174 



Periptera macrostelis Rose, sp. nov. Plate XIX. 



"A vine-like shrub," 24 to 45 dm. high ; young brandies clothed with ;i short, stiff 

 pubescence, older branches somewhat glaucous; leaves cordate at base, somewhat 

 3-lobed, the two lateral lobes short and obtuse, the central one elongated, acuminate, 

 eremite, nearly glabrous above, slightly stellate beneath; inflorescence a terminal 

 somewhat leafy panicle; pedicels 20 mm. long or less; involucral bracts none; 

 calyx cup-shaped, the tube 4 mm. long, lobes ovate, 2 mm. long, densely stellate and 

 more or less villous, not angled; corolla erect, "orange red;" petals more or less 

 convolute when in flower, wedge-shaped, somewhat one-sided, somewhat pubescent 

 without, slightly ciliate on the margin, 10 mm. long, 8 mm. broad at widest point; 

 stamen tube slender, much elongated, 25 mm. broad at widest point, slightly cleft at 

 the tip; styles G, slightly capitate; cells of ovary one-ovuled, the ovules pendu- 

 lous; carpels small, somewhat 3-toothed at apex, the sides reticulated, the walls 

 disappearing between the reticulations. 



Collected by Mr. E. W. Nelson near San Sebastian, State of Jalisco, altitude, 

 3,800 to 5,000 feet, March 16, 1807 (No. 4086). 



Explanation of Plate.— Fig. 1, a flowering branch; fig. 2, a loaf; fig. 3, a petal ; fig. 4, a carpel ; figs. 

 1 and 2, natural size; figs. 3 and 4. ncale 5. 



IIIIJISCCS. 



Hibiscus biseptus Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 21 : 4 18. 1886. 



The lower leaves are ovate, not at all lobod; upper leaves 3-lobed. 



Collected by J. N. Post; on the road between San Juan Capistrano and Hueju- 

 quilla, Jalisco, August 23, 1897 (Xo. 2504), and at Bolauos, September 10 to 19 ("No. 

 2906). Our only other specimens are the type specimens collected by Dr. E. Palmer 

 in the State of Chihuahua. The species is a tropical one and may be expected in 

 many of the hot interior valleys. 



Hibiscus coulteri Harvey ; Gray, PL Wright. 1 : 23. 1852. 



Collected by J. N. Rose near Guaymas, Sonora, June 8, 1897 (No. 1255) ; also a very 

 large-flowered form by Dr. E. Palmer at Topolobampo, State of Sinaloa, September 

 15 to 25, 1897 (No. 192). 



Hibiscus manihot L. Sp. PI. 2 : 696. 17511 



I saw only one plant of this very showy Hibiscus. It was growing in the plaza of 

 Aeaponeta, Tepic, July 31, 1897 (No. 1911). The leaves tire 3 to 5 parted (nearly to 

 the base); the segments are linear and sometimes 9 inches long. The tlowers were 

 lemon-colored and nearly 6 inches broad. The species has heretofore beon unrepre- 

 sented in the National Herbarium. 



The following note from the pen of W. Watson, of Kew, which appeared in the 

 Garden and Forest for 1897, will be of interest: 



"When treated as a greenhouse plant this old annual species of Hibiscus grows 

 to about a yard in height, and is pyramidal in shajio, clothed with palmately lobed, 

 dark green, smooth leaves, about 6 inches long, and produces in autumn handsome 

 cup-shaped tlowers, 5 inches in diameter, colored golden-yellow with purple center. 

 It is a native of China, but has long been naturalized in Bengal, and is commonly 

 cultivated in tropical countries. It was introduced into English gardens nearly 

 two hundred years ago, and has been tried as a summer bedding plant. Recently it 

 has attracted attention through some plants that were sent to a meeting of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society by Mr. Lambert, of Cookhain, who sowed the Beeds in 

 heat in February and grew the plants outside in summer. They were shown in 

 August and received an award of merit." 



Peter Henderson & Co. in this country have been cataloguing this species for the 

 last three years as ''Japanese manihot." 



