Hydrangea goudotii Briq. — Columbian sprawling hydrangea

Introduction

Columbian sprawling hydrangea is a functionally dioecious woody root-climber of Colombian and Ecuadorian mountain cloud forests, occurring from roughly 1,000 to 2,500 m and sometimes occupying very steep slopes. Plants observed by the modern revisers reached about 10 m in height. Unlike the compact-leaved H. caucana, H. goudotii carries large, papery leaves approximately 14–25 cm long and 7–14 cm wide, elliptic to obovate in outline and broadly serrate along their margins (Samain et al. 2021).

The texture and indumentum are particularly useful. Young free-growing shoots bear appressed white stellate hairs that are gradually shed, and the undersides of the leaves range from sparsely to densely covered in similar white hairs. Numerous acarodomatia occur along the lower two-thirds of the blade in the axils between the midrib and major lateral veins. The inflorescence axes are likewise densely white-stellate-pubescent, and flowering plants bear enlarged marginal flowers. These pale hairs make a useful contrast with the glabrous mature free shoots of H. oerstedii (Samain et al. 2021; Sutton 2025).

The known distribution is fragmented across Colombia and Ecuador, and the available collections suggest an intriguing phenological possibility. Flowering and fruiting specimens cluster in approximately December–March and June–August, leading Samain et al. to suggest that H. goudotii may have two distinct reproductive periods, although repeated field observations are needed to establish whether this occurs annually (Samain et al. 2021).

The molecular evidence makes the species even more interesting. Hydrangea goudotii falls within Clade H, where it is embedded among H. trianae and material identified as H. aff. trianae. The two species are therefore genetically close in the available two-gene tree, and neither can be represented as a simple ancient branch entirely isolated from the other. Nevertheless, they remain morphologically distinguishable: H. goudotii has thinner, papery foliage and a different indumentum pattern, while H. trianae is remarkable for its much more coriaceous leaves and strongly reticulate lower-surface venation (Granados Mendoza et al. 2021).

This is exactly the sort of case in which Cornidia resists a simplistic choice between “morphology” and “DNA.” The morphology identifies coherent biological entities, while the shallow nuclear genealogy tells us that their histories may include recent divergence, incomplete lineage sorting, or gene exchange. Genome-wide population sampling across Colombia and Ecuador could determine which process dominates.

Tree TSAR therefore retains H. goudotii as a species, while recognizing its boundary with H. trianae as one of the most worthwhile population-genomic questions remaining in Clade H.

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

There is no established horticultural use of H. goudotii. Its broad, papery foliage and pale stellate indumentum could give it ornamental value, but authenticated material is apparently absent from mainstream horticulture.

The species may instead be most valuable initially as research material. Living accessions could document whether the proposed bimodal flowering pattern persists under cultivation and permit direct comparison of H. goudotii with H. trianae. Because the two occur across overlapping portions of the northern Andes, keeping precise provenance would be essential.

Conservation Concerns

The 2021 revision applied IUCN criteria and assessed H. goudotii as Endangered. Although its estimated extent of occurrence was about 154,700 km², its area of occupancy was only about 100 km², with severe habitat destruction and fragmentation across the known range (Samain et al. 2021).

This mismatch between large geographic envelope and tiny actual occupied area is characteristic of several Andean Cornidia. The species is not simply distributed continuously across Colombia and Ecuador; it occurs in suitable humid forest embedded within increasingly fragmented landscapes.

Conservation planning should also anticipate that the current species may contain geographically structured populations. The same genomic work needed to understand its relationship with H. trianae could identify distinct conservation units within H. goudotii itself.

Plants of the World Online still places the name under H. peruviana var. peruviana, a treatment inconsistent with the later specialist revision and the molecular evidence showing that H. goudotii is associated with the trianae complex rather than the peruviana–panamensis lineage (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2026).

Additional Information

Open-access 2021 Hydrangea goudotii treatment (opens in a new tab): — includes field photographs, morphology, distribution, phenology, and conservation assessment.

iNaturalist observations for Hydrangea goudotii (opens in a new tab): — useful for locating modern photographic records, with the usual caution about historic H. peruviana identifications.

References and Further Reading

Granados Mendoza C, Martínez Salas EM, Goetghebeur P, Wanke S, Samain M-S (2021) Molecular phylogeny, character evolution, and biogeography of Hydrangea section Cornidia, Hydrangeaceae. Frontiers in Plant Science 12: 661522. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.661522 (opens in a new tab)

Samain M-S, Granados Mendoza C, Martínez Salas EM (2021) On Hydrangea peruviana, an endangered species from Ecuador, and Hydrangea oerstedii, very common in Costa Rica and Panama, and seven threatened Central and South American hydrangeas, which have been confounded with these. PhytoKeys 171: 91–153. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.171.56351 (opens in a new tab)

Sutton J (2025) Hydrangea species of Section Cornidia. Trees and Shrubs Online. International Dendrology Society. https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/hydrangea/hydrangea-species-of-section-cornidia/ (opens in a new tab)