Aphelandra tetragona (Vahl) Nees

Aphelandra tetragona (Vahl) Nees

Aphelandra tetragona (Vahl) Nees in de Candolle, Prodr. 11: 295. 1847.

Justicia tetragona Vahl, Symb. Bot. 3:5. 1794.

Justicia cristata Jacquin, Pl. Hort. Schonbr. 3:38, pl. 320. 1798.

Aphelandra cristata (Jacquin) R. Brown. Bot. Reg. 18, pl. 1477, 1832.

Aphelandra tetragona (Vahl) Nees var. grandis Nees in de Candolle, Prodr. 11:295. 1847.

Shrub or suffrutescent herb to 3 m high; stems erect, quadrangular toward tip, somewhat light grayish green, glabrous; leaf blades ovate-lanceolate to widely ovate-elliptic, 23–29 cm long, 6.5–19 cm wide, short-acuminate (the tip itself blunt), abruptly narrowed to a cuneate or sometimes short decurrent base, firmly membranaceous to subcoriaceous, entire, the margins faintly undulate-crenate, the upper surface drying dark green, glabrous, the costa somewhat protruding, the lateral veins (10–14 pairs) slightly raised, the lower surface drying a lighter green, glabrous or the costa and lateral veins puberulous, the veinlets finely reticulate; petioles 5–17 cm long, canaliculate, glabrous; spikes usually 3–5, occasionally solitary, congested, quadrangular, terminal, subsessile, about 10 cm long and 1 cm wide (without corollas), the lateral spikes usually somewhat smaller, the rachis whitecottony; bracts imbricate, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 10–11 mm long, 3.5–4 mm wide, acute to slightly obtuse at the apex (the tip itself a small mucro), entire, greenish brown, firm, woolly-white at base and villous along the margin, elsewhere glabrous, markedly striate-nerved, ocelli 1–4, conspicuous, orbicular, dark brown; bractlets lanceolate, 9–10 mm long, about 2 mm wide near base, acute at apex, carinate, the keel densely whitevillous, glabrous within, finely striate-nerved; calyx 11–12 mm long, the posterior segment oblong, 3 mm wide, the anterior segments lanceolate, about 2 mm wide, the lateral pair narrowly lanceolate, 1.5 mm wide, all acute, scarious, striate-nerved, slightly villous at the tips; corolla brilliant pink to deep red, puberulous, 6.5–7 cm long, about 2 mm at tip of ovary, thence gradually enlarged and slightly ventricose, about 8 mm broad at mouth, the upper lip erect, ovate, 19 mm long, 8 mm wide, bifid, the lobes triangular, 9.5 mm long and 4 mm wide, slenderly acuminate, the lower lip 3-lobed, erect or spreading with age, the middle lobe lanceovate, about 22 mm long and 8 mm wide, acute, the lateral lobes reduced to about 5 mm long and 1 mm wide, obtusish, adnate for the most part to the upper lip; stamens exserted about 15 mm beyond the mouth of the corolla tube; anthers 6 mm long, acute at apex, acute and mucronulate at base; capsule not seen.

TYPE.—von Rohr (holotype C), “E. Cajenna.”

DISTRIBUTION.—Native to the vicinity of Caracas, Venezuela. Commonly cultivated in the botanical gardens of Europe. VENEZUELA. MIRANDA: Forest of Guatopo, 27 m NNW of Altagracia de Orituco, 26 m SE of Santa Teresa, 500 m alt, 11 Sep 1960, Steyermark 87086 (US, VEN); Guatopo, 400–600 m alt, 14 Nov 1956, Bemardi s.n. (NY); El Guapo, 200 m alt, Oct 1959, Aristeguieta 4003 (VEN); Parque Nacional de Guatopo, NW of Morro de Aguaramal, between Altagracia de Orituco and Santa Teresa, 610–710 m alt, 29 Nov 1961, Steyermark 90161 (US, VEN); Parque Nacional de Guatopo, 14.5 km from Los Alpes, 12 km from Ranchería Mi Querencia, 520 m alt, 27 Oct 1966, Steyermark 97548-A (US). DISTRITO FEDERAL: Las Queseras, near Caracas, Oct 1924, Allard 143 (P, US, VEN); Peonias, Caracas, 1843, Funck 491 (P); Cerro Naiguatá, 900–1100 m alt, 2 Nov 1963, Steyermark 91857 (US); Cerro Naiguatá, 1500–1635 m alt, 8 Oct 1966, Steyermark 97472 (US, VEN). ARAGUA: La Begonia Station, 2 Nov 1917, Pittier 7568 (US, VEN); Colonia Tovar, Engels s.n. (LE). MÉRIDA: Quebrada de la Guina, Nov Moritz 1272 (K, P, isotypes of A. tetragona (Vahl) Nees var. grandis Nees). CULTIVATED MATERIAL. Palmengarten, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 30 Sep 1959, Meyer 7156 (US); Cult. hortus Vindob. (W); Hortus bot. Monacensis, 1836 (M); Sept. die post natum filium Maximilianum 1832, Herb. Martii (BR); Kew garden specimen, 23 Sep 1889, (K); at the Guiarao, Venezuela, flowered in tropical pits at Kew, 27 Sep 1962 (K).

Aphelandra cristata (Jacquin) R. Brown is based on Justicia cristata Jacquin. Brown’s plate and the material examined from Vienna are all A. tetragona (Vahl) Nees. One specimen labeled: “Justicia cristata Jacq. Hort. Schönbr. t. 320,” could possibly be the type of Jacquin’s J. cristata.