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230 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 28 6023! )", is described as having a 5-parted calyx, petals divided nearly to the base, and 10 stamens. Moreover, the blades of the leaves are either long-ciliate towards the apex or glabrate, whereas in S. venezuelana the blades are not ciliate. Other differences are found in the relative length of the sepals and petals, which are longer in the Ecuadorian S. micrantha, and in the pedicels, which are glandular-puberulent in S venezuelana, whereas in S micrantha they are described as being "pilosis". The Fendler and Moritz collections, from Colonia Tovar, Venezuela, cited by Spruce, are probably conspecific with the other three Venezuelan collections above cited, and to have included them, along with the Ecuador plant collected by Spruce, was an erroneous assumption. While the usual condition within the genus is a flower with 5 sepals, 5 petals, 10 stamens, and 3 t 4, or 5 styles, apparently the new species, together with S. micrantha, show greater affinity to Section Pseudalsine Boiss. (as treated by Pax & Hoffmann in Die Nat. Pflanzenf. 2, 16c: 322. 1934) delimited by the Persian S. alsinoides and characterized by 4-merous flowers, 2 styles, and ovary with 4-6 ovules, and to Section Oligosperma Boiss., characterized by 5-merous flowers, 2 styles, and ovary with 4-6 ovules, and represented by three species of Asia. RANUNCULACEAE Ranunculus limoselloides Turcz., var. Mandonianus (Wedd.) Steyermark, comb. nov. Ranunculus Mandonianus Wedd. Chi. And. 2: 299. 1857. Knuth, in his Initia Florae venezuelensis, lists R. limoselloides Turcz. for Venezuela (p. 329) with the note "Locus natalis ignotus". Pittier et al, on the other hand, in the Catalogo de la Flora Venezolana, do not mention this species. After a careful study of Turczaninow's original description (Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou 27: 275-276. 1854), it is evident that the plant described (based on Linden 1441 from Venezuela) is identical with Steyermark 57473 from the state of Merlda (aquatic; leaves floating; in still pools in valley above Laguna Mucubajf, above Los Apartaderos, alt. 3625-3655 m., July 21, 1944). It is well known that Linden made collections in the paramos and higher parts of the mountains in the state of Merida on his journey from Caracas to Colombia, and it is very probable that he collected this Ranunculus near or in the same locality in which the Steyermark collection was obtained. The significant parts of Turczaninow's description which are matched by the Steyermark collection are "foliis longissime petiolatis (natantibus ?) ovalibus vel subovato-oblongis integerrimis subtrinerviis, venoso-reticulatis; petala obovata (alba) staminibus circiter 8 1 ! In the Steyermark collection 10 stamens are present, but, as will be seen in the following paragraphs, the number of stamens is apparently variable in this particular complex. The same entity is found in an adjacent region
BOTANICAL EXPLORATION IN VENEZUELA - I 231 of Colombia (Cuatrecasas 1556 from Pianos del Toldadero, Dept. of Boyaca'), where the stamens are also 10 in number. Proceeding southward in the Andes, there is encountered in Bolivia, under the name R. Mandonianus Wedd., a Ranunculus Which superficially resembles greatly the one from Venezuela and Colombia. In the original description of R, Mandonianus, based upon Mandon's collection from the Cordillera de Sorata, Bolivia, it was stated that the "staminibus sub-5". However, an examination of what is apparently an isotype specimen, preserved in the Herbarium of the Chicago Natural History Museum (sent originally as a duplicate from the Botanical Conservatory of Geneva, Switzerland), shows 15 stamens. Moreover, both this specimen, as well as a photograph of the supposed type (same collection as referred to above), exhibit much larger flowers than those found in the Venezuelan collection. In the Venezuelan (and Colombian) plants the stamens are actually less numerous (10-8) than in the Mandon collection cited, but are more than is given ("staminibus sub-5") in the original description. One wonders whether a typographical error of "5" instead of "15" may not have been made by Weddell in his original description. Be that as it may, the Venezuelan (and Colombian) collections have petals with a much broader but shorter blade, shorter ovate instead of broadly oblong sepals, shorter filaments, and smaller achenes than are found in the Mandon collection from Bolivia. Nothing is mentioned in Weddell's description to indicate the size of the flower, but both the photograph of the supposed type specimen and a specimen of the type collection exhibit the larger flowers. Complications arise with an examination of Peruvian material referred to R. Mandonianus. In Macbride & Feathers tone 2474 the stamens are 5-6 in number and the petals have the narrow shape of those of the Bolivian plant, but in Mac bride 3355 the stamens are about 10 and the petals resemble the obovate-rounded type of typical R. limoselloides of Venezuela and Colombia. Such modifications and variations indicate that the Venezuelan and Colombian plants are closely related and not distinct specifically from the Bolivian entity, the latter, therefore, more logically treated as a variety. The plant Turczaninow described precedes by at least three years that which Weddell published*, and, therefore, has priority. *An apparent discrepancy would seem to exist between the date of Weddell's publication and that of Mandon's collection, for the date appearing in the second volume of Weddell's work is given as 1857, whereas the Mandon collection examined is dated "1859-Jan., I860". Evidently, the publication of the last part of this second volume (p. 299 is near the end of the volume) was deferred until 1861 (as is suggested by a reference to this work in the Catalogue of the <strong>Library</strong> of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard <strong>University</strong>, vol.1, p. 737).
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o 2 CM XI E> RAR.Y OF THL UNIVERSIT
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FIELDIANA: BOTANY A Continuation of
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NUMBER 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TEXT
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PAGE 67. Emmotum ptarianum 342 68.
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FLORA OF VENEZ
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