Espeletia
Espeletia, Páramo de Guerrero ( Cogua, Colombia, 3,500 m)
The Espeletia are a kind of semi- shrubs from the sunflower family ( Asteraceae). The species are native to northern South America, where they occur under tropical montane conditions. Some species are used as medicinal herbs. The name honors José Manuel de Espeleta (1739-1823), the Viceroy of New Granada.
Description
Espeletia are perennial, unbranched growing strongly woolly hairy subshrubs. They are called crested rosette trees, that is, by the growth of large rosette of leaves with age forms an upright trunk. At its end are close simple, remaining even after the wilting leaves still on the trunk, whose flattened appearance stalk arises from a thick, bare inside, dry and yellowish leaf sheath. The leathery leaf blade is narrow -elliptic to slightly reverse- lanceolate, pointed and densely hairy with spiral, with little woolly hair. The leaf margin is slightly rolled back.
The complex inflorescence ( Synfloreszenz ) is axillary against permanent bracts and consists of paniculate arranged baskets. The basket stems are 3-15 cm long, the cup bottom spreublättrig. The baskets are radial symmetry, heterogam and heteromorphic. The outer cup of the basket is as big or bigger even than the involucre and one to two rows. The bracts are sometimes asymmetrical and membranous, the inner green, ovate or reverse- egg-shaped, the outer hairy, pointed or blunt. The involucre is hemispherical to cup-shaped, double row, the membranous bracts are lanceolate, narrow -elliptic to lanceolate or vice versa, and sometimes asymmetrical. The inner bracts are green, woolly hairs toward the outer end and ciliated at the edge. The lance-shaped or reverse- lance-shaped, pointed, ciliated at the edge and toward the outer end slightly woolly hairy chaff leaves are fused with the achene and durable, initially membranous and during the ripening almost leathery.
The yellow ray florets are female, the corolla tube is covered with fine hair, the coronary band ( limbus ) is papillose and more or less linear, its outer end is serrated two or three times. The yellow tubular flowers are hermaphroditic, papillose towards the outer end and almost always covered with fine hair, the inside of the corolla tube is also covered with fine hair. The anthers are black.
The inverted ovoid achene triangular, black, slightly shiny and bald, a pappus absent.
Dissemination
The genus is native to northern South America (Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia), diversity centers are the Venezuelan Andes and the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. They are preferably found in the so-called Páramo, a typical South American tropical montane - ecosystem.
System
The genus is classified according to Robinson in the sunflower family ( Asteraceae) in the tribe Heliantheae, subtribe Espeletiinae.
There are about 45 species, including:
- Espeletia grandiflora
- Espeletia killipii
- Espeletia uribei
- Espeletia summapacis
- Espeletia schultzii
- Espeletia timotensis
- Espeletia spicata
- Espeletia barclayana
- Espeletia semiglobulata
- Espeletia weddelii
- Espeletia pycnophylla
- Espeletia neriifolia