GREENMAN. — PHANEROGAMS. 471 



II. DIAGNOSES OF NEW AND CRITICAL MEXICAN 



PHANEROGAMS. 



Tradescantia brachyphylla. Stems erect, 2 to 3 dm. high, 

 branching from the base, glabrous except along a line ascending from 

 the axil of each leaf : internodes 2 to 5 cm. long : leaves sessile, 

 ovate-obloDg, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, two thirds as broad, acute, glabrous 

 on either surface, ciliate : flowers in sessile umbels terminating the stems 

 and branches; pedicels about 1.5 cm. long, glabrous or with a scat- 

 tered pubescence : sepals oblong, navicular, 6 mm. long, obtusish, gla- 

 brous or with a few hairs on the thickened keel : petals roseate, broadly 

 ovate, obtuse, 6 to 7 mm. long, two thirds as broad : the alternating 

 stamens longer and shorter respectively ; filaments all bearded : ovary 

 and style glabrous; stigma subcapitate : mature capsule 3 mm. long: 

 seeds oblong, 1.5 mm. long, rugose; embryotega dorsal. — Collected by 

 C. G. Pringle on dry limestone ledges near Tehuacan, altitude 1538 m., 

 29 July, 1897, no. 6679. 



Tradescantia holosericea, Kunth, Enum. PI. iv. 92. Speci- 

 mens collected by Rev. Lucius C. Smith in the Clavellinas, State of 

 Oaxaca, altitude 2770 m., 26 June, 1894, no. 66, and also by C. Con- 

 zatti and V. Gonzalez on the Cerro de San Felipe, altitude 3000 m., 

 25 July, 1897, no. 229, but for the larger leaves agree in all essential 

 details with Kunth's excellent description of the above species. The 

 leaves in the specimens at hand are sessile, ovate-oblong, acuminate, 6 to 

 20 era. long, 2.5 to 8.5 cm. broad. The flowers are violet or purple, 

 and the bracts also are often more or less colored. 



Tradescantia longifolia. DlchoHsandra longifoUa, Mart. & Gal. 

 Bull. Acad. Brux. ix. 378 (reprint p. 7). Excellent specimens of this 

 species from Southern Mexico, and agreeing well with the original de- 

 scription of Martens and Galeotti, prove to be quite distinct from 

 T. holosericea, Kunth, under which species the plant under consideration 

 has been placed as a variety. The following description may be ap- 

 pended : — roots fascicled, tuberous : stems erect or nearly so, 2 to 5 dm. 

 high, simple or sparingly branched from near the base : leaves lance- 

 attenuate, 10 to 15 cm. long, 1.5 to 3 cm. broad, villous-pubescent upon 

 either surface, strongly ciliate, especially about the margin of the sheath : 

 inflorescence an open oblong racemose panicle : flowers (in the dried 

 state) 12 to 13 mm. in breadth : sepals oblong, 5 to 6 mm. long, rounded 

 at the apex : the roseate petals obovate, slightly exceeding the calyx : 

 stamens equal or nearly so ; filaments strongly bearded : ovary glandular- 



