XVI International Botanical Congess

In the Venezuelan Andes of Merida, a reproductively mature population of Austrofossombronia was discovered. This segregate genus of the Fossombroniaceae comprises the subantarctic A. marionensis, which typifies the genus, and A. australis, as well as the South American A. peruviana. The inclusion of the latter within the genus was provisional since its reproductive features were unknown. Our comparison of the Venezuelan population with the type collection of A. peruviana from Peru (Lechler 1723 [G]), verifies that this population is A. peruviana. This discovery expands the distribution of this taxon to the northern Andes, and allows us to describe for the first time its oil bodies, gametangia and sporophyte generation. In these features, A. peruviana closely resembles A. marionensis, but is distinguished by its capsule wall structure and spore architecture.