592 BR0MELIACEJ5. 



linear bracts 2"-l", bractlets 4"'-3'", calyx 6"' long.— Hab. Antigua !, WulUchl. ; [Guade- 

 loupe ! ; Guiana!, on trees]. 



5. .ECHMEA, R. P. {non Brongn.) 

 (Hoplophytum, Beer.) 



Petals distinct, suberect, 2-scaled within, perigynous (rarely epigynous) with the alternate 

 stamens : the opposite 3, epipetalous stamens distant from their base. Anthers incumbent. 

 Stigmas convolute. Berry " dry," many-seeded. — Scape with sterile, coloured bracts below 

 the inflorescence ; leaves spiny-serrate ; inflorescence mostly compound : bractlets persistent, 

 aicned or mucronate. 



I follow Mr. Martins and Sir "W. Hooker in regarding Hoplophytum of Beer and C. 

 Koch as congeners of A. paniculata, R. P., while Lamprococcus, Beer (/Echmea, Brongn., 

 e.g. A.fulgens, ej.) is another genus, distinguished by the stamens all perigynous, the stig- 

 mas erect, and the coloured, 3-dentate calyx devoid of a bractlet. If however Ruiz and 

 Pavon's genus (unknown to me but by their figure) should prove distinct too, the correct 

 name of Hoplophytum would be Hohenbergia, Schult. (Acanthostachys having been sepa- 

 rated from it) : even Pironneaua is an older name than Hoplophytum, and exactly the same 

 geuus, which, though not described, has been fully explained by Gaudichaud's excellent 

 figures. « 



Sect. 1. Pironneaua, Gaud. — Calyx-tube produced beyond the ovary, lobes aicned. Pe- 

 tals perigynous, connivent : scales much distant from their base, at the origin of the 

 epipetalous stamens. Ovules beaked, hanging from the summit of the cell. — Inflores- 

 cence terminal, branched ■. flowers in peduncled, imbricate spikes, heads or clusters, each 

 enclosed by an awned, persisteut bractlet •. peduncles supported by bracts. 

 5. A. distans, Gr. (n. sp.) Leaves oblong, slightly enlarged at the entire base, spiny - 

 mncronate at the rounded top, pale-green ; bracts lanceolate-acuminate ; peduncles distant, 

 horizontally spreading, superior shorter ; spikes ovoid-oblong, glabrous : bractlets broadly 

 ovate, many-nerved, rigid, awned-cuspidate, as long as the calyx ; calyx-lobes oval-roundish, 

 spiny-awned ; petals shortly exserted, " white," 2-scaled above the middle of the claw : 

 lamina elliptical. — Allied to A. glomerata (P. Gaudich.), but bracts 4"-l", lower peduncles 

 often 4", spikes l"-2" long. Scape slender, several feet high, glabrescent ■. internodes usually 

 l"-2"long; leaves H'-2' long, 2"-3V broad; flowers about 6'" long.— Hab. Jamaica!, 

 Pd., on trees, near Dolphin's peak ; [Cuba !]. 



Sect. 2. Hohenbergia, Schult. (excl. H. strobilacea). — Calyx-tube produced beyond the 

 ovary: lobes awned. Petals perigynous, connivent: scales at their base distant from 

 the origin of the epipetalous stamens. Ovules naked, or shortly mucronate. — Inflores- 

 cence terminal, branched : flowers in sessile, or shortly peduncled spikes, heads, cymes or 

 clusters : each supported by a persistent, awned or mucronate bractlet. 



6. A. aquilega, Gr. Leaves oblong, subequal at the base, acuminate, pale-green ; bracts 

 long, oblong-lanceolate ; heads spicate-racemose, large, hemispherical, glabrous, superior 

 contiguous, snbsessile, inferior gradually more distant, about as long as their compressed pe- 

 duncle : bractlets broadly ovate, keeled, mucronate, equalling the flower ; calyx-lobes ovate- 

 lanceolate, shortly awned ; petals spathulate, shortly exserted, " yellow." — Reichenb. Exot. 

 t. 239, 240. Bromelia, Salisb. sec. C. Kch. B. paniculigera, Reichenb. {non Sw.). B. 

 capituligera, Reichenb. Hoplophytum paniculatum, Beer. H. bracteatum, C. Kch. (exclus. 

 syn.Sic). — Scape stout, 2-3' high ; leaves 3' long, 2" broad ; inferior bracts 6", raceme 

 6"-8" long; heads 1" diam. — Hab. Jamaica (Salisb.) ; [Venezuela !, Guiana !, on trees]. 



7. A. bracteata, Gr. Leaves oblong, subequal at the base, mucronate, pale-green be- 

 neath ; bracts oblong-lanceolate, as long as the partial spikes, but reduced and subulate in 

 the upper part of the rhachis ; spike compound, broad, at first nodding : partial spikes con- 

 tiguous, numerous, subequal, spreading, subsessile, villous : bractlets ovate-oblong, convex 

 on the back, many-ribbed, mucronate, exceeded by the flower; calyx-lobes ovate, shortly 

 awned ; petals spathulate, shortly exserted, " blue." — Bromelia, Sw. : I exclude Hanston's 

 doubtful figure, which represents a Mexican species with distant lower spikelets. Hoplo- 

 phytum polystachyum, Beer ?~ Scape stout, 2'-3' high ; leaves 3'-l£' long, 2"-H" broad ; 



