RAIMONDIA, A NEW GENUS OF ANNONACEAE FROM 
COLOMBIA. 
By W. BW. SaFForb. 
While studying the Annonaceae in the United States National 
Herbarium the writer came upon a specimen from the interior of 
Colombia, collected by Prof. Henry Pittier, with peculiarities ren- 
dering it so distinct from all recognized genera of that family as to 
require its segregation as a new genus. 
The flowers and fruit of the plant bear a superficial resemblance 
to those of chirimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) and its allies; but 
the plant is monecious, and the inner petals instead of being minute 
and scale-like, as in the flowers of the chirimoya, are valvate and 
triangular, forming a tent-like covering to the sexual organs. The 
most radical difference, however, which requires this plant to be set 
apart from all other Annonaceae is in the peculiar form of the sta- 
mens. In Annona and Rollinia, which have compound fruits (syn- 
carpia), as well as in our own Asimina and many other genera of 
the family, the connective of the stamens is more or less expanded 
into a terminal head or hood-like covering above the two pollen sacs. 
In Professor Pittier’s plant the two pollen sacs are terminal without 
the slightest indication of the elongation or expansion of the con- 
nective. Indeed, the stamens differ so radically from those of typical 
Annonaceae that one would be inclined to separate the plant from that 
family were it not that its other characteristics are those of the 
Annonaceae, namely: Two-ranked, alternate leaves without stipules, 
6-petaled flowers with the petals in 2 series, and seeds with copious, 
ruminate albumen and minute basal embryo. In addition to these 
general features, the punctate, short-petioled, feather-veined, entire 
leaves, and the compound fleshy fruit (synearpium) point to its 
alliance with the custard apples or Annonas. 
RAIMONDIA gen. nov. 
Arborescent; leaves deciduous, 2-ranked, entire, minutely punctate; flowers 
moncecious, nodding, closely crowded on extra-axillary branchlets often oppo- 
site a leaf or issuing from old bark; sepals 3, valvate, persistent, much smaller 
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