Tas. 7118. 
CARLUDOVICA Carut Mepusa. 
Native country doubtful. 
Nat. Ord. CychantHacr®.—Tribe CarLupovicEzx. 
Genus Carupovica, Ruiz § Pav. ; (Benth.et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. vol. iii, p. 953.) 
CarLupovica Caput Medusa; acaulis, folioram lamina 3-4 pedali petiolo 
eequilonga cuneato-flabelliformi creberrime plicata ad medium bisecta, 
segmentis 3-5-fidis apices versus multifidis, laciniis ultimis pollicaribus 
Inequilongis recurvis acutis, nervo composito basilari intramarginale, 
petiolo dorso rotundato, facie planiusculo medio anguste canaliculato, 
lateribus rotundatis, basi in vaginam brevem dilatato, spadice breviter 
pedunculato majusculo globoso staminodiis inclusis 3 poll. diam. vaginato, 
spathis inferioribus 5~6-pollicaribus cymbiformi-lanceolatis superioribus 
brevioribus oblongis spadicem squantibus; fl. masc. stipitatis, perianthii 
cupularis foliolis numerosis oblongis obtusis sub 2-seriatim imbricatis, 
staminibus perplurimis, filamentis infra medium dilatatis dein subulatis, 
antheris oblongis, fl. fem., perianthio 4-dentato, dentibus triangularibus, 
staminodiis pollicaribus albis, ovarii tubo brevi perianthio adnato, ovario 
truncato 4-lobo. 
Having failed to refer this fine Carludovica to any de- 
scribed species of the genus, I sent the drawing of it to 
my friend Professor Drude of Dresden, the learned expo- 
sitor of the Brazilian species of the genus in Martiu’s Flora 
of Brazil. He informs me that to the best of his belief 
it is unknown to him, and that if not C. schizophylla of the 
Flora Brasiliensis, of which he had seen only bad spe- 
cimens, it is no doubt undescribed, and should be placed 
near to that species. Referring to the description of 
CO. schizophylla, I find that it has a turbinately cylindric 
lax-fid. spadix, whereas that of C. Caput Medusa is globose 
and dense-fid. oo 
In some respects it resembles the Peruvian C. /atifolia, 
figured in this Magazine (Plate 2950, 2951) as Ludovia lati- 
folia, but in that plant the petiole is very much shorter 
than the blade of the leaf, and the compound nerve is 
towards the middle of each leaf segment, whereas in C. 
Caput Meduse it is intramarginal. In both the blade of 
the older leaves becomes fissured towards the base in 
a very irregular manner, showing a tendency to split into 
Junez Ist, 1890. 
