ROSE AND STANDLEY — GENUS TALINUM IN MEXICO. 285 



6. Talinum rn.ultifl.orum sp. no v. 



Ten centimeters high or less, from a tuberous root; leaves terete, 3.5 cm. long or less, 

 rather slender, all basal; peduncles several, spreading, not strictly erect, abundantly 

 cymosely branched above; sepals oblong or ovate, obtuse, 2.5 mm. long; flowers 

 numerous, 12 mm. in diameter when fully spread, the ob lanceolate, acutish petals 

 reflexed; capsule 4 mm. long, sharply 3-anglcd, purplish. 



This is a smaller and more slender plant than T. napiforme, to which it is perhaps 

 most closely related. Its leaves are smaller, its flowers more numerous, and its capsules 

 purplish and much more acutely angled. 



Type U. S. National Herbarium no. 571460, collected at Otinapa, Durango, July 

 25 to August 5, 1906, Dr. Edward Palmer 434. Collected again by Doctor Palmer at 

 Tejamen, Durango, August 2-7, 1906 (no. 538). Living plants sent to Washington 

 by the same collector from Tepehuanes, Durango, have flowered several times. 



7. Talinum mexicanum Hemsl. Diag. PI. Nov. 2: 23. 1879. 

 Type locality, "Mexico, in regione San Luis Potosi." 



Five to 7 cm. high; stems slender, much branched and well developed; leaves 

 terete, 5 to 8 mm. long, slender, acute, clustered at the summit of the stem; pe- 

 duncles several from each stem, very slender, cymosely branched above, each bearing 

 3 to 8 very small flowers; petals 3 mm. long or less; sepals about one-half as long as 

 the petals, almost orbicular, broadly obtuse; capsule 3 mm. long, subapherical, light 

 green. 



Specimens examined: 



San Luis Potosi: San Luis Folosi, at 1,800 to 2,400 meters, 1878, Parry 6 

 Palmer 69. 



8. Talinum gracile sp. nov. 



Perennial from a thick, woody, much branched root; stems well developed, slender, 

 much branched, 14 cm. high or less; leaves terete, numerous, scattered along the 

 branches, 3 cm. long or less; flowers few, cymose, on pedicels 1 to 2 mm. long, these 

 subtended by awl-shaped bracts; sepals ovate to lanceolate, with acuminate, spreading 

 tips; capsule ovoid, 3 or 4 mm. long, obtusely triquetrous; seeds smooth. 



Type U. S. National Herbarium no. 129772, collected in "thin soil of granitic ledges; 

 La Bufa Mt. above Cusihuiriachic," Chihuahua, August 31, 1887, C. G. Pringle 1197. 

 This collection was distributed as T. parriflorum, from which the plant appears 

 abundantly distinct in its well developed, much branched, and more slender stems, 

 in its numerous scattered leaves and acute sepals with spreading tips, and in not having 

 its leaves widened but rather narrowed at their bases. 



Other specimens examined: 



Chihuahua: Canon de San Diego, September 17, 1891, ('. 1". JIartman 771. 



9. Talinum oligospermuni Brandegee, Zoe 5: 245. 1906. 



Type locality, "On Cerro de la Yerba, Puebla, growing in dry, rocky soil." 

 A low perennial, 6 to 8 cm. high, from a subspherical tuberous root; stems numerous, 

 much branched, slender, whitish; leaves linear-oblong, flat, obtuse, 7 mm. long or 

 less, scattered along the stems; peduncles numerous, one or more to each branch of 

 the stem, cymosely branched above and bearing several flowers; sepals broadly 

 oblong or ovate, obtuse, purplish, 2.5 mm. long or less; petals bright yellow, 4 or 5 

 mm. long; capsule 3 mm. long; rather obtusely triquetrous, purplish. 



Specimens examined: 



Puebla: Cerro de la Yerba, June, 1908, C. A. Purpus 2513 (type collection). 

 In our key we have placed this species near T. lincare, a treatment that may be 

 somewhat confusing, for the plant is not very closely related to that species, suggesting 

 rather T. gracile. Its leaves, although flat, are very different from those of T. lineare, 

 being much thicker and narrower. 



