PITTIER PLANTS FROM COLOMBIA AND CENTRAL AMERICA. 453 



lute; primary veins numerous, catenate (on dry specimens), parallel, distant about 

 2 mm., diverging from the main nerve at an angle of about 20° and all merging in a 

 marginal vein. 



Inflorescences axillary or terminal, much shorter than the leaves, the male ternate 

 with 9 to 13 flowers. Bracts ovate, 5 to 6 mm. long; prophylla semiovate and sub- 

 acute, about 2 mm. long. Male flowers: Pedicels 6 to 8 mm. long; sepals 4, con- 

 choid, orbicular, the interior about 7 mm. long and 10 mm. broad; petals 5, subor- 

 bicular-spathulate, nearly 15 mm. long and 12 mm. broad, dark-striate, the claw 5 

 mm. long and 2 mm. broad; androecium forming a solid, resin-like disk 8 mm. in 

 diameter and 3 mm. high; anthers numerous around the base of the disk (28 to 30 in 

 the lower row, 15 or more in the second row), irregularly scattered and imperfect 

 toward the apex; rudiments of gynoecium wanting. Female flowers not known; 

 presumably solitary, with 8 or 9 stigmas. 



Capsule ovoid-globose, 2.5 to 3 cm. long, 2 cm. in diameter, 8 or 9-celled, each cell 

 with many seeds; stigmas 8 or 9, spoon-like, forming a crown about 13 mm. in diameter. 



Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 366031, collected on Uvita Island, near 

 Port Limon, Costa Rica, July, 1898, by H. Pittier. The 

 material consists of male fruits and ripe capsules. Same in 

 Instituto fis. geog. Costa Rica (no. 12704). 



This species was distributed under the name C. minor L., 

 but differs from that species as described by Planchon and 

 Trianaa by its short petioles, the form of the stigmas, and the 

 details of the capsule. The male flower of C minor does not 

 seem to have been yet described and there is doubt as to the 

 section to which that species should be referred. While our 

 material may in the end be found to belong to this or to some 

 other species previously described, there is a reasonable 

 doubt as to its identity and in the absence of reliable in- 

 formation it seems preferable to record it for the present FjG 80 ._.RAeedi<x edulis, 

 under a separate name. floral details, a, Calyx; 



b, petal; c, stamens; d, 



Rheedia edulis Triana & Planch. Ann. Sci. Nat. IV. 14: disk with two adhering 



310. 1860. Figure 80. stamens, a-c, From 



A forest tree reaching a height of 30 meters. Branchlets C ™trom™TielZan. 

 tetragonous or 4-sulcate, with diehotomous ramification. Scalc 3 



Leaves petiolate, glabrous, coriaceous, the younger ones 

 reddish. Petioles 1 to 1.2 cm. long, canaliculate and subtetragonous, with a short, 

 rather inconspicuous foveola. Leaf blades elliptic-lanceolate, cuneate at base, obtuse- 

 rounded, acute, or acuminate at tip, 5 to 15 cm. long, 2 to 5 cm. broad, dark green 

 above, paler or brownish beneath; main nerve and primary veins prominent on both 

 faces, the latter simple, parallel, and very numerous on the long, narrow leaves, 

 sparser, farther apart, and bifurcate on the more rounded leaves. 



"Pedicels of the fertile flowers axillar and geminate. Sepals 2, obtuse. Stamens 

 10 to 12, persistent." b Male flowers 2 or 3-geminate. Pedicels 8 to 15 mm. long 

 and broad. Petals 4, ovate-rounded, often with a ligular, acute appendage at 

 tip, 5.5 to 7 mm. long, 4 to 5 mm. broad, white. Stamens 25 to 30, biseriate, 3 to 4 

 mm. long. Disk conical, rather flat but acute at tip, about 3.5 mm. in diameter, 1.5 

 mm. high. 



"Fruits about the size of a hazelnut, yellow, one-seeded." 6 "The fruit of JR. 

 edulis is as large as the largest hazelnuts, but much longer than an olive; it is mono- 

 spermous" (Werckle in litt.). 



a Ann. Sci. Nat. IV. 13 : 334. 18G0. & Seemann, Bot. Voy. Herald 89. 



