Four new species of Andean Pilea (Urticaceae), with additional notes on the genus in Venezuela

Laurence J Dorr; Basil Stergios

doi:10.3897/phytokeys.42.8455

Four new species of Andean Pilea (Urticaceae), with additional notes on the genus in Venezuela

PhytoKeys. 2014 Oct 24:(42):57-76. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.42.8455. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Laurence J Dorr¹, Basil Stergios²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Botany, MRC-166, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA.
² Universidad Nacional Experimental de los Llanos Occidentales "Ezequiel Zamora" (UNELLEZ), Mesa de Cavacas, Guanare, Estado Portuguesa 3323, Venezuela.

Abstract

Four new species of Pilea (Urticaceae) from the Andes of Venezuela are described and illustrated: Pileamatthewii sp. nov., Pileamiguelii sp. nov., Pileanicholasii sp. nov., and Pileanidiae sp. nov. The affinities of these species and their positions within the informal classifications of Pilea proposed by Weddell and Killip are discussed. Notes on other species of Pilea found in Venezuela also are presented.

Keywords: Andes; Pilea; Urticaceae; Venezuela.