323 
Dr. Torrey, in his original description, states that the general appearance of the 
plant is certainly very unlike that of 7. leiandra, but he hesitates to describe it as a 
distinct species. 
T. leiandra variety ovata Coulter, described from insufficient material, belongs with 
the brevifolia. 
T. brevifolia has been collected as follows: By Charles Wright, in western. Texas 
in 1849 (No. 700), a part of the typeof 7. leiandra; by Dr. Havard, in the Chisos 
Mountains, western Texas, in 1883 (No. 7&); by Dr. Palmer, at Soledad, Coahuila, 
Mexico, in 1880 (No. 2014); by G.C. Nealley, in the Chenata Mountains, Texas (Pre- 
sidio County), in 1889 (No. 487), the type locality of variety ovata; by J. M. Bigelow, 
in mountains near the Pecos River, western Texas (No, 1500a), the type locality for 
this species; by A. A. Heller, near Corpus Christi,! Texas, in 1894 (No. 1427); also 
by Buckley, who distributed it as a new species and some of whose specimens are in 
the Durand herbarium, according to a note by Dr. Gray on one of his sheets. 
The synonymy of this species is as follows: 
Tradescantia. leiandra brevifolia Torrey, Bot. Mex. Bound. Surv. 225 (1859); T. 
speciosa Buckley (not L. or H. B. K.), Proc. Acad. Phila. 1862, 9 (1863); Zebrina (?) 
leiandra Clark, in DC. Monogr. Phan. iii, 318 (1881); 7. letandra, Watson, Proc. Amer. 
Acad. xviii, 167 (1883); Hemsley, Biol. Centr.-Amer. iii, 393 (1885); T. leiandra ovata 
Coulter, Contr. Nat. Herb. i, 50 (1890); ii, 444 (1894). 
Tradescantia (?) brevifolia (Torr.) Rose. PLATE XVI. 
Stems at. first erect, becoming prostrate, leafy to the top; leaves approximate, 
ovate, 1 to 3 inches long, 1 inch wide, thickish, glaucous and glabrous except the 
ciliate-scabrous margins, acute; margin of sheath ciliate; involucral leaves 2, like 
the lower leaves, but smaller; umbel sessile, many-flowered; corolla white; pedicels 
and calyx densely villose; filaments hairy, attached to the corolla; ovary hairy at top. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE.—Fig. a, branch of 7. brevifelia; b, leaf, and c, involucre of 7. leiandra. 
Figs. a, b, and c, natural size. 
Tradescantia leiandra Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. Surv. 224 (1859). 
Roots slender, fibrous-thickened; stems erect, somewhat branching, slender, glab- 
rous, somewhat naked above; leaves distinct, narrowly lanceolate, 3 to 5 (perhaps 
more) inches long, 6 lines wide, sharply acute, with margins not scabrous; margin 
of sheath glabrous or nearly so; involucral leaves 2, ovate, acuminate, | to 1.5 inches 
long, very unlike the lower leaves; umbel sessile, many-flowered ; pedicels and sepals 
densely villose; filament smooth; capsule oval, somewhat 3-lobed, stipitate; cells 3 
2-seeded; seeds 0,5 line in diameter, slightly rugose. 
Collected by Bigelow in mountains and moist rocky places at Puerto de Paysano, 
Texas, September 18, 1854 ? (No. 1500), and by V. Havard at Copote Creek, Texas, 
September, 1883 (No. 79), 
' Living specimens have recently been sent to me by Mr. G. C. Nealley, from this 
place, which I now have growing in one of the greenhouses of the Department 
of Agriculture. 
