Three new species of Biophytum (Oxalidaceae) from the Venezuelan Guayana

Biophytum kayae, B. lourteigiae, and B. ottohuberi from Bolivar and Amazonas states in Venezuela are newly described and illustrated. All are members of section Dendroidea Knuth and have sessile or shortly pedunculate inflorescences. Biophytum ottohuberi is a distinctive, high-elevation tepui endemic with small leaves and rigidly coriaceous, thick-margined leaflets; B. lourteigiae and B. kayae are both lowland species on predominantly white-sand substrates. Biophytum lourteigiae is a taller shrub than B. kayae and has longer, less coriaceous leaves and more pubescent capsules. Too few flowering specimens were available to assess whether any of these species are heterostylous, but the flowers that were examined have their stigmas and two sets of stamens positioned in a way that is consistent with tristyly.