Vellozia intermedia Seub.

Vellozia intermedia Seubert

Vellozia intermedia Seubert in Martius, Fl. Bras., 3(1):78, 1847.—L. B. Smith, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb., 35:261, 1962.—Ayensu, Smithsonian Contr. Bot., 15:29, pl. 28f–g, 1974.

TYPE.—Without locality, Brazil, Sellow s n (B, holotype; US, photo).

DISTRIBUTION.—Cunha Magalhães, north of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

52. Vellozia tomeana L. B. Smith & Ayensu, new species

A V. intermedia Seubert, cui affinis, ovario ellipsoideo haud angulato differt.

Caudex stout (only extreme apex known). Leaves many-ranked, glutinous; sheaths apparently very dense with little or no apical exposure, 45 mm long, yellow, even and glabrous; blades reflexing and presumably persistent, very narrowly triangular, finely attenuate, 35 cm long, 12 mm wide, flat, erect-serrulate, otherwise even and glabrous.

Scapes solitary, slightly curved, 10 cm long (above the leaf-sheaths), over 2 mm in diameter, scarcely sulcate, laxly and finely stipitate-glandular. Ovary ellipsoid, terete, 12 mm long, laxly and evenly vestite with fine black subsessile glands; epigynous tube very short. Tepals elliptic, 35 mm long, blue (!Hatschbach). Stamens ca. 50; phalanges with small entire appendages.

LEAF ANATOMY (Hatschbach & Ahumada 31259).—Surface View: Hairs: few large tufts present on both surfaces. Epidermis: cells square to rectangular on both surfaces; thin-walled. Stomata: tetracytic, 21 × 12 μm; present in abaxial furrows only.

Transverse Section of Lamina: Dorsiventral; very widely V-shaped with extreme margins turned slightly downward. Adaxial surface slightly ridged; abaxial surface furrowed ½ to ¾ thickness of blade. Epidermis: adaxial cells rounded to dome-shaped; few conical, especially above midvein; thin-walled; interspersed with sclerenchyma fibers. Subjacent to adaxial epidermis is 1 or 2 layers of sclerenchyma fiber bundles interspersed with thin-walled cells. This is followed by a layer of fairly large, thin-walled parenchyma cells. Abaxial cells rounded to dome-shaped; few conical; thin-walled. Cuticle: slightly thickened and ridged on adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Stomata: present in abaxial furrows only; stomata raised above surface; small substomatal chamber present. Stomata associated with projections from walls of furrows. Mesophyll: 2 or 3 layers of palisade tissue followed by compactly arranged spongy cells. Two or three layers of large translucent cells radially arranged above vascular bundles, abaxial furrows and midvein. Vascular bundles: 35; commissural bundles not observed. One or two large vessels in each vascular

bundle, mostly one. Two phloem units lying laterally in flanges of Y-shaped abaxial girder. Adaxial cap present on each bundle. Bundle sheath completely surrounding each vascular bundle. Crystals: none observed. Tannins: few present.

TYPE.—Rock outcrops on hillside, São Tomé das Letras, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 5 February 1973, Hatschbach & Ahumada 31259 (US, holotype; MBM, isotype).