Aphelandra hieronymi Griseb.

Aphelandra hieronymi Grisebach

Aphelandra hieronymi Grisebach, Abh. Ges. Wiss. Goettingen 24:260. 1879.

Shrubby plants to 1.5 m high; stems 2–4 mm in diameter, green or the older portion brown, pilose to glabrate, the hairs 1.5 mm long, upwardly appressed to spreading, the lenticels conspicuous, whitish, about 0.5 mm wide and 2–3 mm long; leaf blades oblong-lanceolate, 5–13 cm long, 1.4–3 cm wide, acuminate, gradually narrowed from above the middle to base, rather thin, serrate, the teeth and tips ending in slender spines 1–1.5 mm long, the upper surface sparingly pilose, the hairs 0.5 mm long, the lower surface more densely so, the hairs confined chiefly to the costa and veins, these together with the veinlets conspicuous; petioles 5 mm long, pilose; spikes terminal and lateral, including the flowers, 2–4 cm long, sessile or pedunculate, more or less interrupted, the peduncles up to 3 cm long, appressed-pubescent; bracts similar to the leaf blades but much smaller, triangularovate, 15–20 mm long, 2–3 mm wide at base, spine-tipped and bearing 2–3 pairs of spines on the margin, sparingly pilose, the hairs appressed; bractlets oblong, 8 mm long, 2 mm wide near base, acuminate at tip and terminated by a slender spine about 1 mm long, subcoriaceous, obscurely nerved, dorsally pubescent, the margins subhyaline; calyx segments unequal, the two outermost broadly lanceolate, 7 mm long, 3 mm wide, the 3 inner ones lanceolate, 6 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, all acute, subcoriaceous, glabrous, striate, the margins subhyaline; corolla red, finely pubescent, 2.5–4.5 cm long, 2 mm broad at base, slightly narrowed above the ovary, thence gradually enlarged to 7 mm, the erect upper lip oblong, 13 mm long, 6 mm wide, bilobed at apex, the lobes 5 mm long and 2.5 mm wide, obtuse or rounded, the lower lip spreading, about 10 mm long, the middle lobe broadly oblanceolate, 5 mm wide, rounded, the lateral ones linear-lanceolate, 7 mm long, 1.5 mm wide near tip, acute; stamens slightly exserted beyond the upper lip; filaments glabrous toward tips, the inner surface of the basal portions densely and retrorsely pubescent; anthers 5 mm long, 0.5 mm wide, linear, straight or slightly curved, dorsally pilose, the hairs about 1 mm long causing the anthers to cohere; ovary glabrous; style slender, slightly longer than the stamens, glabrous; capsule oblong-lanceolate, shining, 1.8–2.2 cm long, 2-celled nearly to base, 4-seeded.

TYPE.—Lorentz & Hieronymus 270 (syntype CORD), Argentina, Salta, San Andres cerca de Orán, 17–24 Sep 1873; Lorentz & Hieronymus 918 (syntypes B, destroyed, CORD, S, F photo 8663), Bolivia, Prov. de Las Salinas, Cuesta Colorado entre San Luis y Amareta, 14 Jun 1873.

DISTRIBUTION.—This species is, evidently, extremely limited in its distribution, occurring in northern Argentina, chiefly in the vicinity of the Provinces of Jujuy and Salta and in adjacent regions of southern Bolivia. ARGENTINA. LEDESMA: Jujuy: Calilegua, Cerro de San Francisco, 1600 m alt, 17 Jun 1911, Lillo 10791 (LIL, US, W). BOLIVIA. Rosal, 1800 m alt, 3 Oct 1949, Brooke 5743 (F); San Luis, 2100 m alt, Apr 1864, Pearce s.n. (K).

Aphelandra hieronymi là một loài thực vật có hoa trong họ Ô rô. Loài này được Griseb. mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1879.