94 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



as to make possible a new and complete description, that will confirm one or other of 

 the opposed opinions entertained by my excellent friend Capt. Donnell Smith and 

 myself. 



Talauma gloriensis Pittier, sp. nov. 



A middle-sized forest tree. 



Leaves very variable in size, coriaceous, entire, glabrous. Petioles 2 to 4 cm. long, 

 rounded beneath, flattened above and bordered by 2 whitish, callose lines, closing 

 together at the blade. Leaf blades more or less broadly elliptic-lanceolate, briefly 

 attenuate at base, acute or rounded at tip, 10 to 25 cm. long, 4 to 10 cm. broad, paler 

 beneath, the elegantly reticulate venation prominent on both sides. Stipules decid- 

 uous, about 2.5 cm. long, papillose and dark brown on the outer side, smooth inside, 

 with a 3-fid end, the middle tip being longer, somewhat foliaceous, and subulate. 

 Buds 4 cm. long, 3 cm. in diameter. Bracts 2, deciduous. Perianth formed of 9 

 coriaceous, greenish-white, thick divisions, the 3 exterior (sepals) ovate, short-acu- 

 minate, 4 cm. long, 3 cm. broad, the interior (petals) ovate-elliptic, slightly narrower 

 and attenuate at base. Stamens numerous; anthers almost sessile, linear, introrse. 

 Carpels 30 to 36. Styles deciduous. 



Fruit 4 to 5 cm. long, 3 to 3.5 cm. in diameter, the lignified, scale-like carpels meas- 

 uring about 2 cm. in length and 7 to 8 mm. in breadth. Dehiscence irregular. 



Costa Rica: Reventazon Valley, shade tree in the coffee plantations at La Gloria, 

 Pittier, flowers, January, 1902 (Institute fis-geog. Costa Rica no. 16362; U. S. 

 National Herbarium no. 579341, type); Cook & Doyle 390, flowers, April 26, 1902 

 (U. S. National Herbarium no. 474215); El Guayabo, altitude 1,000 meters, Ridgway 

 1908 (IT. S. National Herbarium no. 579416). 



ETJPHORBIACEAE. 



CORRECTIONS AND ADDENDA TO "THE MEXICAN AND CENTRAL 

 AMERICAN SPECIES OF SAPITJM."« 



In a very important, recently published '' contribution to the 

 knowledge of the genus Sapiuni, Mr. Iiemsley introduced some 

 changes affecting my own results as published in the Contributions. 

 While my S. sulciferum is recognized as a good species, and is rede- 

 scribed and excellently illustrated, S. pleiostachys Schum. & Pittier 

 and S. anadenum Pittier are identified with each other and rele- 

 gated to the synonymy of S. jamaicense Sw. With reference to the 

 latter three forms, I regret to be unable to agree with the eminent 

 botanist of Kcw, even after a careful reexamination of the speci- 

 mens. But at the same time, it is only fair to acknowledge that his 

 adverse stand as to my new creations is partly justified by my own 

 mistake in including Mr. Donnell Smith's specimen no. 2607, from 

 Guatemala, as one of the types of S. pleiostachys, from which the 

 characters of the capsule were drawn. As a matter of fact, our im- 

 perfect specimen of the Guatemalan plant compares satisfactorily 

 with Wright's no. 578 from Cuba, and is doubtless S. jamaicense Sw., 

 as stated by Mr. Ilemsley. 



Although it would have been desirable to obtain more complete 

 data before giving a definite statement as to the real standing of the 



a Contr. Nat. Herb. 12: L59-169. 1908. 

 6 Hook. Icon. PI. pi. 2876-2900. 1909. 



