PITTIER—PLANTS FROM COLOMBIA AND CENTRAL AMERICA. 97 
Jamaica. If we admit that these two species are really congeneric, 
we must concede also the priority to Piratinera and transfer all 
species of Brosimum under that name. This was the view adopted 
by Coville and Wight in their revision of botanical nomenclature for 
the Century Dictionary, edition of 1909-11. On the other hand, 
Huber, also trying to be consistent with the rules of nomenclature, 
reestablished the specific name of the Guiana tree as Brosimum 
guianense (Aubl.), supposing at the same time that the Amazon 
species he had in view was identical with the one from French 
Guiana, an assumption which, as we shall see, can not be sustained. 
In the following paragraphs evidence is given tending to prove 
that Piratinera and Brosimum are in reality distinct and well- 
founded genera, and an attempt is made to straighten out the almost 
hopeless confusion brought about by the unjustified endeavor to keep 
them under a single head. 
COMPARISON OF CHARACTERS, 
The fundamental characters of the genus Brosimum as established 
by Swartz are: “Flowers without a perianth, the male numerous, 
1-staminate, the female solitary in each inflorescence, this consisting 
of a globose receptacle covered with peltate scales.” It is evident 
from Aublet’s description that his plant has no place under Brosi- 
mum, even though there are contradictions between the Latin diag- 
nosis and the description in French that follows. 
In the former Aublet describes the inflorescences as “ axillares, 
pedunculati, globosi, solitarii vel bini, virescentes.” The word 
“ slobosi” seems to point to a globose receptacle, like that of Brosi- 
mum; but reading further we see that “le bouton de fleurs est sin- 
gulier, iJ est en cone par sa base, arrondi et convexe d son sommet, 
qui est couvert d’un nombre considérable de petits corps en forme 
de champignons.” The italicized expressions in the French text 
clearly indicate that in Piratinera the receptacle is not globose but 
turbinate. We find further that after the quaintly described male 
flowers have disappeared, “le bouton alors est jaune; et en le coupant 
transversalement on appergoit une grande quantité de loges, dans 
chacune desquelles est une graine fort petite.” This would indicate 
that the same receptacle bears several female flowers and not one as 
in Brosimum. 
PIRATINERA A DISTINCT GENUS. 
That Aublet’s description was exact both as to the shape of the 
receptacle and the plurality of the female flowers is shown by the 
fact that no less than four other species with the same characters 
1Bol. Mus. Goeldi 6: 168. 1909. 
