Several collections of clearly petiolate plants, made by T. Krömer and A. Acebey in the mid-altitudes of the humid La Paz Yungas montane rain forests, caused some confusion. Some of them, at first glance, seemed similar to Fosterella petiolata and then somewhat different, and all of them differed from each other. After careful re vision of the material, we place the plants with F. petiolata, supposing a certain variability of this taxon. Ecologically it makes sense for the plants to belong to a single species that seems to be typical of a certain altitudinal belt in the La Paz Yungas. In that area, the appears to be quite abundant, even at disturbed sites. For example, in Cotapata National Park, large populations have been observed. —SeeIbisch et al. 2002p. 7
BOLIVIA. Dpto. La Paz: Prov. Nor Yungas, Cotapata National Park, trails around Estación Biológica de Tunquini, 16°11’S, 67°53’, 1650 m, 22 Sep. 2000, T. Krömer & A. Acebey 1594 (GOET, LPB, USZ). ibid.: 16°12S, 67°51W, 1550 m, 25 Aug. 1999, T. Krömer & A. Acebey 763 (GOET, LPB) (flowers first suberect, later nutant, primary bracts larger than in the specimen T. Krömer & A. Acebey 1594 , pedicels rather long, pedicels shorter than floral bracts, fruits higher than wide, 5x3 mm); ibid.: 16°12S, 67°50W, 1300 m, 5 Oct. 1999, T. Krömer & A. Acebey 902 (GOET, LPB); ibid.: Prov. Caranavi, road from Caranavi to Sapecho, near summit of Serranía Bella Vista, 15°41’S, 67°29’W, 1500 m, 5 Aug. 2000. T. Krömer & A. Acebey 1398a (GOET, LPB, USZ) (similar to specimen T. Krömer & A. Acebey 763 , fruits also higher than wide); Prov. Bautista Saavedra, Pauyi-Yuyo, between Apolo and Charazani, 15°03’S, 68°29’W, 900 m, 15 Jun. 1997, M. Kessler et al. 10189 (GOET, LPB, SEL) (floral bracts as long or longer than the pedicels); ibid.: Prov. Nor Yungas, 15.2 km road from Chuspipata to Yolosa, 16°17’S, 67°48’W, 1800 m, 26 Sep. 1999, T. Krömer & A. Acebey 891 (GOET, LPB) (flowers larger than in the specimen T. Krömer & A. Acebey 1594 , primary bracts quite short, flowers spreading to suberect, fruits more bulky than in the specimen T. Krömer & A. Acebey 1594 , shorter than wide, 3x4 mm); ibid.: Prov. Nor Yungas, 27 km road from Chuspipata to Yolosa, 16°17’S, 67°48’W, 1250 m, 26 Sep. 1999, T. Krömer & A. Acebey 893 (GOET, LPB) (similar to specimen cited before). —SeeIbisch et al. 2002p. 7-8
Several collections of clearly petiolate plants made by T Kromer and A. Acebey in the midaltitudes of the humid La Paz Yungas montane rain forests caused confusion; some of them, at first glance, seemed similar to Fosterella petiolata, but then somewhat different with all of them differing from each other. After careful revision of the material, we place the plants with F. petiolata, suggesting a certain variability of this taxon. It makes sense ecologically that the plants belong to a single species that appears typical of a certain altitudinal belt in the La Paz Yungas. In that area, the species appears to be quite abundant, even at disturbed sites, e.g., in Cotapata National Park where large populations have been observed.
We provide the following description of a plant from La Paz and propose it as Fosterella petiolata, which thus is no longer endemic to Peru:
This plant differs from Fosterella petiolata as described by Smith and Downs (1974) by the diminute floral bracts (not exceeding the pedicels, not broadly ovate) and the shorter sepals (1.5 mm not 2.5 mm). We await future molecular studies to decide if this plant and the specimens mentioned below all belong to the Peruvian F.petiolata, or if some differentiation on the specific or subspecific level is justified. —SeePeters 2009
