safford: chelonocarptis 11)5 



dicate. Its fruit is described as conoid and its leaves do not 

 exceed 18 cm. in length. ^ 



Annona scleroderma sp. nov. Hard-shell Custard-apple. Box-te of 



Guatemala. 



A vigorous tree. Young growth minutely ferrugineous-pubescent. 

 Leaf-blades oblong, abruptly acuminate, rounded at the base, 14 to 20 

 cm. long, 5.5 to 6 cm. broad, coriaceous, glabrous when mature, when 

 young minutely ferrugineous-pubescent beneath, dark-green above, 

 becoming olive-green when dry, midrib impressed above and raised 

 beneath, lateral nerves not conspicuous, the parenchyma between them 

 finely reticulate and punctate; petiole 14 to 18 mm. long grooved above 

 in continuation of the median channel, when young minutely ferru- 

 gineous-pubescent, at length glabrate. Peduncles extra-axillary, usuall}' 

 in clusters of 3 or more issuing from the bark of old branches (cauli- 

 floral) with a small ovate bracteole below the middle and one at the 

 base, appressed ferrugineous-pubescent like the young growth, about 

 equal to the petioles in length. Flowers cinnamon-brown, appressed 

 puberulent, caljrx gamosepalous, 3-lobed, 6 to 6.5 mm. in diameter, 

 minutely ferrugineous-pubescent on the outer surface; petals 3, val- 

 vate, closely cohering in the bud, the upper part linear or linear-oblong 

 and triquetrous, the base swollen and concave closely covering the 

 essential parts of the flower; inner petals wanting (in all specimens 

 examined) ; receptacle conoid or hemispherical, not clothed with hairs 

 or bristles between stamens as in many other species but with minute 

 scale-like protuberences subtending the bases of the filaments, disposed 

 in distinct almost vertical rows; gynoecium about 4 mm. in diameter, 

 composed of firmty cohering carpels 2.3 mm. long with the outer ovaries 

 clothed with appressed glossy rufous or chestnut-colored hairs; styles 

 ovate to oblong, sharply articulated at the base, turning black and soon 

 falling off after polhnation has been effected; stamens 1.7 to 1.8 mm. 

 long, with the stout filament light-yellow mottled with orange-red, and 

 the swollen connective above the pollen sacs minutely verrucose, as 

 seen under the microscope. Fruit depressed-globose, or oblate, broadly 

 umbilicate, the surface of the thick rigid shell divided into angular 

 areoles corresponding to the individual closely-cohering carpels by raised 

 obtuse ridges; seeds oblong to oblong-obovate, somewhat compressed 

 but not marginate, about 2 cm. long and 1 cm. broad, with the testa 

 smooth and glossy, at length chocolate brown, endosperm ruminate, 

 with the minute embryo embedded in its base; pulp juicy, not adhering 

 to the seeds, pleasantly aromatic, with mango-like flavor, edible. 



Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 850041, collected at 

 Cahabon, state of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala,, April 20, 1904, byO.F. 

 Cook (No. 89). Distribution: Mountains of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, 

 across the boundary into Mexico and as far north as Oaxaca. 



X'- 



1 A. PiUieri, Donn. Sm., Bot. Gaz. 24: 389. 1897. 



^' 



