Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 77 GENTIANACEAE~ESNERIACEAE 117
Calolbian!husfrigidus (Swartz) Gilg in Ehgler & Prantl, 1895, IV(2):lOl.
Cheionanlhusfrigidw (SwarrZ) urban, lW,3:334.
Wurdackanthwfrigidus (Swartz) Mag& & Boom, 1989:9.
Herb to 0.5 m; leaves succulent, with pinnate venation;
flowers yellow, showy (-5 cm long), deciduous; calyx lobes
rounded.
Guadeloupe and St. Vincent; rare in Dominica above 700 m:
cliff edge on Mome Diablotins (Whitefoord 5315), cliff
overlooking Valley of Desolation (Nicolson 1953), upper
slopes of Mome Anglais (Fennah 16). Flowering November to
January.
VoyM Aublet
Voyria aphylla
Voyria aphylla (Jacquin) Persoon, 1805. 1:284, "Vohiria".-Maas et al.,
198639.
Gentiana aphylla Jacquin, 1760:15.
Liphairnos aphylla (Jaquin) Gilg in Engler & Prantl, 1895, IV(2):104.
Leafless, straw-colored herbs to 10 cm; flower single,
terminal, with yellow, persistent corolla.
Widespread in neotropics; rare in Dominica in dense, humid
forests 200-800 m: Carib Reserve (Stehle 6429), Mome Au
Diable (Nicolson 1929), Mome Plat Pays (Hodge 1741),
Roseau River hot spring (Howard 11738), upper Hampstead
River (Nicolson 4233).
We follow Raynal(l967) in including this species in Voyria
and restricting Leiphaims to its Mexican type.
GESNERIACEAE
(by L. Skog)
Achimenes longifora A.P. Candolle, a native of Central
America, is widely cultivated and has been found on Dominica
near Lisdara (Hodge 833) and at Mt. Joy (Ernst 1280). The
leaves are purple beneath and subsessile, as are the violet
flowers.
Chrysothemis pulchella (Donn ex Sims) Decaisne of
northern South America was recently collected, presumably as
an escape, in a banana plantation at Syndicate (Whitefoord
3638) and in the garden of a deserted house at Petit Coulibri
(Whitefoord 6047). It is a large terrestrial herb from tubers with
opposite, equal leaves that are purple beneath, axillaxy and
umbellate inflorescences, showy orange calyces, and a superior
ovary.
Gloxinia perennis (Linnaeus) Fritsch, sometimes called
canterbury bells, of South America was collected in cultivation
at Baiac (Whitefoord 5458). It has opposite leaves that are red
below, a lavender corolla, a persistent, large 5-lobed calyx, and
an inferior ovary.
Kohleria cultivars, probably derived from Kahleria bogotensis
(Nicholson) Fritsch, a species native to northern South
America, are cultivated at South Chiltern (Hodge 1542) and
Baiac (Whitefoord 4134, 4220) and would key here to
Nautilocalyx melittifolius but have velvety-hirsute leaves and
stems and an inferior ovary. Howard (pers. comm.) identified
Whitefoord 4220 as Kohleria hirsuta (Kunth) Regel.
1. Epiphytic subshrubs or woody vines, rarely terrestrial;
flowers usually solitary in the leaf axils; ovary superior.
2. Fruit a fleshy capsule; pedicel 2-4 cm long; corolla c2x
as long as the calyx, yellow, 2-3 cm long .......
........................ Alloplectus
2. Fruit a berry; pedicel 6 cm long; corolla >3x as long as
the calyx, scarlet, 4-8 cm long ....... Columnea
1. 'Ibrrestrial herbs or shrubs; flowers 2 or usually more in the
leaf axils, rarely solitary (in Besleria), often on elongate
flower stalks; ovary superior or inferior.
3. Leaves alternate; stamens long-exserted ... Gesneria
3. Leaves opposite or whorled; stamens included.
4. Shrubs; corolla yellow to orange, limb small; fruit a
berry. .................... Besleria
4. Herbs; corolla red, pink, magenta, or purple, limb
broad; fruit a capsule .......... Nuufilocalyx
Alloplectus Martius, nom. cons.
Alloplectus cristatus var. brevicalyx
Alloplectus cristatus (Linnaeus) Martius var. brevicalyx Morton, 1944: 17.-
Stehle, 1962c:32.-Morley, 1974:418.
Besleria crirtata Linnaeus, 1753:619.
Pendent or creeping epiphytes, rarely terrestrial; stem
pubescent near the apex; leaves of a pair nearly equal, petioles
pubescent, blades ovate to elliptic, 2-8 cm long, serrate,
pubescent, green on both sides; sepals reddish, ovate to deltoid
or elliptic, to 2 cm long, usually shorter, serrate; corolla tubular,
to 3 cm long, yellow and pubescent; stamens not exserted;
capsule fleshy, white.
Lesser Antilles; in Dominica at borders of and in rainforests
and mossy forests, 450-1000 m: Boiling Lake (Eggers 602),
Laudat & Freshwater Lake area, the type locality (DeFilipps
141, Fosberg 48283, Hodge 1757, Lloyd 191, Smith 10214,
Wilbur 7408). Pont Casse area (Chambers 2540, Cowan 1610,
Ernst 1193, 1283, Hodge 1214, Stern & Wasshausen 2551,
Webster 13213, Wilbur 7747,8180A), Mome Plat Pays (Hodge
1670), Sylvania area (Hodge 825, 3987, Narodny s.n.),
Syndicate (Whitefoord 3637), sine loc. (Cooper 43).
Materials from Dominica and other islands of the Lesser
Antilles fall into var. brevicalyx Morton, distinguished by
having serrate sepals c2 cm long. Variety crenatus (St.
Vincent) has crenate sepals c2 cm long. Variety cristatus
(Martinique and St. Lucia) has laciniate sepals >2 cm long.
Howard (1989,6:343) did not recognize these varieties.
Besleria Linnaeus
1. Flowers densely clustered on stem, pedicels to 0.5 cm long;
leaves and stems densely pubescent . .... B. petiolaris