STANDLEY—TROPICAL AMERICAN PHANEROGAMS, 111 
Geranium velutinum Turcz. Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou 31°: 417. 1858. 
Specimens agreeing very well with the original description of this species were 
collected in the Péramo de Timotes, State of Tachira, Venezuela, at an altitude of 
3,000 to 3,500 meters, in March, 1910, by Dr. Alfredo Jahn (no. 5). The type was 
collected by Funck and Schlim (no. 1251) in the Péramo de Portechuelo, State of 
Mérida, Venezuela, at an altitude of 2,500 to 2,700 meters. Knuth, in his monograph 
of the genus, places the species doubtfully in the section Gracilia.! If the present 
specimen is correctly determined, the species can be better placed in some other 
section. 
Geranium confertum Standley, sp. nov. 
Plant perennial, densely cespitose with much thickened caudices from a stout 
elongate frutescent root; leaves and flowers all basal; stipules 10 to 15 mm. long, 
scarious, stramineous, ovate or oblong-ovate, attenuate to a filiform tip, glabrous or 
nearly so; petioles stout, 1.5 to 5 cm. long, densely pilose with short, spreading or 
retrorse hairs, slightly viscid; leaf blades rotund in outline, 1 to 2 cm. wide, cleft 
three-fifths the distance to the base into 5 or 7 broadly cuneate divisions, these 3- 
lobed at the apex, the lobes ovate to oval, rounded at the apex, the whole blade firm 
and subcoriaceous, dull green, prominently veined, sparsely pubescent on the upper 
surface with slender appressed hairs, glabrate in age, abundantly pilose beneath 
along the veins with spreading hairs; flowers very numerous, the peduncles 1-flow- 
ered, ebracteate, 15 to 20 mm. long, densely pilose with spreading or retrorse white 
hairs; sepals 7 to 8 mm. long, oblong-linear or lance-linear, acute, short-mucronate, 
pilose-ciliate, especially near the base, sparsely pilose; petals purplish pink, 12 to 15 
mm. long, narrowly spatulate, rounded at the apex, glabrous; fruit about 9 mm. long, 
the valves and beak densely pubescent with short stiff spreading hairs. 
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 531305, collected in the Paéramo de 
Buena Vista, Huila Group, Central Cordillera, State of Cauca, Colombia, at an alti- 
tude of 3,000 to 3,600 meters, January, 1906, by H. Pittier (no. 1107). 
A member of the section Andina proposed by Knuth ? and most nearly related to 
Geranium sessiliflorum Cav., a species which ranges in the Andes from Bolivia to 
Patagonia. In the U. 8. National Herbarium there are several collections of that 
species, some of which are cited by Knuth. Geranium sessiliflorum is similar in habit 
to the species here described, but it has mostly appressed pubescence, thin and more 
deeply parted leaves, densely hirsute, smaller sepals (only 4 to 5 mm. long), and 
smaller, white petals. 
WERCKLEA, A NEW GENUS OF MALVACEAE. 
The tree here described was first discovered by Mr. Pittier in 1898 
at a time when he was unable to collect specimens of it. Later, 
material was secured under his direction, which is the basis of the 
description here published. It is one of the most showy members of 
the Malvaceae, the flowers equaling in size those of any species of 
Hibiscus and being borne in great profusion. Very few, if any, of 
the arborescent members of that genus reach so large a size. 
1 In Engl. Pflanzenreich 53: 104, 1912, 
2In Engl. Pflanzenreich 53: 78. 1912. 
