6 FLOKA OF JAMAICA Pcperomia 



peduncles 'o-l cm. 1.; bracts -b-'l mm. br. Berries 1*5 mm. 1., 

 narrowly obovate, ^-ribbed, miicronatc \Yith tbc apical appendage which 

 is thick and discoid at base and conical-curved above ; stigma terminal. 



4. P. emarginella C. DC. in DC. Prodr. xvi.pt. 1, 437 (1869) ; 

 leaves uiiiiute, long-stalked, roundish, truncate or emarginulate 

 at apex, sometimes slightly cordate at base, with a few long 

 hairs ; spikes slightly fleshy, somewhat lax-flowered ; berries 

 stalked, stalk nearly half as long as berry. C. DC. in Urh. Siimh. 

 Ant. Hi. '22b k iv. 187 ; Hensch. Etucl. 23, t. I. f. 6 ; Dahht. op. 

 i'it. 22, t. I. f. 4, t. IV. f. 4. P. exilis Griseh. op. rit. 164 (1859) ; 

 C. DC. in DC. Prodr. xvi. pt. 1, 397. P. minima C. DC. torn. cit. 

 399. PijDcr emarginellum Sio. in Vet. Handl. StocJch. 1827, 56 

 (1828). Acrocarpidium exile Miq. op. cit.bQ (1843). Type in 

 Herb. Stockholm. 



On trees; Blue Mts., Swartz ! Wilson. Cuba, Porto Rico, Guadeloupe, 

 Dominica, Martinique, St. Vincent, Trinidad. In Swartz's Herbarium 

 in Stockholm there is a specimen labelled " In Jamaica montibus coeruleis : 

 O. Sw^artz ! " Dahlstedt records a specimen (No. 626) from Wilson in 

 Herb. Grisebach, but, so far as we know, it has not been collected in 

 recent years. 



Stems clustered, creeping, much branched, glabrous. Leaves 3-4 mm. 1., 

 4-5 mm. br. ; stalks 2-B mm. 1. Spikes about 1 cm. 1., 6-'8mm. br. ; 

 peduncles longer than the petioles ; bracts 4 mm. br. Berries slightly 

 verruculose, obovate-oblong, apical appendage subdiscoid, oblique*, 

 7- '8 mm. 1. ; stalk -S mm. 1. 



4. Berries sessile, oblong-ellipsoidal broadening slightly 

 above, verruculose, apical appendage small, flat, somewhat 

 oblique, with stigma subcentral. Leaves alternate. 



5. P. basellifolia Kuntli torn. cit. 66 (1816); glabrous ; leaves 

 lanceolate to obovate-lanceolate, apex long-acuminate and some- 

 times curved, at the base cuneate and decurrent into the petiole, 

 leathery-membranous ; spikes solitary, terminal, about as long 

 as the leaves, thick, dense-flowered. C. DC. in DC. Prodr. xvi. 

 pt. 1, 406 ; Dahht. op. cit. 48, t. I. f. 33. 



In peaty soil in shady woodland ; Morse's Gap, 5000 ft. ; near Vinegar 

 Hill, 4200 ft. ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 8318, 8332 ; John Crow Peak, G. Nichols ! 

 Venezuela, Colombia, Peru. 



Stei7i succulent, erect from a procumbent base, simple, sometimes 

 branching, 2-4 dm. high, 3-7 mm. br., bare of leaves below, rooting near 

 base. Leaves variable in size, limb 5-10 cm. 1., 1*5-3 "75 cm. br. ; petioles 

 "5-1 "5 cm. 1. Spikes 5 "5-7 "5 cm. 1., 3-4 mm. br. ; peduncles 3-4 cm. 1. ; 

 bracts '4- "5 mm. br. ; 6-8 about the same level on one side. Berries 

 8--9mm. 1. 



6. P. tallnifolia Kunth torn. cit. 62 (1816); glabrous; leaves 

 elliptical, attenuated to base, and slightly to obtuse apex, decur- 

 rent into very short petiole, leathery-membranous, with 3 or 

 more indistinct nerves on each side ; spikes solitary or 2 or 3, 



