Vol. 33, pp. 117-120 December 30, 1920 



PROCEEDINGS 



OP THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



NEW TREES AND SHRUBS FROM MEXICO AND 



GUATEMALA. 



BY S. F. BLAKE. 



The following new species of woody plants from Mexico 

 and Guatemala have been found in the course of recent work 

 in the United States National Herbarium. 



Capparis hexandra Blake, sp. nov. 



Tree, strictly glabrous throughout; leaves alternate; stipules triangular, 

 corneous, deciduous, 1.5 mm. long; petioles sulcate, 1 to 1.3 cm. long; 

 blades obovate-oval, 5.5 to 6.7 cm. long, 1.8 to 3 cm. wid^, obtuse or 

 broadly rounded at apex, apiculate, at base cuneate or rounded-cuneate, 

 coriaceous, entire, at maturity rather pale green both sides and slightly 

 shining above, the costa sulcate above, the lateral veins 5 to 8 pairs, 

 prominulous on both sides, the secondaries obscure or slightly prominu- 

 lous; flowers solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, "yellow and white, 

 fragrant;" pedicels 18 mm. long; sepals 4, 2-seriate, imbricated, subherba- 

 ceous with thin margins, green, rounded, the outer minutely but distinctly 

 apiculate, the inner obscurely so, deciduous, about 11 mm. long and 6 

 mm. wide, the inner exceeding the outer by about 2 mm. ; petals 4, 

 spatulate-oblanceolate, 3.5 cm. long, 9 mm. wide, rounded at apex, the 

 claw somewhat dilated at base; glands 4, ovoid-triangular, 2 mm. high, 

 alternating with the petals and exterior to them ; stamens 6, free, the fila- 

 ments 3.4 cm. long; thecaphore 3.8 cm. long; ovary 2-celled, the ovules 

 in 2 rows of about 10 each in each cell; fruit not known. 



Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 989693, collected at Finca 

 Capetillo, near Antigua, Guatemala, at an altitude of 1525 meters, De- 

 cember 4, 1919, by Wilson Popenoe (no. 875). 



This plant is of some interest as an addition to the comparatively small 

 number of species of Capparis with a definite number of stamens known 

 from America. It is closely related to Capparis heydeana Donn. Sm., 

 also known only from Guatemala, but may easily be distinguished by its 

 much smaller very obtuse leaves and considerably smaller strictly soli- 

 tary and axillary flowers. The tree from which the type specimen was 



26— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. 33, 1920. (117) 



