130 DR. K. SPRUCE OK [Wettinia. 



being fasciculated, mostly five in the $ spadix, and eight in the J 

 spadix. But, according to Poppig, his Wettinia augusta has from 

 eight to fifteen simple spadices springing from each whorl. "When 

 I sent to Kew a specimen of the $ spadix of W. Maynensis, find- 

 ing it far too bulky for the space I had reserved for it, I cut away 

 all the branches but one. Can Poppig (I have thought) have done 

 the same, and have omitted to note that his specimen retained 

 only one branch of the five (or eight) it originally possessed? 

 Such a mistake is hardly possible to have occurred ; and until his 

 plant can be re-found, and shown not to correspond with his ac- 

 count of it, I must continue to consider it distinct from mine. 



I reproduce below the specific characters of the two species, 

 and so much of my detailed description of W. Maynensis^ from the 

 Linnean Journal, as it seems desirable to preserve here. 



1. W. AUGUSTA, Popp. et Endl. Nov. Gen. ii. 39, t. 163 et 154: 

 rhizomate conico e radicibus arete sibi in\icem impositis conflato j 

 pinni3l8-20-jugis; spathis propriis 2; spadicibus simplicibus, pluribus 

 (8-15) ex eodem verticillo ortis. 



JIab. ^^in Peruvise Transandinae sylvis pulcherrimis obumhrantibus, 

 c[uibus arcetur ripa borealis fluvii Tocache " (Poeppiffy loc. cit,), 



2. W. Maynensis, Spruce in Linn. Joiam, April, 1859, vol. iii. p. 194: 

 rhizomate conico e radicibus dissitiusculis conflato ; pinnis 38-40- 

 jugis; spathis propriis 3 ; spadicibus apice congesto-ramosis, paucis 

 (3-6) ex eodem verticillo ortis. 



Hah 



3000'-4000 



Andium ^quatorialiu 



dices valde frequens, rarius in planitiem ipsam Amazonicam de- 

 scendens. 



Caudex radicibus strictis subaculeatis e terra emersis et in conum 3 

 pedes altum conniventibus sustentus, erectus, 30-40'pedalis, diametro 

 4-pollicari, annulatns, inermis, nudus. 



Folia pauca (5 v. 6) contemporanea, 12-pedalia, sequaliter pinnata^ pa- 

 tula ; petiolm vagina prselonga 3J-pedali integra subinflata constans; 

 pinn(B 38-40-jugse, infimae diminutae^ mediae 3-pedales latitudine 3- 

 poUicari, e basi semiverticali cuneata dimidiato-lineari-lanceolatSB, 

 apice obtusato- vel truncato-praemorsae, margine antico apiceque in- 

 cisae, dentibus prsemorsis subacutisve ; vencB plurimae, basi fere con- 

 tiguae, superne magis dissitae et in dentes marginales excurrentes. 



Spadices miisexuales, 8 ex eodem verticillo orti, sc. medius $, laterales 

 c?; vel 6 simili modo dispositi. Spadictim <S peduneidiis 6-i^ol\ic8Lrxs 

 obsolete trigonus, pro spatharum insertione 6-annulatus, annxdo sup- 



