New species of Ceratostema (Ericaceae, Vaccinieae) from the southeast Andes of Ecuador-II

The country with the greatest diversity of the genus is Ecuador, where most taxa are restricted to the submontane and montane forests of the eastern slopes of the Andes. The "auriculatum group" refers to a set of species restricted to south-eastern Ecuador, characterised by plants with an epiphytic and pendant habit, amplexicaul leaves that partially enclose the flowers, few-flowered inflorescences provided with small floral bracts and bracteoles and a calyx with a non-prominent limb.Two new species of Ceratostema from the Morona Santiago province, Ecuador, belonging to the informal morphological “auriculatum” group are described and illustrated here.

Ceratostema gearyana has plinerved, suborbicular leaves that are pruinose with lobes that do not overlap at the base; the mid-vein that is raised throughout its length; and a calyx with an obconic hypanthium with deltate-ovate lobes. It is compared with C. cutucuense from which it is distinguished by the smaller leaves, the glabrous floral parts, the hypanthium smaller, obconic, obscurely pentagonal, the larger calyx lobes and the corolla with narrowly linear-triangular lobes.