ST AND ley: blepharidium 59 



Blepharidium Standley, gen. no v. 



Shrubs or trees, with subterete branchlets. Leaves opposite, petio- 

 late, the blades large, chartaceous. Stipules intrapetiolar, large, thin, 

 acuminate, entire, caducous. Flowers large, pedicellate, bibracteolate, 

 in 3-flowered cranes, the cymes axillary, long-pedunculate; calyx-tube 

 obovoid, the limb large, prolonged beyond the ovary, 4-lobate, the 

 lobes very broad, imbricate, ciliolate; corolla salverform, coriaceous, the 

 tube slender, elongate, densely villous within except near the base, the 

 limb 4-lobate, the lobes broad, spreading, imbricate in bud, one of 

 them exterior. Stamens 4, inserted in the throat of the corolla; anthers 

 sessile, dorsifixed below the middle, linear, obtuse, included. Disk 

 annular. Ovar}' 2-celled; style fihform, included, the stigma bilobate, 

 the lobes linear, elongate, acute; ovules numerous, imbricate, winged, 

 the placentae attached to the septum. 



Type species, Bhphandium guafemalense Standley. 



Blepharidium guatemalense Standley, sp. nov. 



Branchlets stout, green, glabrous, sparseh' whitish-lenticellate, the 

 internodes elongate; stipules ovate-triangular, 2-2.5 cm. long, acumi- 

 nate or cuspidate-acuminate, brown, glabrous outside, witiiin sericeous- 

 pilose at the base and bearing numerous glands; petioles stout, 2.5-5 

 cm. long, glabrous; leaf-blades oval-oblong, 17-30 cm. long, 8-14.5 

 cm. wide, obtuse or acute at the base, obtuse or acute at the apex, 

 concolorous, glabrous above, the costa impressed, the other venation 

 prominulous, sparsely short-pilose beneath along the prominent costa, 

 the lateral veins prominent, about 8 on each side, arcuate-ascending; 

 peduncles 3-flowered, slender, 7-21 cm. long, glabrous, the pedicels 

 stout, 0.3-2 cm. long; bracts foliaceous, oval, about 1 cm. long, the 

 bractlets broadly ovate, 3-4 mm. long, deciduous; calyx glabrous, 

 the tube 4-5 mm. long, the limb 4-5 mm. long, 7-8 mm. broad, the 

 lobes half as long as the tube, broader than long, rounded or truncate, 

 minutely ciliolate; corolla-tube about 6 cm. long, 4-5 mm. thick, 

 glabrous outside, the lobes oval, about 1 cm. long; anthers 7 mm. long; 

 stigma-lobes 6-7 mm. long. 



Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 472925, collected in 

 forest along Saklak River, below Secanquim, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, 

 altitude 300 meters, ISIay 7, 1905, by Heniy Pittier (no. 266). 



Blepharidium is evidently a member of the Cinchoneae, for 

 although mature fruit, upon which the classification of the 

 Rubiaceae is chiefly based, is not available for study, the large, 

 imbricate, winged ovules are characteristic of this tribe alone. 

 Within the tribe, however, it is not easy to determine the exact 

 position of the genus. In most published keys to the subgroup, 

 it would fall near Exostema, but it does not appear to be very 



