98 NORTH AMERICAN FLORA [VoLumME 21 
3. Celosia pleiogyna Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 541. 1891. 
Low shrub; branches slender, smooth, glabrous; petioles 6~15 mm. long, slender; leaf- 
blades lance-oblong, symmetric, 5.5-9 em. long, 1.5-3.5 cm. wide, abruptly acuminate at 
the apex, rounded to acute at the base, glabrous, deep yellowish-green, inconspicuously nerved; 
flowers sessile, in loose terminal or axillary panicles composed of loosely flowered spikes 1-4 
em. long and 1 cm. in diameter; bracts one fourth as long as the sepals, rounded-ovate, obtuse, 
carinate; sepals 5 mm. long, oblong or ovate-oblong, obtuse, finely parallel-nerved, dark-brown; 
stamens not exceeding the ovary, the sinuses between the filaments obtuse; style very short, 
stout, much exceeded by the 4 or 5 elongate stigmas; utricle ovoid, shorter than the sepals. 
TYPE LocaLtry: Eastern Costa Rica. 
DIsTRIBUTION: Eastern Costa Rica. 
4. Celosia virgata Jacq. Coll. Bot. 2: 279. 1788. 
Lestibudesia virgata R. Br. Prodr. 414. 1810. 
Achyranthes rivinaefolia Desf. Cat. Hort. Par. ed. 3.39, hyponym. 1829. 
Stems erect, 5-10 dm. high, terbaceous, or fruticose below, sparingly branched, green, 
glabrous, striate-angled; petioles shorter than the blades, winged nearly or quite to the base; 
leaf-blades ovate to lanceolate or elliptic, 4-15 cm. long, 1.5-9 em. wide, acuminate at the 
apex, usually with a short slender cuspidate tip, acute or abruptly acuminate at the base, 
decurrent, entire, thin, green, glabrous, or sparsely pubescent beneath along the nerves, prom- 
inently veined, with small petioled falcate leaves often present in the axils; inflorescence of 
terminal or axillary panicles, these composed of few, sessile or pedunculate, densely flowered 
spikes 1-5 cm. long and about 7 mm. thick; bracts one third to one half as long as the sepals, 
lanceolate or ovate, abruptly attenuate to a subulate tip, carinate, often ciliolate; sepals 5~6 
mm. long, lance-elliptic, acuminate, dark-brown, firm, prominently parallel-veined; stamens 
about equaling the ovary; style short, much shorter than the utricle, the 3 stigmas shorter 
than the style; utricle globose-ovoid, shorter than the sepals; seeds 5-8, 0.6 mm. in diameter, 
nearly smooth, black, lustrous. 
Tyre Locality: Not stated. 
DISTRIBUTION: Cuba; Porto Rico; southeastern Mexico; also in northern South America. 
ILLUSTRATION: Jacq. Ic. Pl. Rar. 1. 339, 
5. Celosia nitida Vahl, Symb. Bot. 3: 44. 1794. 
Lestibudesia paniculata R. Br. Prodr. 414. 1810. Not Celosia paniculata L. 1753. 
Lophoxera paniculata Raf. Fl. Tell. 3: 42. 1837. 
Gonufas paniculata Raf. Sylva Tell. 124. 1838. 
Celosia texana Scheele, Linnaea 22: 148. 1849. 
Stems slender, erect or clambering over shrubs, 3-15 dm. long, fruticose at the base, or 
sometimes herbaceous throughout, glabrous, green or glaucescent, smooth or striate; petioles 
slender, 0.5—2 cm. long, not margined; leaf-blades deltoid to ovate, rhombic-ovate, or triangular- 
lanceolate, usually asymmetric, 2-7 cm. long, 1-4 cm. wide, obtuse to acuminate at the apex, 
obtuse, truncate, or somewhat oblique at the base, slightly decurrent, deep-green, glabrous, 
often lustrous, prominently nerved beneath, with small, asymmetric, often falcate leaves fre- 
quently present in the axils; flowers in loose terminal or axillary panicles composed of few 
loosely flowered, sessile or pedunculate spikes 1-4 cm. long and 7-10 mm. thick; bracts rounded- 
ovate, about one fourth as long as the sepals, obtuse or acutish, carinate, often ciliolate; sepals 
5 mm. long, oblong or oval, acute or acutish, mucronulate, firm, dark-brown or yellowish, 
prominently and finely parallel-nerved; stamens equaling the ovary; style stout, 1 mm. long 
or less, longer than the 3 stout stigmas; utricle ovoid, equaling or shorter than the sepals; 
seeds numerous, about 20, 1 mm. in diameter, smooth or obscurely punctulate, black and 
lustrous. 
TyPE LOCALITY: West Indies. 
DistrRiBurion: Florida keys; southwestern Texas to northeastern Mexico; Yucatan; general 
in the West Indies; also on the northern coast of South America. 
