64 TEXAS RESEARCH FOUNDATION: CONTRIBUTIONS, VOLUME 5 
leaf blades oblanceolate or oblanceolate-elliptic, up to 13 cm. long, 5 em. wide, 
apex rounded-obtuse, base cuneate, entire, very thin, membranaceous, at first 
sparingly tomentulose on lower surface with sessile silky multi-branched hairs, 
glabrescent early, papillose-puberulent at first at base above, the midvein slightly 
impressed above, elevated beneath, the primary lateral veins slender and evident 
on both surfaces; inflorescences terminal, pyramidal, bipinnately paniculate, 
up to 15 em. long, finely and sparingly tomentulose; pedicels slender, puberulent, 
up to 7 mm. long; flowers corymbose, 4-parted, up to 7 mm. long at anthesis; 
sepals minute, ovate, about 1 mm. long, puberulent, pellucid-punctate; petals 
linear-lanceolate, up to 7.5 mm. long, finely papillose-puberulent on outer 
surface, papillose-tomentulose over entire inner surface, orange-red punctate in 
lines; stamens up to 5.5 mm. long; filaments thick, up to 2.3 mm. long, orange- 
red punctate; anthers erect, linear-lanceolate, up to 4.5 mm. long, dorsifixed 
about one-third above base, orange-red punctate dorsally; ovary ovoid, glabrous 
except for a few short hairs at apex; style sparingly short-villous, up to 5 mm. 
long; placenta uniseriate; ovules 8, enclosed. 
MEXICO.—Guerrero or Micuoacan: Los Valles, alt. 800 m., Mar. 24, 1899, EZ. Langlasse 
963 (US, type; G, isotype). 
Like P. tetramera Bullock of Guerrero, P. obtusa has 4-parted flowers. Although 
the two appear to be related, P. obtusa has thinner much larger rounded-obtuse 
leaves puberulent above at base, and at first tomentulose on undersurface. The 
pyramidal inflorescences are up to 15 cm. long, contrasted with the few-flowered 
reduced inflorescences of P. tetramera. Also, the anthers are larger and less con- 
spicuously punctate in P. obtusa. 
20. PARATHESIS CRASSIRAMEA Lundell, Wrightia 3:30. 1962. Fig. 19 and Plate 10. 
Small tree, 5 m. high, the twigs thick, the buds and young growth covered at 
first with minute closely appressed indument, glabrescent; leaves glabrous at 
maturity, long petiolate, the petioles slender, canaliculate, 1-2.5 em. long; leaf 
blades lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 8.5-15 em. long, 3.5-5.8 em. wide, apex 
acuminate, the acumen obtusish, base acutish, chartaceous, essentially entire, 
punctate, lateral veins impressed above, conspicuous on undersurface; inflores- 
cences terminal, the rachis and branches fleshy, thick, covered with minute 
closely appressed brownish indument, the panicles up to 11 em. long, 7 em. wide 
at base, flowers subcorymbose; pedicels very thick, 1-2 mm. long; flowers in 
bud 5-6 mm. long; calyx finely tomentose, sepals triangular, about 1.4 mm. 
long; petals finely papillose-tomentose within, linear-lanceolate, about 6 mm. 
long, black-punctate with lines, united at base about 1.8 mm.; filaments glabrous, 
stout, about 1.8 mm. long; anthers erect, large, ovate-oblong, about 2.5 mm. 
long, dorsifixed above base, conspicuously black-punctate; ovary ovoid, finely 
tomentose, the style slender, about 5 mm. long; placenta uniseriate or partially 
biseriate, the ovules 8 or 9. 
COSTA RICA.—ALasvEta: Canton Alfaro Ruiz, La Pefia de Zarcero, cloud forest, July 11, 
1938, Austin Smith 896 (LL, type; A, F, NY, isotypes), tree, 5 m., bark pale brown, leaves with 
deep venation producing rugose effect, inflorescence pink, petals fleshy and reflexed. 
In the genus Parathesis, no other species has thick fleshy inflorescence branches 
and pedicels like P. crassiramea. The pedicels are about as thick as they are long 
