42. Burmeistera pteridioides McVaugh, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 52: 400. 1965.

Type:— COLOMBIA. Boyacá: Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Cubará, “by path from Bachira to Bocotá”, 2250 m, 21 Aug 1957 (fl, fr), P. Grubb, B. Curry & A. Fernández 652 (holotype: K! [K000250861]; isotype: COL! [COL000004742]). Figs. 20, 21A–C .

Scandent subshrubs up to 1 m tall. Stem glabrous to sparsely puberulous on the young parts. Petiole 4‒5 mm long, puberulous; blade narrowly oblong, 2.5–10.0 × 1–3 cm, basally acute, glabrous to puberulous, especially along the veins beneath, pinnatisect, formed by 9‒12 narrowly to very narrowly oblong lobes, each 15–20 × 1.5–3.0 mm, most at right angles to the rachis, rarely arcuate-ascending, mid-level lobes larger, each lobe with a conspicuous midvein, apex of each segment rounded, margin entire. Peduncle 6–7(– 8–10 cm in fruit) cm long, glabrous, ebracteolate. Hypanthium subglobose to globose, 4–5 × 2.8–3.0 mm, glabrous. Calyx lobes oblong, 3–5 × 2–3 mm, ascending to patent, glabrous, basally contiguous, margin with 1 or 2 teeth per side, apex rounded. Corolla green, glabrous; tube 0.8–1.0 cm long, 1.8–2.0 mm diameter at its mid- and distal portions, inflated proximally; lobes narrowly ovate, falcate, apex acuminate, dorsal lobes 10–12 × 3 mm, lateral lobes 7–9 × 1–3 mm, ventral lobe 4–5 × 2.0– 2.3 mm. Synandrium 2.3–2.9 cm long, exserted up to 1.1 cm; filament tube 1.8–2.2 cm long, puberulous; anther tube 5–7 mm, glabrescent to scarcely evenly puberulous, ventral anthers barbate. Berries oblate, 1.5–1.7 × 1.6–2.0 cm, inflated, glabrous, pink.

Phenology: — Burmeistera pteridioides has been collected with flowers and fruits in August.

Distribution, ecology and conservation status: — Burmeistera pteridioides is known only from the type locality, in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, at the northern ridge of the Sierra Nevada de Cocuy (Boyacá), in a cloud forest remnant at 2250 m of elevation. Following the IUCN´s (2022) criteria [B1(EOO) and B2(AOO), conditions (a) and (b), and C2(a)(i)], B. pteridioides qualifies as Critically Endangered.

Notes: — Burmeistera pteridioides is similar to B. pinnatisecta, from the Western Cordillera of Colombia (see distinctive traits under the latter).