ON SOUTH-AMERICAN APOCYNACEÆ. 249 
brush-like spike, signalized by several imbricate bracts partly concealing as many incon- 
spicuous flowers, which have a tubular corolla with small rounded segments 3—4 times 
shorter than the tube. De Candolle, in his description of the genus, assigns a sinistrorse 
convolution to the segments of the corolla, which is not correct ; but Müller rightly gives 
them a dextrorse direction. 
LasecuUEa, A. DC. (char. emend.) Sepala 5, ovato-acuminata, submembranacea, intus squamula integra 
vel irregulariter dentata singulatim munita; corolla tubulosa; tubus cylindricus, calyci qualis vel 
longior, medio paullo constrictus, et ibi annulo piloso intus donatus; segmenta 5, insequilatera, 
oblique ovata, angulo sinistro acutiora, tubo 3—4plo breviora, dextrorsum convoluta. Stamina 
inclusa, ad medium tubi annulo piloso inserta ; filamenta brevissima, margine villosa ; anthere lineari- 
oblongze, in conum coherentes, apice membrana apiculate, imo cordate vel obtuse et brevissime 
bilobe. Discus e lobis 5 obtusis, ovariis dimidio brevior; stylus filiformis; clavuncula incrassata, 
imo membrana peltata munita; stigmata 2, parva, termiualia. Folliculi 2, tenuiter teretes, erecti, 
vix curvati, ssepe longissimi. Semina numerosa, subimbricata, lineari-oblonga, apice truncata, 
striolata; coma erecta, seminis sesquilongitudine, e pilis mollibus confecta. 
Plante Americe intertropice, raro extratropice plerumque Brasiliane, a radice sepe tuberoso orte ; 
ramuli subherbacei, vel sublignosi, scandentes ; folia opposita, ovato-oblonga, sepe cordata, subbreviter 
petiolata; racemi axillares vel subterminales, pedunculati, crebre multiflori, aspergilliformes, imbri- 
catim bracteati; flores mediocres, inconspicui, pedicellati. 
1, Laseouza GuILLEMINIANa, A. DC. Prodr. viii. p. 481 ; Deless. Icon. v. p. 23, tab. 53: Laseguea erecta, 
var. Guilleminiana, Müll. Fl. Bras. fasc. xxvi. p. 135, tab. 41. In Brasilia, prov. centralib: v. s. in 
herb. Mus. Brit. Minas Geraés (Claussen). 
This plant has a stout erect pubescent stem, with axils } in. apart; its decussately 
opposite leaves are oval, mucronate at the apex, cordate at the base, pubescent beneath, 
with prominent nerves and reticulate veins, 3-44 in. long, 2-3 in. broad, on petioles 
1 line long; raceme elongated, 4-8 in. long, pyramidal, bare at the base, densely 
flowered, clothed with imbricating lanceolate bracts, each 5 lines long, supporting a 
single pedicellate flower; pedicels twisted, pubescent, 6 lines long; sepals glabrous, 
lanceolate, 9 lines long, 1 line broad at the base; tube of corolla cylindrical, 8 lines 
long; segments 14 line long, acute, dextrorsely convolute; stamens inserted on a pilose 
ring above the middle of the tube, included; filaments short; anthers coherent in a 
cone; disk of 5 truncated lobes, half as long as the 2 ovaries. 
2. Lasecuza ERECTA, Müll. (in parte) l. c. p. 135: Laseguea acutifolia, A. DC. Ann. Sc. Nat. 1844, 
p. 261; Walp. Rep. vi. p. 477: Echites erecta, Vell. Fl. Flum. p. 113, Icon. iii. tab. 45. In 
Brasilia, ad Encrucilhada, prope conterminam prov. Rio de Janeiro et S. Paulo: non vidi. . 
An erect shrub, about 18 in. high, with a stout semiherbaceous pubescent stem, 
bearing a single branchlet, the axils being 2 in. apart; leaves decussately opposite, erect, 
Subovate, cordate at the base, narrowing upwards into a subacute point, margins 
undulate, beneath pilose, with prominent subascending nerves, 3—4 in. long, 14-24 in. 
broad, on petioles 2 lines long; racemes axillary and terminal, narrowly spicate, on a 
peduncle 4 in. long in flower (longer in fruit), with very approximate flowers, signalized 
by many imbricate adpressed acute bracts 4 lines long; pedicels 4 lines ET sepals 
K 
