Some Clarifications, New Species, and New Combinations in American Cynanchinae (Asclepiadaceae) Sigrid Liede Abteilung Spezielle Botanik, Universitat Ulm, 89069 Ulm, Germany Ulrich MeveInstitut fir Botanik, Westf. Wilhelms-Universitit Mtinster, SchloBgarten 3, 48149 Miinster, GermanyABSTRACT. Two new species of Cynanchum inSouth America are described, C. bifidum Liede &Meve and C. trollii Liede & Meve. One SouthAmerican Cynanchum species is transferred to Ox-ypetalum, fourteen to Metastelma, and four to Di-tassa. Stelmatocodon and Fontellaea are recognizedas synonyms of Philibertia. The enormous variety of American Cynanchinaehas puzzled even experienced specialists of thefamily. The difficulties presented by the often min-ute flowers and narrowly endemic ranges of the spe-cies are aggravated by the often insufficient de-scriptions without illustrations. While a thoroughrevision of Cynanchum and its relatives for the en-tire continent is not feasible at the moment, severalnew additions and clarifications are possible as aresult of a long-term project of the first author.MATERIALS AND METHODS The holdings of A, AAU, B, BM, CTES, G, GA,GB, L. LIL, LPB, M, MO, MPU, P. S, SGO, SI, UC,and USZ have been studied. Dried material wassupplemented by our own collections of living andspirit material from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Mex-ico, and the United States. For corona terminology.Liede and Kunze (1993) have been followed; forclarification of gynostegium structures, see Liede(1996).NEW SPECIESCynanchum bifidum Liede & Meve, sp. nov. TYPE: Ecuador. Azuay: 1-2 km N of Nieves, Ceja forest, 3X)000-31() m, 16 Nov. 1988, Har-ling 25919 (holotype, GB). Figure 1. C. intricato similis, sed differt in lobis coronae stam-inalis profunde bifidis. Plants ascending, twining, 3-4 m high. richlybranched, at least hasally following a dichasiallyNovoN 7: 38-45. 1997.branching pattern. Shoots perennial, herbaceous,densely covered with flexuous trichomes, 0.7-0.8mm long; internodes 15-50 cm long. Leaves esti-pulate. with 1-2-mm-long petiole, 2 colleters at thebase of the leaves; leaf blades herbaceous. 8-10 X3-5 mm, ovate, basally rounded, apically acute, en-tirely glabrous. Inflorescences always one per node,extra-axillary. sessile, 4-10-flowered, all flowersopen synchronously, sciadioidal. Floral bracts ca.0.7 x 0.3 mm, ovate, glabrous; pedicels 1-2 mmlong, glabrous. Buds ca. 2.2 X 1.2 mm, globose,with imbricate aestivation. Calyx basally fused,abaxially glabrous, lobes ca. 1.2 X 0.5 mm, ovate,acute. Corolla cyathiform, basally fused, abaxiallyand adaxially greenish white, purple along the mainnerves, glabrous; lobes 2.5-3 X 1-1.2 mm, oblong,apically obtuse, incurved. Corona gynostegial,white, 1.2-1.5 mm high, equaling the gynostegiumin height, consisting of staminal and interstaminalparts just basally fused, staminal lobes laminar,deeply bifid, apically erect. Gynostegium ca. 0.8 X0.8 mm, atop a stipe, ca. 0.6 mm long. Anthersabout as high as broad, pentagonal, abaxially con-vex; anther wings 0.35 mm long, not extendingalong the whole length of the anther, consisting ofa distal and a proximal ridge; adjacent anther wingsparallel to each other, basally widened, in the sameplane as the anther. Connective appendages 0.35-0.4 x 0.25-0.3 mm, ovate, narrower than the sta-men, slightly inflexed. Pollinarium: corpusculumca. 0.18 mm long, almost twice as long as broad,elliptical; caudicles ca. 0.075 mm long, cylindrical,straight, horizontal; pollinia apically attached to thecaudicles. ca. 0.275 X 0.1 nmm, ovoid, ovate incross section. Stylar head ca. 0.5 mm diam.. 0.375mm high; upper part 0.125 mm high, tabular.Fruits, seeds, and chromosome number unknown. This new species belongs in the C. microphyllumKunth group, which is particularly diverse in thenortheastern Andes. It is probably most closely re-
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