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TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, III

LOUIS 0. WILLIAMS

FIELDIANA: BOTANY

VOLUME 29, NUMBER 7

Published by

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

JANUARY 16, 1962

TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, III

LOUIS 0. WILLIAMS

Curator, Central American Botany

FIELDIANA: BOTANY

VOLUME 29, NUMBER 7

Published by

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

JANUARY 16, 1962

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-17730

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

0

I?

Tropical American Plants, III

The notes which follow are mostly those made during my study

of the material contained in the United States National Herbarium,

in the Gray and Arnold Arboretum herbaria, in the herbarium of the

New York Botanical Garden and in the collection of Chicago Natural

History Museum, in the course of the preparation of the forthcoming

part of the Flora of Guatemala. Special thanks are extended to those

in charge of these herbaria for permission to study the material which

they contain. My study was assisted by a grant from the National

Science Foundation.

The commentary on the genus Heliocereus was prepared by My-

ron Kimnach, who has a monograph of that genus in preparation.

VITACEAE

Cissus serrulatifolia L. Wms., sp. nov.

Frutex scandens, ramis glabris vel paulo pubescentibus; folia longo-petiolata,

trifoliolata; lamina serrulata subtus puberula; inflorescentia cymosa vel cymoso-

subumbellata, multiflora, puberulenta; calyx rotata vel rotato-lobata; corolla

calyptriformis, 4-lobata; fructus globosus vel globoso-ovoideus.

Scandent woody vines. Stems to 4 mm. or more in diameter, glabrous with

age but the new growths densely puberulent; nodes 2-4 cm. apart on the stem,

usually enlarged, each with a leaf and an opposed tendril or with a leaf and an

opposed inflorescence or sometimes two inflorescences above; leaves trifoliolate,

long-petiolate, the petioles and petiolules and the nerves of the lower surface of the

leaflets puberulent, otherwise glabrous, the nerves prominent below, the lateral

nerves 10-18, the lower surface of the leaflets lighter in color; petioles 3-7 cm. long;

the 2 lateral leaflets asymmetrical, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, sharply denticu-

late, the blade (on mature leaves) 5-8 cm. long and 2-3 cm. broad, the petiolule

about 5 mm. long; the terminal leaflet symmetrical, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate,

sharply denticulate, the blade 7-10 cm. long and 3.5-4 cm. broad, the petiolule

1-1.2 cm. long; tendrils slender, about as long as the opposed leaf; inflorescence

cymose or cymose-subumbellate, many-flowered, 5-10 cm. long, shorter than the

leaves, leaf opposed, in the axil of a leaf or terminal, densely puberulent or

subglandular-puberulent; flowers pale greenish white, small, the pedicels 3-7 mm.

long, puberulent; calyx rotate or rotate-lobate, about 1 mm. long, puberulent;

corolla calyptriform, the 4 lobes connate and falling together, about 1.2-1.5 mm.

375

376 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 29

long; ovary subtended at the base by a glandular disc; fruit (immature) promi-

nently marked by numerous glands, globose or globose-ovoid.

Costa Rica: Flowers pale greenish, vine woody; road to Golfito

Dairy pastures, province of Puntarenas, near sea level, November 11,

1952, Allen 6625 (type in Chicago Natural History Museum; dupli-

cate in herbarium of Escuela Agricola Panamericana) .

The species differs from the other trifoliolate species of Central

America in its serrulate leaflets, the long petiolule of the terminal

leaflet and the compact inflorescence.

DILLENIACEAE

Tetracera jamaicensis DC. Syst. Nat. 1: 399. 1818. T. beli-

zensis Lundell, Contr. Univ. Mich. Herb. 6: 44. 1941; L. Wms.

Fieldiana: Bot. 29: 351. 1961.

Since publication of the note cited above I have found that Tetra-

cera belizensis is synonymous with T. jamaicensis. The species,

although rather widely distributed, is not well represented in Amer-

ican herbaria. I have seen the following specimens:

Jamaica: Harris & Britton 10577 (F); Procter 19781 (A).

British Honduras: Gentle 2794 (G), 3941 (F).

Guatemala: Steyermark 41787 (F).

Honduras: Standley 55540 (F).

Nicaragua: Oersted 344 (F).

Panama: Cooper 204 (F) ; Shattuck 241 (F) ; von Wedel 1664 (F, G).

FLACOURTIACEAE

Neosprucea grandiflora (Spruce) Sleumer, Notizbl. Bot. Gart.

Berl. 14: 47. 1938. Banara grandiflora Spruce ex Benth. Journ. Linn.

Soc. suppl. 5: 93. 1861. Hasseltia grandiflora Sleumer, I.e. 11: 960.

1934. Spruceanthus grandiflorus Sleumer, I.e. 13: 363. 1936.

Panama: Flowers light green; El Valle de Anton and vicinity,

provincia de Code", alt. 500-700 m., July 23-27, 1935, Seibert 465

(M, F).

The genus is new to North America. The species is presently

known from Panama, Colombia, Peru and Brazil.

CACTACEAE

The treatment of the cacti in the forthcoming issue of the Flora

of Guatemala will follow that of Britton and Rose in The Cactaceae

WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, III 377

in most cases. This is done because their work is well known and

gives almost complete coverage of the species of cacti known to occur

in Guatemala. The time required to revise the family to bring the

generic concept more or less into conformity with the other parts of

the Flora is greater than can be justified in the preparation of a flora

of a relatively limited geographical area and one where the family is

not of major importance.

The concept of genera in the Cactaceae has been the subject of

considerable controversy during the past 100 years, or even longer.

In Genera Plantarum (1867), Bentham and Hooker accounted for the

family with 13 genera. In The Cactaceae (1919-23), Britton and

Rose divided the family into 124 genera, many of these of their own

creation. Just a few years later, Vaupel, in the second edition of the

Pflanzenfamilien, brought the number of genera down to 26. Under

Cereus Vaupel reduced to synonymy 39 of the cereoid "genera" pro-

posed by Britton and Rose. Now the pendulum has swung again.

Kurt Backeburg in his Die Cactaceae (1958-61) has accounted for

220 genera! Or perhaps "micromicrogenera"?

Many of the genera proposed or maintained in the work of Brit-

ton and Rose and that of Backeberg are based on characters so trivial

that they would receive scant consideration in most plant families.

There have been more than 140 new generic names proposed in the

Cactaceae since Britton and Rose's work was finished in 1923. It

remains for some competent systematist to give us a sane and taxo-

nomically sound classification of the family.

Cephalocereus Maxonii Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 417,

t. 64.. 1909. Cereus Maxonii Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 23.

1913. Pilocereus Maxonii Berger, Kakteen 345. 1929. Pilosocereus

Maxonii Byles & Rowley, Cact. & Succ. Journ. Gr. Brit. 19: 3, 67.

1957.

This is one of the large cacti found on the low, dry and hot valleys

extending back from the Gulf of Honduras. It is widely spread but

not abundant in the Motagua Valley in Guatemala, often asso-

ciated with Lemaireocereus. It is certainly this same species that is

conspicuous in the Comayagua Valley and perhaps other coastal

valleys in Honduras.

Backeberg (Die Cactaceae 4: 2426. 1960) places this species in a

genus described in 1957, Pilosocereus Byles & Rowley, along with 59

other species. It seems hardly credible that there was not a valid

378 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 29

generic name proposed before 1957 for a genus of some 60 species of

cereoid cacti.

EPIPHYLLUM

The treatment of the genus Epiphyllum in the Flora of Guatemala

will be more conservative than most recent treatments or accounts of

this genus. There occur in Guatemala ten species of this alliance

which, in recent years, have been distributed among seven genera by

various authors. These genera are: Bonifazia Standl. & Steyerm.,

Chiapasia Britt. & Rose, Disocactus Lindl., Marnier a Backeb. (nomen

subnudum), Phyllocactus Link, Trochilocactus Lindinger (nomen nu-

dum), and Epiphyllum [Hermann] Haworth — the oldest name for

species of this group. One small-flowered species which occurs in

Guatemala and has been placed recently in Disocactus by Kimnach,

seems to me to cause less "violence" in Rhipsalis than in Epiphyllum.

This more conservative treatment unfortunately requires two new

combinations:

Epiphyllum Eichlamii (Weingart) L. Wms., comb. nov. Phyl-

locactus Eichlamii Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 21: 5. 1911.

Disocactus Eichlamii Britt. & Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16:

259, L 79. 1913; Cactaceae 4: 203, /. 205. 1923; Kimnach & Hutchi-

son, Cact. & Succ. Journ. Am. 29: 75, /. -45. 1957. Trochilocactus

Eichlamii Lindinger, Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 61: 383. 1942.

The species is endemic in Guatemala.

Epiphyllum quezaltecum (Standl. & Steyerm.) L. Wms., comb,

nov. Bonifazia quezaUeca Standl. & Steyerm. Field Mus. Bot. 23:

66. 1944. Disocactus quezaltecus Kimnach, Cact. & Succ. Journ. Am.

31: 137, t. 1959.

This plant was considered by Mr. Standley, whose experience in

Guatemala has been exceeded by that of no other botanist, to be one

of the most attractive plants in all the country. The flowers, although

small, are produced in great abundance, making the epiphyte con-

spicuous from some distance. The flowers are a lovely shade of pale

reddish purple.

The species is endemic.

Epiphyllum macropterum (Lem.) Britt. & Rose, Cactaceae 4:

193, t. 17, /. 200. 1923. "Marniera macroptera" Backeberg, Die

Cactaceae 2: 736. 1959.

WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, III 379

This attractive cactus, which occurs from Guatemala southward

perhaps throughout Central America, is the basis of the name Mar-

nier a proposed by Backeberg. In the Cactus and Succulent Journal

(22: 153. 1950), where the name Marniera first appears with "vali-

dating Latin" and a diagnosis in English, it is described as "Plantae

phyllocactoideae; floribus diurnis; ovario lanuginoso. Phyllocactoid

plants with diurnal, little modified flowers and ovaries provided with

long hairs." A basionym is given but no combination is made. In

the same journal (23: 17. 1951) the following year the name "M[ar-

niera] macroptera (Lem.) Backbg., comb, nov." appears, but without

basionym. Fortunately the "new genus" has so little claim to recog-

nition, either systematic or nomenclatorial, that nothing further need

be done with it. The Latin and English descriptions, cited in full

above, with the change of a word or two (or even without change)

might well have been used to characterize others of the "genera" of

Cactaceae proposed by Backeberg.

HELIOCEREUS

Contributed by MYRON KiMNACH1

My account of this genus of Cactaceae for the Flora of Guatemala

will be limited in scope and I wish to make some preceding comments

here. A detailed revision of Heliocereus will appear when enough

data have accumulated but for the present a preliminary evaluation

of the species can be made, with emphasis on those of Guatemala.

The type species is H. speciosus (Cav.) Britt. & Rose, apparently

restricted in range to the vicinity of Mexico City, although due to

the difficulty of determining specimens of this genus some from dis-

tant areas often have been so identified. It is distinguished from the

other species by the following combination of characters: More erect,

thicker stems with longer, stouter spines, larger flowers with a spinier

tube and larger, obtuse, red tepals with a purplish tinge.

H. Schrankii (Zucc.) Britt. & Rose occurs from Sinaloa to Oax-

aca in Mexico. It is fairly distinct from H. speciosus in its thinner

and less spiny stems, smaller flowers with a tube which is nearly

spineless near the apex, and narrow, acute, red tepals without a pur-

plish tinge. H. elegantissimus Britt. & Rose differs from this species

only in that its style does not extend beyond the stamens; style length

is variable in many cacti and H. elegantissimus should be regarded

as a synonym of H. Schrankii.

1 Botanical Garden, University of California, Berkeley.

380 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 29

I have not seen material of H. amecamensis (Heese) Britt. & Rose,

uncertainly recorded from central Mexico. This is the only white-

flowered species of the genus and the apices of young stems lack the

reddish coloration found in the other species; as a probable albino

form it should be reduced under H. speciosus or H. Schrankii, but

the available descriptions and figures are inadequate for determining

its nearest ally.

H. cinnabarinus (Eichl.) Britt. & Rose, from Mexico (Chiapas),

Guatemala and El Salvador, is distinct from H. Schrankii in its thin-

ner stems and spines, its flower tube with spines equally long and

numerous along its whole length, its gradually divergent perianth

and its more obtuse tepals. The last species, H. heterodoxus Standl.

& Steyerm., from Guatemala, differs in having flat stems instead of

3- to 5-angled ones, short tepals and obtuse upper bracts. I consider

it a synonym of H. cinnabarinus, as discussed below.

Therefore three species can be recognized provisionally: H. speci-

osus, H. Schrankii, and H. cinnabarinus. A comparison shows them

to be indistinct, intergrading and variable. Their morphological

range can hardly be contained in one species, yet it is difficult to

recognize more than one. A satisfactory division may be possible

when a larger sampling of wild material has been studied. For the

present I assume that these three species are at least equally distinct

and that the only alternative to recognizing but one is to uphold

all three.

There has been disagreement in determining the Guatemalan

specimens; some have been referred to four species. Half are sterile

and cannot be identified with certainty, for stem differences between

the various species are slight. The stems are only 2-angled in three

collections made by Goldman from Teopisca, Chiapas, in one made

by Steyermark in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, and in the holotype

of H. heterodoxus. This character of flat stems is one of the supposed

distinguishing features of H. heterodoxus, but as the stems of an aver-

age plant of Heliocereus have 3 to 5 angles it seems hardly significant

that a 2-angled condition should occur in a few widely scattered

plants. When the stems become 2-angled (i.e., flat) there is a con-

sequent widening of the stem, as also occurs in H. heterodoxus. This

seems to be a frequent tendency in the Cactaceae; for example, in

Deamia testudo pendent stems have four equally wide angles, but if

a side of such a stem later grows in contact with a substratum two

of the angles become suppressed and the remaining two widen greatly.

WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, III 381

In Weberocereus tunilla (Costa Rica) portions of the normally 4-an-

gled stems often lose two of the angles and the others become up to

four times the normal width. Thus there is little justification for

recognizing H. heterodoxus on the basis of stem characters alone.

The type description of H. heterodoxus was based on dried mate-

rial. The flowers of the holotype are imperfectly preserved, but they

agree with this description and differ from descriptions of the other

species in having short tepals and obtuse upper bracts. However,

in flowers of several collections of H. cinnabarinus with trigonous

stems the tepals are equally short and in others the bracts are sub-

obtuse. Furthermore, flowers of the other flat-stemmed collections

of Heliocereus have flowers with longer tepals and acute upper bracts

and are thus typical of H. cinnabarinus. It seems evident that only

one species is involved and that H. heterodoxus should be considered

a synonym of H. cinnabarinus.

All the other flowering specimens of Heliocereus from Guatemala

also seem referable to H. cinnabarinus and there is at least no evi-

dence that the sterile ones do not belong here also. This species is

known outside of Guatemala by a single collection made in El Sal-

vador by Carlson and by several made in southern Chiapas by Gold-

man, Matuda and MacDougall. The Guatemalan specimens I have

examined are cited below; the sterile ones are indicated by an asterisk.

San Marcos: Volcan Tacana, Rio Vega near San Rafael, Steyer-

mark 36291 (holotype of H. heterodoxus) and 36262* (a paratype of

H. heterodoxus) ; along Quebrada Canjula, between Sibinal and Can-

jula, Steyermark 36036; between Canjula and La Union Juarez,

Steyermark 36385; Volcan Tajumulco, near San Sebastian, Steyer-

mark 35709* and 35676*; between Todos Santos and Finca El Por-

venir, Steyermark 36976; Barranco Eminencia, on the road between

San Marcos and San Rafael Pie de la Cuesta, Standley 86297 and

86465. Huehuetenango: Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, above San

Juan Ixcoy, Steyermark 50042* (specimens with flat stems as in the

holotype of H. heterodoxus). Quezaltenango : Volcan Santa Maria,

Nelson 3719; between Santa Maria de Jesus, Los Mojados, and the

summit, Steyermark 34016* and 33960*; El Pocito, south of San

Martin Chile Verde, Standley 84944*; Cerro Quemado, above Los

Vahos, Standley 86089*; slopes of Volcan de Zunil, near Fuentes

Georginas, Standley 86055*. Suchitepe"quez : Volcan Santa Clara,

between Finca El Naranjo and upper slopes, Steyermark 46763.

Chimaltenango: Chichoy, Shannon 363; near Los Positos, above Las

Calderas, Standley 80305 and 80306; Las Calderas, Standley 57830,

UNIVERSITY OF ILLI

382 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 29

Johnston 1208 (the latter two are paratypes of H. heterodoxus).

Guatemala: Slopes of Volcan de Pacaya, between San Francisco

Sales and the base of the active cone, Standley 80782.* Jalapa:

Volcan Jumay, north of Jalapa, Steyermark 32383.* Chiquimula:

Near El Barriol, upper slopes of Montana Tajuran, Steyermark

30806*. Zacapa: Between Santa Rosalia and upper slopes of Rio

Repollal, Steyermark 42431*; Sierra de las Minas, near Finca Pla-

nados, Steyermark 29960*; near Finca Alejandria, Steyermark 29841*;

between Loma El Picacho and Cerro de Monos, Steyermark 42763*.

HYLOCEREUS

Following Britton and Rose's usage in The Cactaceae, I have

maintained the genus Hylocereus in the Flora of Guatemala. There

are two species reported for the country. One of these is the com-

mon H. undalus (Haworth) Britt. & Rose, which is widely distrib-

uted in Mexico, Central America and South America as well as in

the West Indies. It was quite possibly widely distributed in pre-

Columbian times by the Indians because of the large edible fruit

and is now thoroughly naturalized over much of this area, if it is

not native. The second species reported is H. Ocamponis (Salm-

Dyck) Britt. & Rose, but the report is based on a single sterile speci-

men. The country of origin of this species is not known, but Mexico

and Colombia are suggested. Figure 9.

Lemaireocereus Eichlamii Britt. & Rose, Cactaceae 2: 89,

/. 182. 1921. Cereus laevigatus var. guatemalensis Eichlam in Wein-

gart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 22: 182. 1912. Cereus Eichlamii Standl.

in Yuncker, Field Mus. Bot. 9: 316. 1940. Lemaireocereus longi-

spinus Britt. & Rose, I.e. /. 131. Ritterocereus Eichlamii Backeberg,

Cact. & Succ. Journ. Am. 23: 121. 1951.

This is apparently the species which is used in the Motagua Val-

ley in Guatemala to make hedges and enclosures of various sorts.

Cacti used in this manner are a common sight in Mexico and are

occasional in Central America. Their planting involves considerable

labor but once the hedges are put into place they are good for many

years. The branches are separated from wild plants and set side by

side where they soon strike roots. The fruits from this species are

edible. They ripen in March and April and at that season are to

be found in some of the markets of Guatemala.

Backeberg's segregate genus Ritterocereus is hardly to be taken

seriously and the specific combination to it is improperly made.

FIG. 9. Hylocereus undatus. A, Flower and tip of stem; about X H- B, Areole;

X 2. C, Cross section of tip of stem; X J^.

383

384 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 29

There may be some question regarding the reduction of L. longi-

spinus. It is known only as a sterile pot plant but the illustration

seems to indicate that it is this species, and growths sometimes

produce longer spines than other growths on the same plant.

Dr. Rose had apparently thought that some of the Guatemalan

material belonged to L. griseus (Haw.) Britt. & Rose and it is still

so annotated in the U. S. National Herbarium, after nearly forty

years. However, the material was included under L. Eichlamii in

the published work, which we shall follow.

Cereus Yunckeri Standl. in Yuncker, Field Mus. Bot. 9: 316,

/. 7. 1940.

Guatemala: "Organo," stems up to 20 feet tall, 6 inches in diam-

eter and dull green, in dry woods in shade, between Santa Ana Huista

and woods of Rancho Lucas, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, dept.

Huehuetenango, alt. 800-900 m., August 26, 1942, Steyermark 51341.

This species is being included in the Flora of Guatemala under

the genus Lemaireocereus without making the combination to that

genus. I am quite sure that the sterile specimen cited is the same

as the sterile type of Cereus Yunckeri and while I assume that the

species may belong to the segregate Lemaireocereus I am not sure

of it. It would probably have been placed in "Pilosocereus" by

Backeberg.

COMBRETACEAE

TERMINALIA

The two common native species of Terminalia to be found in

southern Mexico, Central America and Panama most probably have

extended into our floristic area from South America; both species

are widespread there and it is there that the genus has its greatest

development in the New World. These species are T. amazonia

(J. F. Gmel.) Exell and T. oblonga (R. & P.) Steud., both discussed

below. Terminalia nyssaefolia Britton, described from Trinidad, is

represented on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala by a single col-

lection and could be an introduction there. Terminalia Catappa L.,

an Old World species, is widely cultivated as a shade tree in Central

America. A sterile specimen from Guatemala indicates the possi-

bility of still another species on the Caribbean coast.

Terminalia amazonia (J. F. Gmel.) Exell in Pulle, Fl. Surinam

3: 173. 1935. Chuncoa amazonia J. F. Gmel. in L. Syst. Nat. ed. 13.

WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, III

385

FIG. 10. Terminalia oblonga. A, Branch; X 1A. B, Flower; X 3. C, Fruit;

XI. D, Fruit in cross section; X 1.

2: 702. 1791. Gimbernatia amazonia Ruiz & Pavon, Fl. Peruv. Prodr.

138. 1794. T. obovata Steud. Norn. Bot. 2: 668. 1841, non Cambess.

1829. T. excelsa Liebm. ex Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Am. Bot. 1: 402.

1880, nomen nudum. T. Hayesii Pittier, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.

18: 239. 1917.

One of the common trees along the Atlantic coast of Mexico,

Central America and Panama, extending southward to Brazil and

Peru. The fruit usually has five wings, of which two are larger than

the others. The bark on the lower part of the trunk curls into thin

sheets, much like that of the common wild Guava (Psidium). The

common name, guayabo, refers to this similarity.

Terminalia oblonga (R. & P.) Steud. Nom. Bot. 2: 668. 1841.

Gimbernatia oblonga Ruiz & Pavon, Syst. Veg. 274. 1798. Chuncoa

oblonga Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 486. 1805. T. chiriquensis Pittier, Contr.

U. S. Nat. Herb. 18: 238. 1917. Figure 10.

386 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 29

Common along the lowlands of both coasts from Guatemala to

Panama and southward to Brazil and Peru. The fruit has only two

wings, of about equal size. The mottled bark of the trunk reminds

one of that of Platanus. The Central American material of this

species has been most commonly determined as T. lucida Hoffm.

ex Mart., a South American species to which it is related, but from

which it is easily distinguishable by the fruits. The oldest name which

I can find for this widespread species is that of Ruiz & Pavon. There

is in our herbarium a Ruiz and Pavon specimen, in fruit, and a type

photograph (CNHM Neg. 29282) which shows the species to be that

found commonly from Guatemala to Panama and southward.

MELASTOMACEAE

Pterolepis fragilis L Wms., sp. nov. Figure 11.

Planta gracilis herbacea, perpusilla, usque ad 15 cm. alta. Folia lineari-

lanceolata vel lineari-elliptica, acuta, strigosa. Inflorescentia uni-pauciflora,

cymosa vel subcymosa.

Small slender annual or possibly perennial plants with roots developed for

wet situations, 2-15 cm. tall. Stems weak, obscurely angled or winged and more

prominently strigose on these angles; leaves linear-lanceolate or linear-elliptic,

acute, strigose on both surfaces, sometimes sparsely so, short-petiolate, 3-15 mm.

long and 1-4 mm. broad, 3-nerved; inflorescence 1-few-flowered, cymose or sub-

cymose, about as long as or longer than the subtending leaves or bracts; flowers

at anthesis about 5 mm. long; hypanthium about 3 mm. long and 2-2.5 mm. broad,

campanulate, inflated somewhat when in fruit, strigose with simple hairs or with

forked ones especially at the sinuses of the calyx lobes; calyx lobes 4, about 2-

2.5 mm. long and triangular-lanceolate or triangular-ovate, aristate-acuminate,

pectinate-ciliate, glabrous outside, obscurely 3-nerved; petals 4, ovate or oval,

fugaceous, pink, about 2.5 mm. long and 2 mm. broad, not ciliate; stamens 1-

1.5 mm. long, connective below the thecae almost none; ovary ovoid, about 1.5 mm.

long, the style shorter than the sepals; seeds about 0.35 mm. long, tuberculate.

Honduras: Flores rosadas, comun, floresta de pino y liquidambar,

entre Pena Blanca y Lo de Ponce (15 km. al sureste de Tegucigalpa),

Dept. Morazan, alt. 1600 m., febrero 5, 1950, Williams & Molina

17138 (type in Chicago Natural History Museum); flowers white

and pink, in pine barren about 2 miles northwest of Giiinope, Dept.

El Paraiso, alt. 1400 m., January 5, 1947, Williams & Molina 11522;

flowers pink, open moist meadows in pine barren 2 km. southwest

of Giiinope, Dept. El Paraiso, alt. 1300 m., Nov. 21, 1948, Williams

& Molina 14745; flores rosadas, colinas empantanadas, area de pino-

roble entre Las Flores y San Juan del Rancho, Dept. Morazan, alt.

1500 m., noviembre 25, 1948, Molina 1741; petals pink, in shallow

open bog, frequent, San Juan del Rancho, north of Cerro de Uyuca,

WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, III

387

FIG. 11. Pterolepis fragilis. A, Plant; natural size. B, Stem enlarged to show

angles and placement of pubescence. C, Hypanthium and calyx; X 10. D, Sepal;

X 10. E, Ovary; X 12. F, Petal; X 5. G, Anther; X 12.

pine-oak forest region, alt. about 1500 m., Nov.-Dec., 1948, Standley

15055; in dry sparse pine forest near Manzaragua road, 2 km. north-

west of Guinope, Dept. El Paraiso, alt. 1390 m., Feb. 27, 1949,

Standley 17267; dry pasture in vicinity of La Esperanza and Inti-

buca, Dept. Intibuca, alt. 1500-1600 m., Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 1950,

Standley 26615 (EAP).

The specimens of this species have all been distributed as Ptero-

lepis stenophylla Gleason, a species known from the lowlands of

Mexico (Vera Cruz) and British Honduras. Pterolepis fragilis is

related to that species but is a very much smaller, more delicate

plant, known only from the Honduran highlands. Pterolepis pumila,

the second species previously known from northern Central America,

is also a much larger plant with relatively large, broad leaves and

it has not been found higher than 1000 meters.

This species, along with several others usually thought of as bog

plants, occurs most commonly in the open pine-oak savannas and

is usually found toward the end of the rainy season when the savanna-

like forest floor is a wet, spongy, bog-like area. In the dry season

388 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 29

the savanna is bone-dry and it is hard to imagine that plants like

Pterolepis and Utricularia grow there.

GOMPOSITAE

Archibaccharis lucentifolia L. Wms., sp. nov.

Frutex scandens; folia elliptica vel elliptico-lanceolata, acuta vel acuminata,

integra vel mucronato-dentata, pubescens vel glabrescens; inflorescentia panicu-

ata, pauci-50-capitata.

Scandent lianas; stems terete, fractiflex, obscurely puberulent, becoming gla-

brous; leaves 3-10 cm. long and 1.5-5 cm. broad, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate,

acute or acuminate, entire or mucronate-dentate, mostly with 3-4 lateral nerves

on each side, obscurely puberulent below, becoming glabrous, glabrous above or

puberulent along the base of the mid-nerve, somewhat coriaceous, shining above,

especially when fresh; petioles 1 cm. long or less; inflorescence panicles of few-50

flower heads, axillary and terminal; heads mostly 5-6 mm. high, the pedicels slen-

der, mostly 4-10 mm. long, puberulent, subtended by small lanceolate to linear

bracteoles; staminate heads with about 15 flowers, ovaries much reduced; corolla

about 5 mm. long and half tube and half limb, the anthers included; pistillate heads

with 10-14 flowers, the outer flowers pistillate and fertile, the inner (2) larger,

hermaphroditic and possibly sterile; pistillate flowers with tube about 3 mm. long,

obscurely lobed, puberulent above, exceeded by the 25-30 rays of the pappus,

and the styles exceeding the corolla about 2 mm.; hermaphroditic flowers with

corolla divided into tube and 5-parted limb and with the lobes thickened along the

margins, puberulent near the center, pappus rays (25-30) shorter than the corolla,

the style clavate-thickened, probably sterile; pappus in all types of flowers barbel-

late; receptacle alveolate; achenes hispidulous; involucre in 3-5 series, the outer

shorter and ovate to lanceolate, the inner linear-lanceolate, hispidulous and ciliate

or obscurely lacerate apically, 1-nerved, the longest about 4 mm.

Guatemala: Coban, 1350 m., Feb., 1907, von Turckheim II 1164

(US).

Honduras: Flowers white and purple, vine in cloud forest area

in mountains above San Juancito, Dept. Morazan, alt. 1800 m.,

Feb. 20, 1948, Williams & Molina 13732; vine in trees in cloud forest

in San Juancito mountains above San Juancito, Dept. Morazan, alt.

2000 m., Williams & Molina (F, type; US; G; EAP).

The corollas in the flowers observed are quite variable. Three

forms occur, that of the staminate flowers (described from Williams

& Molina 13732) and the two forms found in the pistillate-polyga-

mous flower heads.

Archibaccharis lucentifolia is very closely allied to A. torquis Blake

and in fact no. 13732 had been distributed as that species. Dr. S. F.

Blake called my attention to the differences and had he lived pos-

sibly would have published this species. This species is easily dis-

WILLIAMS: TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, III 389

tinguished superficially from A. torquis by characters of pubescence.

The submembranaceous leaves of A. torquis are densely puberulent

on both surfaces while the coriaceous leaves of A. lucentifolia are

nearly glabrous. There are also differences in the flower heads and

in the flowers.

The von Tiirckheim specimen cited was originally distributed as

Conyza asperifolia Benth. & Hook.

Publication 945