Q: Heliamphora: the various ranges and tepuis

• Eastern range
• Western range
• East/West overview

A: The range of Heliamphora is complicated and difficult to get a good handle on. So let me try to explain it, as best as I understand it. To help you, I have drafted a set of cartoon maps, largely based upon Givnish et al. (2000) and Wistuba et al. (2001).

The Guiana Highlands, near the common borders of Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana, contain vast flat-topped mountains called tepuis. These tepuis rise 600-1000 meters (2000-3300 feet) above the surrounding geography. Their edges are spectacularly sheer in a way that defies common sense. The tepuis sit upon the Guiana Shield, a matrix of humid forests and highland savannas.

It is important to start this by noting that there are two main areas for Heliamphora; a western range dominated by Cerro Duida and Cerro de la Neblina, and an eastern range consisting of many tepuis rising from the Gran Sabana (the large savannah highland). Note my little thumbnail showing these two ranges. There is another set of mountains, dominated by Cerro Ichun, that occur between these two ranges (right where you see the border of Brazil make a narrow, fingerlike incursion into Venezuela).

Tepui acronyms used on my map
A=Auyán-tepui Ap=Aprada tepui Ar=Araopan tepui C=Chimantá massif G=Cerro Guaiquinima I=Ilu tepui	K=Kukenán L=Los Testigos P=Ptari tepui R=Roraima T=Tramen tepui Y=Yuruani tepui

The western part of the range is almost completely within Venezuela, but includes a little bit of Brazil. In this area, the mountain ranges are referred to by the name "cerro", but they are essentially the same as the tepuis to the east. As you can see from the little thumbnail range map on this page (click it to see more detail), the western range consists most famously of Cerro Duida (2358m) and Cerro de la Neblina (2994m). It also includes the lesser-known Cerro Huachamacare, Cerro Marahuaca, and Aracamuni, and others.

The tepuis in the eastern range are highly fragmented, with many small unnamed mountains. These tepuis sit upon a large highland savannah called the Gran Sabana (Great Savannah). Click on the thumbnail map to see my primitive map, in which I use one or two letter codes to indicate tepuis; see the table on this page for clarification.

Finally, for the completist, I include a table adapted from data kindly sent to me by Lee Braithwaite. Perhaps someone would like to convert this into a GoogleEarth kmz file? Some of the incomplete data lines might be inferred from the maps in McPherson et al. 2011.

Page citations: Berry, P., et al. 2005; Braithwaite, L. pers. comm. 2007; Givnish, T.J. et al. 2000; Lloyd, F.E. 1942; McPherson, S. 2006; McPherson, S. et al. 2011; Rice, B. 2006a; Wistuba, A., et al. 2001.