Aphelandra macrostachya Nees

Aphelandra macrostachya Nees

Aphelandra macrostachya Nees in Martius, Fl. Bras. 9:88. 1847; in de Candolle, Prodr. 11:296. 1847.

Aphelandra schultesii Leonard, Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herb. 31: 237. 1953.

Aphelandra monophthalma Leonard, Wrightia 2:151. 1961.

A beautiful shrub of low elevations; branches terete below, tetragonous, thick (to 4 mm in diameter at base of inflorescence), the upper portion more or less strigose-scabrous, lenticels scattered, oblong, about 1 mm long; leaf blades oblong-oval, 20–23 cm long, 6–8 cm wide, long acuminate at apex, narrowed at base and decurrent on the petiole, the margins entire or crenate, the upper surface shining, drying dark olivaceous, the costa and lateral nerves (about 12 pairs) sparingly hirtellous, the surface between the veins glabrous to sparingly hirtellous, the lower surface drying a light olive green, sparingly hirtellous, the hairs on the costa and veins hirtellousstrigillose; petioles (unwinged portion) 2–3 cm long, moderately hirtellous; flowers borne in terminal and axillary spikes, these elongate, 10–13 cm long, subsessile, with shorter lateral spikes, the peduncle 3–5 cm long, glabrous or sparingly hirtellous, the rachis silvery tomentose, except the glabrous region adjacent to the posterior calyx segment; bracts imbricate, drying brown, triangularovate, subcarinate, 6 mm long, 4 mm wide at 2 mm above base, thence gradually narrowed to a slender, acuminate tip, entire, coriaceous, striatenerved, puberulous, the margins ciliolate, ocelli, occurring usually in pairs, elliptic, 1 mm long and 1.75 mm wide, brown, nitid, indistinctly alveolate; bractlets lanceolate, carinate, 7 mm long, 2 mm wide at 2.5 mm above base, thence gradually narrowed to a slender tip, the keel densely silvery velutinous, the region adjacent to the keel puberulous, the marginal area subhyaline and glabrous, the margins sparingly ciliolate; calyx 7 mm long, the segments lanceolate, finely striate-nerved, inconspicuously puberulous, comose, the posterior segment 2.5 mm wide near base, the anterior pair 1.75 mm wide, the lateral pair 1 mm wide, all narrowed from base to a sharp, slender tip; corolla red, 5–7 cm long, puberulous, the hairs conical, the tube 4 mm broad near base, narrowed to 1.5 mm at 7 mm above base, thence enlarged to 7 mm near mouth, the upper lip narrowly ovate, 20–25 mm long and 6 mm wide at middle, tipped by 2 triangular acuminate lobes about 8 mm long and 3 mm wide at base, the middle lobe of the lower lip lanceolate, 20 mm long, 4.5 mm wide, slenderly acuminate. the lateral lobes adnate to the lower part of the upper lip, their free portion small, about 1 mm long; stamens slightly exserted beyond the mouth of the corolla tube; anthers 6 mm long and 1 mm broad, glabrous; capsule oblong, 2 cm long, chestnut brown, apiculate at apex, glabrous, muricate.

TYPE.—Martius 3179 (holotype M, F photo 20496), Colombia, Amazonas, Río Negro, in the mountains of Araracuara along the Río Japura, Dec–Jan 1820.

DISTRIBUTION.—In the northwestern Amazonian lowlands of Colombia and Brazil. COLOMBIA. VAUPÉS: Banks of Río Inírida, at “Alto Caribe,” 220 m alt, 23 Jan 1953, Fernández 1927 (US); banks of the Río Papunáua, 5 km above the mouth of the Inírida, 220 m alt, 1 Feb 1953, Fernández 2040 (US); vicinity of the portage of Yuruparí, 3 Mar 1944, Gutiérrez & Schultes 936 (MEDEL, holotype of A. schultesii Leonard); along the Río Vaupés in the vicinity of Miraflores, 300 m alt, 3 Jan 1944, Gutiérrez & Schultes 506 (MEDEL). AMAZONASVAUPÉS: Río Apaporis, between the rivers Kananari and Pacoa, 250 m alt, 1–15 Dec 1951, Garcia-Berriga 13920 (US, holotype of A. monopthalma Leonard); García-Berriga 13926 (US). BRAZIL. AMAZONAS: Near Panuré at the Río Vaupés, Nov 1852, Spruce 2591 (K, LE, P, W); Taracuá on the Río Vaupés, forest, 5 May 1924, Melin 89 (S).

Probably related to A. pulcherrima, this species should be easily recognized by its slender spikes and small acuminate bracts.

Aphelandra macrostachya là một loài thực vật có hoa trong họ Ô rô. Loài này được Nees mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1847.