Dianthera comata L.

Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 850. 1759. Type locality: Jamaica. Justicia comata Lam. Encyl. 1: 632. 1783. Based on Dianthera comata L. Leptostachya comata Nees in DC. Prodr. 11: 381. 1847.

Psacadocalymma comatum Bremekamp, Verh. Kon. Ned. Akad. Wetensch. Afd. Natuurk., Sect. 2, 45: 55. 1948.

Herbs up to 1 meter high; stems weak, ascending to nearly erect, more or less branched, often rooting at the lower nodes, subquadran- gular (the angles rounded), more or less grooved, glabrous or sparingly puberulous (the hairs about 0.25 mm. long, spreading or retrorse and disposed more or less in 2 lines) or occasionally pilose with spreading hairs up to 3.5 mm. long, the cystoliths numerous, parallel, 100 to 200 long; leaf blades lanceolate to oblong or oblong-ovate, usually about 6 cm. long and 2 em. wide but occasionally reaching a length of 15 cm. and a width of 4 cm., acuminate or acute at apex, rounded, obtuse or narrowed at base and decurrent on the petiole, entire or shallowly undulate, moderately firm, both surfaces glabrous or sparingly hirtellous, the costa and lateral veins (about 6 pairs) obscure, the cystoliths slender, about 150, long, not often conspicuous; petioles up to 2 cm. long (including winged portion), the uppermost leaves often subsessile; inflorescence terminal or axillary, the flowers secund in slender simple or branched spikes, these fascicled or the lowermost disposed in peduncled umbels, the peduncles up to 5 cm. long, the spikes forming in aggregate a terminal panicle or sometimes a paniculate inflorescence involving nearly the entire plant, the branches of the inflorescence very slender and almost filiform, more or less angular, minutely hirtellous, often with longer (up to 300μ) gland-tipped hairs intermixed; bracts subtending the flowers lanceo- late, barely 1.6 mm. long and 0.35 mm. wide, sharply acute, glabrous, strongly costate; bractlets about 1 mm. long, 0.25 mm. wide, in other respects similar to the bracts; calyx 2.5 mm. long, the segments narrowly lanceolate, 2 mm. long, about 0.5 mm, wide at base, slenderly acute, glabrous; corollas white, lilac, light blue, purplish white, rose or greenish pink (Pennell), often marked with purplish lines or spots, 4.5 to 7 mm. long, glabrous or the upper part of the tube bearing a few minute spreading hairs, the tube ca. 1.2 mm. broad at the base, slightly enlarged upwardly, contracted at about the middle, here ca. 1.5 mm. wide, thence ampliate to the throat, this 2 to 3.5 mm. wide, the limb bilabiate, the upper lip erect, ovate, 2.5 mm. long, 1.25 mm. wide, rounded or obtuse at tip, the lower lip spreading, triangular, 1.5 mm. wide at base, 3 mm. wide near tip, 3-lobed, the lobes ovate, 0.5 mm. long, 1 mm. broad, obtuse; stamens exserted about 2 mm. beyond the mouth of the corolla tube, the filaments slender, pilose at base, otherwise glabrous; anthers purple, the cells obliquely attached to a relatively broad connective, the upper 0.5 mm. long, and 0.25 mm. wide, the lower one smaller, the connective about 0.25 mm. broad; style exserted about 3 mm. beyond mouth of the corolla tube, glabrous; capsules clavate, 4 to 5 mm. long, 2 mm. broad and 1 mm. thick, 4-seeded, sparingly hirtellous or glabrate; retinacula about 0.75 mm. long, narrowly cucullate at tip; seeds reddish brown, some- what flattened, barely 1 mm. in diameter, about 0.25 mm. thick, oughened or indistinctly papillose. Justicia comata, distributed throughout tropical America, generally grows at low elevations of 500 meters or less, but may be found occasionally as high as 2,000 meters. It is weedy in nature, and is equally at home in damp or dryish thickets, on slopes, in woods, on river banks, in waste places in general, on margins of ponds or small streams, or even growing in shallow water. As to be expected of a species of such an extensive range, considerable variation is exhibited. Plants in wet situations, especially those growing in water, tend to produce long narrow leaf blades gradually narrowed to a subsessile base. Killip's No. 34261 and von Sneidern's Nos. 494 and 2644 are plants of this nature. The leaf blades of these plants vary from 4 to 17 cm. in length but rarely exceed 13 mm. in width. Moreover, Killip's specimen shows a transition stage between the aquatic form and the typical form, which has broader blades with rounded or obtuse bases. Plants with strictly terminal inflorescences rather strongly hirtellous or even puberulous with a predominance of glandular hairs are likely to be confused with J. pectoralis. Killip & Garcia's No. 33598 is such a plant. Remarkable also is the development of pilosity in Pennell's No. 1473 and Killip & Smith's No. 14719. In these the hairs of the stems are white, spreading, straight, and up to 3.5 mm. long.

AMAZONAS: Trail bordering a thicket near the Amazon, near Letitia, Hermann 11287 (US). Rio Hamacayacu, between the Amazon and Putumayo watersheds, Schultes 8248 (US).

ANTIOQUIA: Forest along river opposite Boca Carare, Pennell 3822 (GH, NY). Damp area west of Santa Fé de Antioquia, Barkley, Skolnik & Gómez 413 (US). Margin of open pool, Valparaiso, Pennell 10811 (Ph, US).

BOLÍVAR: Ditch in thicket along river, Calamar, Killip & Smith 14719 (US). Vicinity of Cartagena, Bro. Heriberto 367 (US). Desiccated place at edge of thicket, Chinú, Pennell 4098 (GH). Edge of thicket, Sincé, Pennell 4041 (GH, US). Swampy lagoon-filled plateau, Hacienda Martinica, in the region of Sinú, 15 km. from Montería, Bechara, Araque & Barkley 19B0.094 (US). Quebrada in forest at Tierra Alta, on the Río Sinú, Pennell 4657 (GH, US).

CAUCA: Cultivated fields at Cali, Duque 1051 (Cali). River bank, El Tambo, von Sneidern 494 (S); 2644 (S). Guayabal, on the Río Micay, Cuatrecasas 14111 (Ch).

EL CHOCÓ: Rich damp mountain valley near El Piñón, Araque & Barkley 19Ch.112 (US). Clearing along Quebrada Jella, vicinity of Bahía Solano near Ciudad Mutis, Killip & Garcia 33598 (US). Rich sandy plateau along the Río Atrato, near Quibdo, Araque & Barkley 19Ch.058 (US); Archer 1925 (NY, US); 2220 (US).

CUNDINAMARCA: Junín, Triana s.n. (Col). La Esperenza, Granjo Cafetera Enrique Soto, Gutierrez 416 (Ch, Med, US).

EL VALLE: Barco, Río Cajambre, Cuatrecasas 17093 (US). Río Anchicayá, between Sabaletas and Quebrada del Tátabro, Cuatrecasas 22063 (US). Río Naya, between Puerto Merizalde and Meregildo, Cuatrecasas 14345 (US). Río Yurumanguf, between Isla de Golondro and La Amargura, Cuatrecasas 16060

(US). Swamp at Santa Rosa, Killip 11565 (Ph, US). Woods at Veneral, Río Yurumanguí, Cuatrecasas 15916 (US); 16003 (Cali).

HUILA: Río Cabrera, about 18 km, northeast of Villavieja, upper basin of the Río Magdalena, 450 m., Galen Smith 1199 (US).

MAGDALENA: Carare, André 301 (GH). Santa Marta region, H. H. Smith 1208 (Ph, US); 1416 (Ph, US).

META: Puerto López, Río Matico, Cuatrecasas 3577 (US). In water of small stream in dense forest southeast of Villavicencio, Killip 34261 (US). Moist forest at Villavicencio, Pennell 1473 (GH).

SANTANDER: Alluvial thicket at Badillo, Río Magdalena, Pennell 3927 (GH, US). Marsh in the vicinity of Puerto Wilches, Killip & Smith 14936 (Ph, US). TOLIMA: Running water along the Ambalema-Ibague railroad near Caldas, Haught 2388 (US).

VICHADA: Puerto Carreñio, Río Orinoco, Cuatrecasas 3978 (US).

WITHOUT DEFINITE LOCALITY, Mulis 1488 (US).