A New Species of Brachynema (Olacaceae) from South America Rodrigo Duno de Stefano Fundacion Institute) Botanico de Venezuela, Apartado 2156, Caracas 1010-A, Venezuela Paul E. Berry Missouri Botanical Garden, P.0. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166, U.S.A. Giovannina Orsini Veldsquez Universidad Central de Venezuela, Facultad de Ciencias, Escuela de Biologfa, Apartado 20513, Caracas 1040, Venezuela Abstract. A new species is described and illus¬ trated in the previously monotypic genus Brachy¬ nema (Olacaceae). Brachynema axillare is known from the base of Sierra de la Neblina in southern Venezuela and northern Brazil, as well as in Am¬ azonian Peru; it differs from B. ramiflorum Ben- tham in its axillary inflorescences, non-striped co¬ rolla tube, glabrous corolla lobes, and mostly 4-merous flowers. Resumen. Se describe una nueva especie en el genero Brachynema (Olacaceae), previamente con- siderado monotfpico. Brachynema axillare se cono- ce de la base de la Sierra de la Neblina en el sur de Venezuela y en el norte de Brasil, as! como en la Amazonia peruana. Difiere de B. ramiflorum en sus inflorescencias axilares, tubo de la corola no rayado, ldbulos de la corola glabros, y las flores mayormente 4-meras. In the most recent revision of neotropical Ola¬ caceae (Sleumer, 1984), Brachynema was consid¬ eredmonotypicandendemictocentralAmazonian Brazil. In a series of expeditions to the Sierra de la Neblina in southern Venezuela between 1984 and 1987 (Brewer-Carfas, 1988), numerous addi¬ tionalcollectionsofthegenusweremadeandsub¬ sequentlydeterminedasBrachynemaramiflorum Bentham. However, more detailed study revealed that the Venezuelan specimens are significantly dif¬ ferent from this species and merit recognition as a distinct species, due to their axillary (vs. ramiflo- rous), oftentetramerous(vs. strictlypentamerous) flowers, tricolpate instead of triporate pollen (Lob- reau-Callen, 1980), larger fruits, smaller calyx at anthesis, glabrous corolla lobes (vs. internally hairy), and the base of the corolla tube purple and lackingthecharacteristic“zebra”stripesofB.ram¬ iflorum. Brachynema axillare R. Duno & P. E. Berry, sp. nov.TYPE:Venezuela.EstadoAmazonas:Dpto. Rio Negro, 0 to 2 km W of Cerro La Neblina Base Camp, along Rio Mawarinuma, 0°50'N, 66°10'W, 140 m, 7 Feb. 1984, Liesner 15707 (holotype, VEN; isotype, MO). Figure 1. Haec species Brachynemati ramifloro Bentham affinis, sed ab eo infloreseentia axillari non ramiflora, floribus plerumque tetrameris, corollae lobulis glabris etiam tubo basaliter purpureo, polline tricolpato differt. Sparsely branched shrub or small tree 3-8 m tall. Leaves chartaceous, simple, alternate, glabrous, es- tipulate; blade narrowly to broadly elliptic or ovate, 20-40 cm long, 5-20 cm wide, base rounded to cu- neate,apexlong-acuminatetocaudate,thetipoften somewhat curved to one side, penninerved, with 9- 13suboppositetoalternatepairsof parallel second¬ ary veins looping near the margin to form a sub¬ marginal vein, prominent on the lower surface, sunk¬ en on the upper surface, tertiary veins conspicuous and running perpendicular to the secondary veins; margin shallowly to prominently sinuate-dentate, each tooth ending in a gland; petiole (1—)3—25 cm long, terete, noticeably thickened at both the base and the apex. Inflorescence an axillary fascicle or dense corymb of 10-20 flowers on a thickened, gla¬ brous to puberulous axis 5-10 mm long. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, 4- or 5-merous; pedicels 1— 2.5 mm long. Calyx cupular, greenish white when fresh, shallowly lobed, ca. 0.5 mm tall and 2 mm wide at anthesis. Corolla tube 16-25 mm long at anthesis,firm-fleshywhenfresh,2-4mmwideatthe base, glabrous to puberulous, uniformly violet-purple at the base, turning white toward the rim, the lobes white, glabrous, 4-6 mm long. Stamens 4 or 5, epi- petalous,includedatthebaseofthetube,filaments ca. 1 mm long; anthers basifixed, ca. 3 mm long, narrowly pointed at the apex, longitudinally dehis- Novon 5: 238-240 1995