STUDIES OF MEXICAN' AM) CENTRAL AMERICAN 



LAMS. 



By .(. X. Busk. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



Owing' to the large number of sources from which plants are sent to 

 us from Mexico, it seems advisable to discontinue, at least for the 

 present, the publication of reports upon separate collections from that 

 quarter. There is the added reason that many of the species are 

 absent from even our largest American herbaria, Avhich makes the 

 identification doubly tedious. It is my plan, therefore, to work up the 

 various collections jointly, reporting upon them somewhat irregularly 

 by genera or families, presenting revisions, synopses, or even mono- 

 graphs, when the material at hand seems to justify it. 



Miscellaneous new species will be published from time to time. 

 These studies Avill be mostly upon the Polypetalae, although not neces- 

 sarily confined to this group. 



NOTES ON CELASTRACEAE. 



Maytenus phyllanthoides Benth. Hot. Sulph. 54. 1844. 



Shrub 30 to 45 dm. high. 



Collected by Mr. C. G. I'riugle in calcareous soil, Tehuacan, Puebla, altitude, 1,808 

 meters, December 20, 1805 (Xo. 0285). 

 Myginda scoparia Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. 288. 1836-40. 



Leaves of two kinds; some small, 6 to 10 mm. long, occasionally opposite, mostly 

 alternate; the others much larger, 3.7 cm. or more long, always alternate; flowers 

 small, brownish in color; fruit pear-shaped, mm. long, obtuse, red, 1-seeded. 



Xot common; in river bottoms and on shaded hillsides. Collected by Dr. Edward 

 Palmer, Acapuleo, December, 1804 (No. 170). 



This species was omitted by Mr. Hemsley from the Biologia Centrali-Americaua. 



The original specimens came from Acapnho, and there is no doubt of the identity 

 of Dr. Palmer's plant. In the above description we have intended simply to sup- 

 plement or correct the original characters, which were based on flowering speci- 

 mens only. 



This species has not before been represented in the National Herbarium. 



Hippocratea acapnlcensis 11. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 5: 157. 1821. 



Climbing shrub, 15 to 21 dm. high; leaves dark green, dowers greenish white. 



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