The type of thi tated by De< visni to 1" 'Nesea dumetosa var." in Herb 



I \ and to I' al Bahama. 



\\ t li nd in Herb Lami a sheet of specimens with the label % Nesea dunte- 



Banc de Bahama", and with .1 supplementary slip bearing the pencilled word " Lamourouxii" 

 in D handv rh< e plants (ol which the best specimen is shown in fig. [6 



\ with I ne's description and unquestionably represent his typ< But curiouslj 



in Herb. Mus. Paris .1 plant of a very different character which is labelli 

 Dne in 1 >i ■ visne's MS.); this however, as is shown under Rhipo- 

 p. 99 is clearly nothing but the losl type of that species with a wrong 

 ■ 

 /'. Lamourouxii is distinguished from /'. dumetosus by the filaments of the capitulum, 

 which are few (in forma typica\ short, rigid, well-calcified, terete, and ascending, whereas those 

 /'. du met os; . are crowded, long (about as long as the stipes), flaccid, thinly calcified, flattened 

 when dry. Also the surface of the stipes of P. Lamourouxii appears pseudoporose under the 

 microscope, whilst that ol /'. dumetosus appears caespitoso-papillose (see p. 7) Further, an 

 imination ol the filaments shows that in /'. dumetosus the constrictions occur at more ur 

 - lengthy intervals, while in P. Lamourouxii the internodes are shorter and a bead-like 

 striction is often found just below or above a dichotomy (fig. [61). This is noted by De< \is\i 

 in liis original description of /'. Lamourouxii, where he speaks of the filaments as being 

 "baud ran> ad dichotomias globoso-contractis". 



This species in its typical condition appears to be rare. We have seen four gatherings 



it; 1. the original Bahama specimens in 1 lerb. Lamouroux-. 2. a sheet of unlocalized specimens 



in Herb. Chauvin; 3. a single plant in Herb. Collins from Annato Bay, Jamaica; and 4. 1 )r. Howi 's 



ecimen in Herb. Kew. It does not occur in the British Museum. Could it possibly be over- 



looked bj collectors as an abnormal or poor and old specimen? 



In some collections of Penicillus there is to be found an intermediate plant, the 



filaments of which are too slight for the typical /'. Lamourouxii and vet too robust for P. 



capitatus. This wc have described in Journal of Botany XLIII, [905, p. 2, tab. 468, fig. 2, 



/'. Lamourouxii var. gracilis^ the type of which is Dr. Howe's n" 1412/' from Key West, 



Florida (fig. 1021. lts capitulum is dense, the filaments are calcified (except sometimes at the 



tipsi and measure from 300 400ja, in diameter; further the stipes is flattened, soft and com- 



pressible. It is more common than typical /'. Lamourouxii, and in herbaria we find it placed 



under /'. capitatus, from which it differs in its stouter and less numerous filaments. and its 



ier, wider and softer stem. with coarser pseudoporose cortex. In habit it agrees much more 



el) with /'. Lamourouxii. differing from it mainly in having much more abundant and 



erer filaments. 



In the British Museum are three unp 1 ed plants which must be placed under this 



form. One "f these was collected on the Bahama bank by F. M. Rayner; the other two 



the West Indies and were purchased from Mr. Scrivener. They ^\\\üy from typical 



in having a laxer capitulum. They are of special interest, as they appear to us to 



clue 1- to the identit) of Nesea pyramidalis Lamx. Lamouroux founded that 



