Novae Gesneriaceae Neotropicarum XVIII: Columnea carinata, a new species of Gesneriaceae from northwestern Ecuador

A new species of Columnea (Gesneriaceae, tribe Episcieae) is described from the Choco floristic region of the western Andean slopes of northern Ecuador. Columnea carinata differs from other congeners by the presence of elongate shoots, isophyllous leaves, and a uniformly bright red corolla, with nearly complete fusion of the upper two corolla lobes and an elongate keel on the dorsal surface of the corolla tube.