Chalybea Naudin, Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. ser . 3 16: 99. 1851.

Penneys, Darin S. & Judd, Walter S., 2013, A revised circumscription for the Blakeeae (Melastomataceae) with associated nomenclatural adjustments, PhytoKeys 20, pp. 17-32 : 20

Chalybea Naudin, Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. ser. 3 16: 99. 1851.

Huilaea Wurdack, Brittonia 9: 106. 1957. Type: Huilaea penduliflora Wurdack, Brittonia 9: 106. 1957. TYPE. COLOMBIA. Huila: Cordillera Oriental, wet temperate forest of deep moist canyon near camp on north side of Río Venadito, 25 km SE of La Bodega, 2450 m, 1 Dec 1944, E.Little 9101 (holotype: US!; isotypes: COL!, NY!).

Type.

Chalybea corymbifera Naudin, Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. sér. 3 16: 100. 1851. TYPE. COLOMBIA. Santander: Pamplona, La Baja, ca. 3000 m, Dec 1846, Funck & Schlim 1312 (holotype: P!, photos at NY!, US!; isotypes: BM!, BR! (2 sheets), G!, photos of G sheet at NY!, US!).

Remarks.

Phylogenetic analyses ( Morales-P 2010, Morales-P et al. submitted, Penneys and Judd 2010) indicate that Chalybea and Huilaea form a strongly-supported clade. However, as Chalybea is nested within Huilaea , species belonging to the latter genus must be transferred because Chalybea has nomenclatural priority. Chalybea has been distinguished from Huilaea by having inflorescences with 21-39 flowers (vs. 3-17 in Huilaea ), the flowers 13-20 mm long (vs. 45-55 mm long), the hypanthium 7-10 mm long and 8-10 mm wide (vs. 13-31 mm long x 11-19 mm wide), the petals 12-14 mm long and 5-7 mm wide (vs. 26-44 mm long x 10-22 mm wide), and white to cream or green, sometimes pink–tinged apically (vs. pink to red, paler inside), the anthers 3-4 mm long (vs. 7-10 mm long), and the style 10-12 mm long (vs. 22-33 mm long).

Chalybea includes ten described species of small, South American trees: seven endemic to Colombia, two to Ecuador, and one to Peru. All are found in the Andes, except one species that is restricted to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.

For more information on the systematics of Chalybea (and Huilaea ), see Lozano-Contreras and Ruiz-R (1996), Morales-P and González (2005), Morales-P (2010), Morales-P and Penneys (2010), and Morales-P et al. (submitted).