96 NORTH AMERICAN FLORA [VoLumME 21 
base; anthers 4-celled. Ovary 2-many-ovuled, the ovules erect. Radicle 
inferior or ascending. 
Fruit baccate; perianth-segments spreading in age. 1, PLEUROPETALUM. 
Fruit dry; perianth- -segmenits erect. 2. CELOSIA. 
1. PLEUROPETALUM Hook. f. (Proc. Linn. Soc. 1: 278, hyponym. 
1845) Lond. Jour. Bot. 5: 108. 1846. 
Allochlamys Mog. in DC. Prodr. 132: 463. 1849. 
Melanocaypum Hook. f. in Benth. & Hook. Gen. 3:24. 1880. 
Glabrous shrubs with branched stems. Leaves alternate, petiolate, the blades entire. 
Flowers perfect, bracteate and bibracteolate, pedicellate, racemose or paniculate, greenish; 
perianth-segments 5, subcoriaceous, equal, obtuse, striate-nerved, spreading in fruit. Stamens 
5-8; filaments subulate-filiform, connate at the base into a short cup; anthers 4-celled. Ovary 
globose-ovoid, attenuate to a short style; stigmas 2-4, short, subulate; ovules numerous, on 
capillary funicles. Fruit baccate, globose, rupturing irregularly. Seeds numerous, reniform- 
orbicular, lenticular, erect, the testa black, lustrous; embryo annular, surrounding the granulose 
endosperm; cotyledons linear; radicle inferior. 
Type species, Pleuropetalum Darwinti Hook. f. 
1. Pleuropetalum Sprucei (Hook. f.) Standley. 
Melanocarpum Sprucei Hook. f. in Benth. & Hook. Gen. 3: 24. 1880. 
Pleuropetalum costaricense Wendl.; (Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Am. Bot. 3: 12, hyponym. 1882) Hook. 
f. Bot. Mag. pl. 6674. 1883. 
Pleuropetalum tucurriquense Donn. Smith, Bot. Gaz, 61: 387. 1916. 
Shrub with smooth or sulcate, lineolate, glabrous branches, the branchlets papillose when 
dried; petioles slender, 2-3 cm. long; leaf-blades elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 10-18 cm. long, 4.5- 
6.5 cm. wide, somewhat abruptly acuminate at the apex, acute or abruptly acuminate at the 
base, thin, obscurely papillose on the upper surface when dried, slightly paler beneath, the 
lateral veins conspicuous, 12-14:on each side, arcuiate-ascending; flowers paniculate, the 
panicles terminal and axillary, 3.5-6 cm. long, densely flowered, the bracts at the bases of the 
pedicels ovate, 1.5-2 mm. long; bractlets ovate, 1 mm. long; flowers yellowish-green, the 
sepals ovate-oval, 2.5 mm. long, glabrous; stamens 5-8; fruit red, globose, 5 mm. in diameter; 
seeds 1.5 mm. in diameter, smooth. 4 
Tyres rocarity: At the foot of Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador. 
DISTRIBUTION: Vera Cruz to Costa Rica and Ecuador. 
ILLUSTRATION: Bot. Mag. pl. 6974. 
2. CELOSIA IL. Sp. Pl. 205. 1753. 
Amaranthus Adans. Fam. Pl. 2: 269. 1763. Not Amaranthus L. 1753. 
Sukana Adans. Fam. Pl. 2: 269. 1763 
Lestibudesia Thouars, Hist. Vég. Iles Afr. 53. 1806. 
Lophoxera Raf, Fl. Tell. 3: 42, 1837. 
Gonufas Raf. Sylva Tell. 124, 1838. 
Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, pubescent or glabrous, with simple or branched, 
erect or rarely scandent, terete or angulate stems. Leaves alternate, usually petiolate, the 
blades entire or lobed. Flowers perfect, bracteate and bibracteolate, in dense, terminal or 
axillary spikes, or fascicled along the simple or branched flowering branches, sessile or pedi- 
cellate, white, yellow, greenish, or red; perianth 5-parted, the segments scarious, striate-nerved. 
Stamens 5; filaments subulate or filiform, connate at the base into a short cup; anthers 4- 
celled. Ovary subglobose, ovoid, or cylindric; style elongate, short, or none, sometimes elon- 
gate after anthesis; stigmas 2 or 3, subulate or capitate; ovules 2 or more, on elongate funicles. 
Utricle included in the perianth or exserted, somet mes thickened at the apex, circumscissile, 
rarely indehiscent or rupturing irregularly. Seeds 2 to many, usually erect, lenticular, smooth, 
shining; embryo annular, the endosperm farinose; radicle inferior or ascending. 
Type species, Celosia argentea L. 
