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BOTANICAL EXPLORATION IN VENEZUELA - I 71
green or darker brown midrib, often short-excurrent; stigmas 2; perigynia
squarrose at maturity, brownish or yellow-brown or brownishrufous,
prominently nerved dorsally and somewhat ventrally near
base; beak 1/2-3/4 length of perigynium body (Fig. 7, h- j).
Type in herb. Chi. Nat. Hist. Mus., collected in swampy meadow,
on ridge dividing headwaters of Rio Manzanares and Rio de Amana,
Cerro Turumiquire, state of Sucre, alt. 1900-2000 m., May 10, 1945,
Julian A. Steyermark 62705.
This is the first South American record of a species that might
be referred to C. angustior Mack, or the related C. interior L. H.
Bailey. Carex Bonplandii, previously known from South America, is,
of course, related to both of these species. The nearest locality to
which the related C. angustior has been collected is in Santo Domingo,
cited by Mackenzie in North American Flora, and in Chihuahua,
Mexico, for C. interior. However, in C. angustior the beak
is "more than half to about length of body", measuring longer than
in our collection, and the achenes in that species are longer, being
1.75 mm. long and "ovate or oblong-ovate" (Mackenzie, N. Am.
Fl. p. 113).
In C. interior, which Mackenzie cites as occurring as far south as
the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, the beak is "about one third or one
fourth the length of the body" and the achene is "broadly ovateorbicular,
1.5 mm. wide." Our species is, therefore, somewhat intermediate
between C. interior and C. angustior, if these can be considered
as distinct species, and agrees more closely with the relative
length of the beak in its relation to the body of the perigynium and
to the shape and size of the achene of C. angustior than wkh C.
interior.
To summarize, C turumiquirensis
differs from C. interior in its
longer beak which is more conspicuously bidentate, acute to shortaristate
scales, and narrower perigynium body with more incurved
margins, while from C. angustior it differs in the shorter, somewhat
more ovate-suborbicular achenes, and more prominently ventrally
and dorsally nerved perigynia.
PALMAE
Bactris bergantina Steyermark, sp. nov.
Palma 5 m. alta, caespites formans, caudice 7.5 cm. crasso,
aculeis nigris armata; petiolo 52-55 cm. longo, 1.3 cm. crasso, infra
convexo rotundatoque, bicanaliculato carina acri, parte infima dense
stramineo-furfuracea, partibus medianis et superioribus stramineo- vel
fusco-furfuraceis squamis parvis et pilis fuscis, plerumque utrinque
aculeis nigris; aculeis applanatis, nigris 7-30 mm. longis fasciculis
flabellatis; rhachi aculeis minoribus et paucioribus; fronde 2.37 m.
longa; pinnis utroque latere circ.40 circ. 4-5 per greges nonnihil confertis,
lanceolatis subfalcatis apice bidenticulatis supra glabris infra