Tan. 8225. 
COLUMNEA MaGnirica. 
Central America. 
GESNERIACEAE. Tribe COLUMNEAE. 
CotumngA, Linn.; Benth, et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 1009; Fritsch in | 
Engl. & Pranti, Pflanzenfam. vol. iv. 3b, p. 169. 
Columnea magnifica, Klotzsch et Hanst. ex Oerst. in Vidensk, Selsk. Skr. ser. 5, 
vol. v. 1861, p. 184; Hunst. in Linnaea, vol. xxxiv. p. 401; Sprague in Gard. 
Chron. vol. xliii, 1908, p. 66; affinis C. rotundifoliae, Salisb., a qua foliis 
oblongis vel oblanceolatis discique glandula emarginata recedit. 
Herba_ erecta, circiter 30 cm. alta, hirsuto-villosa. Foliuw oblonga usque 
oblanceolata, acuta, 3-6 cm. longa, 1-2 cm. lata, obscure serrulata, supra 
asperule appresseque hirsuta, subtus praecipue in venis hirsuta; petioli 
vix lem. longi. Fores in parte superiore caulis axillares, solitarii vel bini, 
pedicellis circiter 1°5 cm. longis. Calyx basi dense villosus; segmenta 
lanceolata, pectinato-serrata, circiter 1:5 cm. longa. Corolla flammea, 
circiter 6 cm. longa ; tubus circiter 3 cm. longus; limbus valde inaequaliter 
bilabiatus; lobi 4, laterales ultra medium cum postico integro connati; 
anticus lineari-lanceolatus, 2-2°5 cm. longus, tandem deflexus. Antherae 
connatae. sei glandula unica, postica, emarginata. Ovarium villosum. 
Columnea magnifica was discovered about sixty years ago 
by the orchid collector, Warscewicz, in the province of 
Veraguas, Panama, and does not seem to have been collected 
again until 1906, when it was discovered in the mountains 
of Costa Rica by Carlos Wercklé, at an altitude of between 
6,000 and 7,000 ft. 
Although placed by Hanstein in the section Pentadenia, — 
its real affinities seem to be with C. scandens, Linn., and 
C. rotundifolia, Salisb., which are placed in the section 
Eucolumnea., 
The headquarters of the genus are in Central America, | 
where it attains its maximum development in Costa Rica. 
Numerous species are endemic in the South American 
Andes, and a few in the West Indies. 
Description.—Herl, erect, about 1 ft. high, villous- 
hirsute. Leaves oblong to oblanceolate, acute, 1-24 in. 
long, 1-3 in. broad, obscurely serrulate, roughish with 
NovemBeEr, 1908. 
