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STERCULIACEAE 259 
COMMERSONIA Forster 
Commersonia echinata Forst.; Blanco Fl. Filip. ed. 2 (1845) 160; ed. 3, 
1 (1877) 287=COMMERSONIA BARTRAMIA (Linn.) Merr. Inter- 
pret. Herb. Amb. (1917) 362. 
I am now of the opinion that the Philippine form is the same 
as the Polynesian one and that Blanco correctly interpreted 
Forster’s species. Most of our material, however, has been 
referred to C. platyphylla Andr., which I do not consider to 
be specifically distinct from C. echinata Forst.=C. bartramia 
(Linn.) Merr. Common and widely distributed in the Philip- 
pines. 
Illustrative specimen from Taytay, Palawan, May, 1913 (Mer- 
rill: Species Blancoanae No. 576). 
ABROMA Jacquin 
Ambroma communis Blanco Fl. Filip. (1837) 606 (sp. nov.); ed. 2 (1845) 
423; ed. 3, 2 (1879) 404, t. 425 bis=ABROMA FASTUOSA Jacq. 
Ambroma alata Blanco op. cit. 605 (sp. nov.); 422; 404= ASPAMA FAS- 
TUOSA Jacq. 
Abroma fastuosa Jacq. (Ambroma augusta Linn. f.) is com- 
mon and widely distributed in the Philippines, and the very 
pubescent local form has been described by Presl as Abroma 
obliqua Presl, this form probably being identical with A. mollis 
DC. From the abundant Philippine and Indo-Malayan speci- 
mens available for comparison, I do not now see how more than 
one species can be distinguished in the Philippine material. 
Ambroma communis Blanco is manifestly identical with A. 
augusta Jacq., while A. alata Blanco is apparently merely a form 
of the same species. The distinguishing character that Blanco 
gives for the latter is in the leaf description; namely, ‘dos alas 
apareadas que siguen el curso de las venas.” Ambroma alata 
Blanco was retained as a distinct species by Fernandez-Villar. 
Illustrative specimens from Bauang, Batangas Province, 
Luzon, February, 1915 (Merrill: Species Blancoanae No. 806) ; 
Los Bajios, Laguna Province, Luzon, comm. F. W. Foxworthy, 
January, 1915 (Merrill: Species Blancoanae No. 808). 
THEOBROMA Linnaeus 
THEOBROMA CACAO Linn.; Blanco Fl. Filip. (1837) 601; ed. 2 (1845) 
419; ed. 8, 2 (1879) 408, t. 275. 
This was introduced into the Philippines in 1663 from Mexico, 
through the medium of the Acapulco-Manila galleons; it is cul- 
tivated in all parts of the Archipelago. 
Illustrative specimen from ENEBs cape mere 1913 
(Merrill: Species Blancoanae No. 579).: 
