132 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



Main peduncles of the male racemes robust, striate, often branched, 6 to 20 cm. 

 long; pedicels filiform, 1 to 2.5 cm. long; flowers not less than 50 in each raceme and 

 divided into several whorls. Tube of the calyx very short (1.5 mm.), teeth subulate, 



1 mm. long. Segments of the con ilia 

 spreading, longitudinally veined, 4 

 mm. long, 3 mm. broad. Nectaries 

 pouch-like, with broad openings. 

 Staminal column almost 2 mm. long; 

 anthers spreading, nearly sessile, 4 

 forming pairs and the fifth free. Pol- 

 len grain 0.080 to 0.083 mm. in diam- 

 eter. Pedicels of the female flowers 

 3 mm. long. Calyx scarcely 2 mm. 

 long, Ihe subulate teeth 1 mm. long. 

 Segments of the corolla thick, papil- 

 lose inside, broadly ovate-triangular, 

 1.2 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad. Necta- 

 ries none. Ovary 4 mm. long, about 

 1.5 mm. thick, slightly setose at the 

 base; stigma capitate, 2 mm. in di- 

 ameter. 



Fruiting peduncles 3 to 4 cm. long. 

 Fruits green, 4 to 6 cm. long, 1 .5 to 2.5 

 cm. thick, sparsely aculeate at the 

 base, attenuate at both ends and 5-sul- 

 cate. Seed elliptic, 27 mm. long, 15 

 mm. broad, about 4 mm. thick, the 

 testa hard with subacute margins. 

 Costa Rica: Around San Jose, wild or semicultivated on account of its fruits, used 

 for culinary purposes, altitude about 1,200 meters, C. Werckle, flowers and fruits, 



Fig. 40.— Male flower of Polakowskia tacaco. Scale fi. 



Fig. 41.— Floral parts and seed of Polakowskia tacaco. a, Vertical section of male flower, showing stamens 

 and nectaries; b, calyx as seen from below, showing teeth and pouch-like nectaries; c, calyx and corolla 

 of young female flower, cut open and spread; d, pistil partially cut open to show pendulous ovule; e , seed. 

 a-d , Scale 6; e, natural size. 



October, 1902 (Instituto fis.-geog. Costa Rica no. 16674; U. S. National Herbarium 

 no. 592346, 592347 type, both sheets from the same individual). 



Explanation of Plate 20.— Fruit, external views and sections. From material received from 

 Costa Rica. 



