Columnea oerstediana

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Columnea oerstediana

Description

Epiphytic suffrutescent herb or subshrub, to 1 m long. Stem woody at base, succulent above, pendent, creeping or erect, pubescent or strigose when young. Leaves equal in a pair or whorl; petiole 0.1-0.2 cm long, pubescent; blade chartaceous or coriaceous when dry, ovate, elliptic-ovate, to oblong, 1.2-2.9(-3.7) x 0.2-1.2 cm, margin entire, subrevolute, apex obtuse to acuminate, base rounded to cuneate, above glabrous, below sparsely strigose. Flowers solitary in reduced fasciculate inflorescences; pedicel 1-4 cm long, pubescent to strigose. Calyx campanulate, green to red, lobes free, erect, subequal, ovate-lanceolate, 0.9-1.8 x 0.4-1.1 cm, margin toothed near base or nearly entire, apex long acuminate, outside pubescent, inside sparsely pubescent; corolla erect in calyx, scarlet or red, 2.5-5.5 cm long, tube funnelform, 1.5-2.5 cm long, base gibbous, above base 0.2-0.4 cm wide, middle slightly ventricose, throat not contracted, 0.7-0.9 cm wide, outside pilose, inside glabrous, limb ca. 3 cm wide, lobes strongly unequal, upper lobes connate into a galea, erect, 1-2 x 0.7-1.5 cm, margin entire, lateral lobes spreading, triangular, 0.5-1.1 x 0.5-1 cm [at base], margin entire, basal lobe reflexed, triangular, 1.2-1.6 x 0.3-0.4 cm wide, margin entire; stamens exserted, adnate to base of corolla tube; staminode absent; ovary ovoid, 0.3-0.4 x 0.2-0.3 cm, pubescent to sericeous, style ca. 5 cm long, pilose glandular, stigma 2-lobed. Mature berry white, subglobose, 0.6-0.8 x 0.6-0.8 cm.

Distribution

Amaprá present, French Guiana present, Guianas present, Southern America: Costa Rica (Costa Rica present); Panamá (Panamá present)
Costa Rica, Panama, French Guiana and Brazil (Amaprá); ± 150 collections studied, 58 from the Guianas (FG: 58).

Phenology

Flowering .