a Re oe ee Ge 
ee ae ee | Ee ee i) ae, 
\ +) 
48? ROBINSON. 
may be capable of further segregation. Weddell in DC. Prodr. 16": 63, doubtfully 
reduced Urtica meyeniana Walp. to Laportea stimulans Miq., which may be the 
reason why that species is credited to the Philippines by Stapf." Weddell also, 
1. c. 67, appears to reduce U. wmbellata Blanco to Pilea umbellata Wedd., but 
there may have been an omission. 
Local names: lipa, lipang calabao, lipai, lopa; also alalatang in Cagayan and 
alalupa in Nueva Vizcaya. 
7. Laportea diffusa sp. nov. 
Arbor: inflorescentiis pistilliferis longissimis, late diffusis; floribus 
sessilibus vel subsessilibus in receptaculis flabellatim dispositis: foliis 
longe petiolatis ovalibus, basi cordatis, apice subabrupte breviter acumi- 
natis, 5-plinerviis vel minus conspicue 7-plinerviis, venis superioribus 
8 ad 10, 
Pistillate inflorescences attaining a length of at least 45 cm, their 
branches often fascicled in threes, 7 to 10 em long, themselves diffusely 
branched, the rachis and its branches strongly flattened when dry, probably 
succulent when fresh, cinereous-pilose ;, the receptacles at anthesis about 
1.5 mm in diameter, solitary or two or three approximate, appearing as 
one, on pedicels 1 to 2 mm long, bearing 4 to 6 flowers: flowers sessile or 
subsessile ; perianth-lobes 4, lanceolate to ovate but of about equal length, 
0.4 mm, acuminate or mucronate, pubescent, rarely with a few stinging 
hairs ; ovary in outline oblong-lanceolate, about 1mm long; stigma some- 
what longer than the ovary, densely pubescent, often recurved : fruiting 
receptacles attaining 8 mm in diameter; achenes 2 mm in diameter, 
strongly compressed, nearly circular in outline but ventricose on one side, 
tipped with the base of the stigma, obscurely lined. 
A tree 5 m high, with a trunk 30 em in diameter, the apices of the 
branches covered with yellow bark: leaves on petioles 5 to 18 cm long, 
when dried strongly flattened especially near the base, there attaining 
1 cm in width, densely pubescent, the lamina submembranaceous, attain- 
ing a length of 33 em and a width of 21 cm, the base cordate, the margins 
especially toward the apex with numerous very short blunt teeth, the apex 
contracted into a triangular acumen 3 em long, the upper surface glabrous 
except on the midrib and veins, the under surface densely white-pilose ; 
5- or 7-plinerved, the uppermost pair extending about one-third the length 
of the leaf; additional pairs of veins 8 to 12, the apical ones indistinct, 
united by numerous veins which are more conspicuous on the under 
surface ; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, about 13 mm long. 
Luzon, Province of Tarlac, O'Donnell, For. Bur. 5149 Curran. Distinguished 
from the last by its very diffuse, pilose inflorescence, and the different shape and 
margins of the leaves, 
Local name: lipa. 
* Trans. Linn, Soc. Bot. IT 4 (1894) 227. 
