblique in the calyx, yellow; cylindrical 3.5-3.7 cm long, constricted at the base 0.3 cm, 1 cm at the widest part in the upper half, constricted at the limb 0.7 cm; dorsally gibbous, gibbosity 0.4 x 0.5 cm; limb subactinomorphic slightly ampliate, lobes subequal 0.2-0.3 x 0.2 cm, deltoid apically obtuse or acute; outside pilose with 8-12 celled uniseriate hairs apically glandular, inside sparsely sericeous. Androecium of 4 stamens, fi laments 2.7- 4.5 cm long, glabrous, basally connate 0.3 cm of their length forming a staminal blade. Nectary one dorsal bidentate gland. Gynoecium with the ovary ovoid 0.7 x 0.3 cm, densely sericeous; style 2.8-3.5 cm long, glabrous; stigma bilobulated. Fruit a green ovoid berry, 1.5 x 1 cm. Seeds brown 1 x 1 mm, elliptically striated.

Etymology. The species is named after Laurence Edgar Skog to whom this species is dedicated in acknowledgment of his great contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the Neotropical Gesneriaceae .

Phenology: Flowers and fruits recorded in May and November. This species possibly produces flowers and fruits all year round as do many other columneas. The fruit color information comes from a specimen’s label which can lead to uncertainty about the fruit color at maturity.

Distribution. Columnea skogiiskogii is known only from the Andean forests in Colombia. The species was recorded on the East Cordillera at the Departament of Santander, between 1600-1900 m of elevation.

Representative specimens: COLOMBIA. Santander: Municipio de Suaita, corregimiento San José, Fundation San Cipriano , ca. 1650- 1900 m, May 16 1998, Betancur 7846 7846 ( COL) ; Corregimiento de Virolín, vereda Corbaraque, sitio Costilla de Fara , 1900 m, Oct. 29 2008, Manjarrés 12 ( UPTC) .

D i s t i nc t i ve fe at u r e s The species is distinguished from the similar C. ericae Mansf. , and C. polyantha (Whieler) L. E. Skog by having the larger leaf in a pair lorate. Additional characters that help to distinguish C. skogii from those species are presented in Table 1 View Table 1 .