You are here
Taxonomy
Gaertnera bieleri (De Wild.) Petit
SUMMARY
Trees or shrubs, 0.5–8 m tall; branches terete, when young pilosulose and/or hirtellous with indumentum drying brown or yellow, often becoming glabrescent, 1–4 mm diam.; internodes 0.8–5.5 cm, smooth. Leaf blades 2.2–17.5 3 1.1–7.8 cm, elliptic to oblong, oblanceolate, or obovate, apex cuspidate or acuminate, base acute to cuneate, drying chartaceous, adaxially glabrous or pilosulose on principal veins, abaxially glabrous or usually hirtellous to pilosulose or puberulent at least on principal veins with indumentum drying brown; secondary veins prominulous abaxially, 3 to 10 pairs; domatia absent or present; petioles 2–11 mm. Stipules tubular, densely hirtellous to pilosulose, drying chartaceous, caducous, tube 2–12 mm, with ribs 4, narrowly winged, arising below petiole and extending to lobes, apex entire or sometimes with 2 opposite incisions, marcescent, lobes 4, 1–10 mm, deltate to filiform, setae none or numerous, to 2 mm. Inflorescences cymose, several- to many-flowered, terminal on principal and/or axillary branches, densely pilosulose to hirtellous, sessile or peduncle to 5.4 cm; branched portion subglobose, corymbiform, or narrowly pyramidal, 0.7–6.7 3 1.2–7.4 cm, rather congested, branched to 3 to 4 orders; bracts linear to filiform, 3–21 mm; bracteoles 1–2 mm; pedicels to 3 mm. Flowers 5-merous, heterodistylous, sessile to pedicellate. Long-styled flowers: calyx cup-shaped, 1–2 mm wide, outside glabrous to puberulent or pilosulose, with hair-ring inside, lobes (0.8–)2–4.5 mm, linear to narrowly triangular or lanceolate; corolla white, clavate in bud, when open infundibuliform or salverform, outside glabrous, tube 4–5 mm, 0.9–2.5 mm diam., inside villous in upper third, lobes 2–3 mm, ligulate or ovate-oblong to lanceolate, acute; anthers included, filaments inserted in upper third of corolla tube, 0.2–0.6 mm; style 4.5–7 mm, glabrous or pubescent, stigmas 0.3–1 mm. Short-styled flowers: similar to long styled except calyx lobes 0.9–3 mm; corolla tube 3–4.5 mm, 0.8–3 mm diam., lobes 1.4–3.5 mm; anthers fully exserted, filaments 2.2–3.6 mm; style 2–3.8 mm, glabrous, stigmas 1–1.4 mm. Drupes violet-black, globose or subglobose, 5–12 3 5–12 mm; pyrenes spherical or hemispherical, rugose, finely fissured, endosperm entire.
[Malcomber S.T. and C.M. Taylor. 2009. A systematic revision of Gaertnera (rubiaceae, Gaertnereae) Ann. Missouri Bot. 96:575—671]