Rubiacearum Americanarum Magna Hama Pars XL: Overview of Palicourea sect. Egenses, With Two New Species and a New Subspecies (Palicoureeae)

Abstract

The newly circumscribed group Palicourea Aubl. sect. Egenses C. M. Taylor includes 13 species found in South America in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, the Guayana Highlands, northwestern Venezuela, and the central Andes, often on nutrient-poor (oligotrophic) soils, and is diagnosed by features of its leaves, inflorescences, and fruits. Its species are separated mainly by details of stipules, inflorescence arrangement, bracts, and flower and fruit size, as outlined in a key, and have different ranges and some unusual morphological features as detailed for each. Newly published here are the combination P. moyobambana (Standl.) C. M. Taylor, the new species P. articulata C. M. Taylor from southeastern Colombia and P. flagellifera C. M. Taylor from Amazonian Colombia, and the new subspecies P. egensis subsp. zuliana C. M. Taylor from northwestern Venezuela.