Bejaria pallens Rémy var. tarapotana Meisner in Martius, Fl. bras. 7: 171. 1863. Type. Peru. San Martín: Tarapoto, 1060 m, Nov 1855, Spruce 4252 (lectotype, designated by Clemants (1995): BR, photo NY neg. 11698; isolectotypes: K, W, fragment NY).Bejaria guianensis Klotzsch ex N. E. Brown, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, Bot. ser. 2, 6: 46. 1901 (as Befaria). [Bejaria guianensis Klotzsch ex Schomburgk, Reisen in British Guiana, 3: 1088. 1848 (as Befaria), nom. nud.] Type. Guyana. Richard Schomburgk 1041 (lectotype, designated by Mansfeld & Sleumer (1935): B, n.v., destroyed, photo F neg. 18285; neolectotype: K, photo NY neg. 11702; isolectotypes: CGB).
[Bejaria puberula Klotzsch ex Mansfeld & Sleumer, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 12: 256. 1935 (as Befaria), pro syn. Bejaria puberula Klotzsch ex Ule, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 52(115): 45. 1914, nom. nud. Type. Venezuela. Bolívar (Roraima): Río Cuquenan, Ule 8711 (lectotype, designated by Mansfeld & Sleumer (1935): B, n.v., destroyed; neolectotype, designated by Clemants (1995): U; isolectotypes: K).]
Bejaria schomburgkiana Klotzsch ex Mansfeld & Sleumer, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 12: 273. 1935 (as Befaria). [Bejaria schomburgkiana Klotzsch ex Schomburgk, Reisen in Britisch-Guiana, 3: 1088. 1848 (as Befaria), nom. nud.] Type. Guyana. Cerro Roraima, 485 m, Oct 1842, Richard Schomburgk 871 (holotype: B, n.v., destroyed, photo F neg. 18292; lectotype, designated by Clemants (1995): K).
Bejaria variabilis A. C. Smith in Gleason, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 58: 437. 1931. Type. Venezuela. Territorio Federal Amazonas: Mt. Duida, summit, 1545 m, Aug 1928-Apr 1929 (fl), Tate 723 (holotype: NY, photos NY neg. 9790, NY type herbarium microfiche #760/C11; isotype, US).
Shrub or tree 0.3-15 m tall; bark fissured,
glabrous, hispid, or glandular-hispid, brownish-red, gray, or black and
white striped; twigs terete, rusty-red, maroon, or gray, tomentose,
hispid, or glandular-hispid. Leaves coriaceous, flat, sometimes revolute,
rarely longitudinally-curled, elliptic to narrowly elliptic or narrowly
ovate to narrowly narrowly ovate, sometimes ovate or obovate, 1.5-5.3(-6.6)
x 0.2-2.1(-2.9) cm, base cuneate (obtuse), apex acute to obtuse (acuminate
or rounded), often mucronate, margin entire, ciliate or glandular-ciliate,
both surfaces glabrous, tomentose, hispid, or glandular-hispid, the hairs
near the leaf apex sometimes forking; petiole subterete, 2-6(-7.5)
mm long, glabrous, tomentose, hispid, or glandular-hispid. Inflorescence
terminal, axillary, or both, racemose, (3-)8-17-flowered; rachis
brown, tan, or brownish-orange, (1.8-)2.8-7.4(-12) cm long, 0.6-1.4(-1.7)
mm diam., glabrous, tomentose, hispid, or glandular-hispid; pedicel
9-29(-33) mm long, 0.3-0.6(-0.8) mm diam., glabrous, tomentose, hispid,
or glandular-hispid; bracteoles inserted on the basal 1/2 of the
pedicel, narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong to linear, involute, 1-3(-3.3)
x 0.2-0.6 mm, base truncate, apex obtuse or acute, margin glabrous, ciliate,
ciliolate, or glandular ciliate, indumentum as on the leaves; floral
bracts narrowly elliptic to elliptic or narrowly narrowly ovate, flat or
involute, 1.8-6.9(-13.3) x 0.5-2.8(-3.1) mm, base cuneate or truncate,
apex acute to acuminate, sometimes obtuse, margin entire, ciliate, glandular-ciliate,
or ciliolate, indumentum as on the leaves. Flowers 5-7-merous;
calyx 2.5-4.8 mm long; tube 0.5-2 mm long, 2.4-4 mm diam., brown,
orange, or purple, glabrous, tomentose, hispid, or glandular-hispid;
lobes widely-ovate to depressed-ovate, sometimes ovate, apex obtuse to
acute, 0.9-3.2(-4.2) x 1.1-3.3(-3.7) mm, the longest lobes 1.1-3.1(-4.2)
mm long, margin entire, erose, dentate, ciliolate, or sometimes glandular-ciliolate,
abaxial surface glabrous, tomentose, hispid, or glandular-hispid;
corolla tubular, pink to dark red (white), petals narrowly obovate, 7-28
x 2-7.6(-8.8) mm, margin entire, glabrous or distally slightly tomentose;
stamens long exserted more than 1.2 times the petal length, rarely subequal
to the corolla, (8-)13.5-36.5 mm long; filaments tomentose;
anthers 1-2.6 mm long, 0.6-1.2 mm diam., glabrous; ovary glabrous;
style exserted, 18.5-40.5 mm long; stigma capitate. Capsule
depressed obovoid, 4-4.7 mm long, 5.5-6.8 mm diam., brown, exocarp not
separating from the valves; seeds 0.6-1.5 mm long, 0.2-0.6 mm diam.
Distribution. Guayana Highland (from the Cordillera de Macarena, Colombia, to the Pakaraima Mountains and the Kaieteur Plateau, Guayana), the mountains near Táchira and Anzoátegui, Venezuela and in NE Peru near San Martín. It grows in a variety of habitats including grassland, savannas, forests, and rarely on exposed rock faces, at 150-2200 m. elevation. It flowers and bears fruit sporadically throughout the year.
Local names. Candelaria (Peru); itu-kuyó-kuyén
(Gran Savanna, pemón dialect).
