pittier: origin of chicle 437 



outer whorl imbricate, ovate, slightly connate at the base, rounded at 

 the apex, grayish pubescent without, glabrous and purplish within, 

 about 7 mm. long and 3 . 5 mm. broad, those of the inner whorl valvate, 

 oblong, obtuse at the apex, densely grayish pubescent without, 

 purplish and glabrous within, 7 mm. long and 2.5 to 3 mm. broad; 

 corolla rotate, 6-lobulate, glabrous, white, the tubular part i . 5 mm. 

 long, the lobes exappendiculate, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, about 6 

 mm. long and 4 mm. broad; stamens and staminodes connate at the 

 base, inserted at the same height, 2 to 2 . 5 mm. from the base of the 

 corolla, the former slightly exserted, the filaments terete, attenuate, 

 about 5 mm. long, the anthers extrorse, dorsifixed ovate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, cordate at the base, obtuse, about 3 mm. long; staminodes 

 petaloid, ovate-acuminate, broad at the base, subacute, about 4.5 mm. 

 long, irregularly toothed or laciniate ; pistil 8 to 8 . 5 mm. long, substipitate, 

 the ovary globose-depressed, deeply sulcate, minutely fulvo-pubescent, 

 about I mm. high, 2 mm. in diameter, 7-, 8- or 9-celled, the cells uniovu- 

 late; style slender, slightly attenuate, about 7 mm. long, adpressed, 

 hairy at the base, glabrous higher, the apical stigmatic surface papillose, 

 minutely tuberculate. 



Fruit globose-depressed, about 3.5 cm. long and 4 cm. in diameter, 

 the pedicel thick, about 2 cm. long. Skin brown-ferruginous, almost 

 smooth; mesocarp and dissepiments fleshy, succulent, with 4 to 6 

 seeds, more or less. Seeds large, compressed, ovate, slightly curved, 

 brownish and dull, 2 . 3 cm. long, i . 4 to 1.7 cm. broad, 6 to 7 mm. thick, 

 the margin smooth, slightly thickened, with a small, narrow, inconspicuous 

 cicatricula. 



Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, collected in flower at Vega 

 Grande near Los Amates, Department Izabel, Guatemala, at about 

 200 meters above sea-level. May, 1919, by H. Pittier (no. 8537). 



At first sight, this species reminds one of the Mimusops of the manil- 

 kara group, an impression that is not sustained by a closer examina- 

 tion of the corolla, in which the absence of dorsal appendages is in- 

 stantly noticed. This detail, added to the presence of six petaloid 

 staminodes, places this species among the Sideroxyleae rather than 

 among the Mimusopeae. Furthermore, the genus Achras seems to 

 be indicated by the hexamerous floral envelopes and androceum. But 

 the corolla is plainly rotate, with a very short tube (almost 4 times 

 shorter than the lobes) and not urceolate with the tube half as long 

 as the lobes; the margin of the lobes is entire and not sinuate, the de- 

 sign of the staminodes is quite distinct, the stamens and style are 

 exserted, and the ovary cells do not seem ever to be more than 9. If 

 the dorsal appendages of theCorolla were present, we would have a perfect 

 Mimusops, without them, but with the sepals distinctly biseriate, the 

 corolla tube very short, the ovary cells at the most 9, 1 felt reluctant at 

 first to place the tree under Achras. On the other hand, the fruit 



