Rediscovering Ternstroemia Killipiana (Pentaphylacaceae, S.L.), a Colombian Andes Species Not Collected Since 1926: Its Geographic Distribution and Current Conservation Status

Abstract

Ternstroemia killipiana, a species endemic to Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, was collected by Ellsworth P. Killip in 1926, and described by Clarence E. Kobuski in 1942. Since this date, this taxon it had not been recollected until the new collection reported here. A full description based on recent collection from “Serranía de Las Quinchas” (middle Magdalena river), Boyacá department, which for the first time includes detailed information on calyx and the corolla, an illustration, and an updated key to the 15 species of Ternstroemia reported from Colombia are provided. The presence of T. killipiana, and other endemic plant species, on both slopes of the Cordillera Oriental demonstrates the important role of intensive biological explorations in understudied areas, and also suggests that plant diversity on the middle Magdalena river slopes has not been thoroughly sampled.