E. L. EKMAN, WEST INDIAN VERNONIiE. 29 



to this. This presumption is clearly supported by the geogra- 

 phical distribution of the species in question. 



2. The allies of V. arborescens (L.) Sw. 



Three species, V. arborescens (L.) Sw., V.albicaulis Pers., 

 and V. borinquensis Urb. They are all shrubs, much branched 

 and rather tall. The inflorescence is many-flowered, spread- 

 ing or somewhat congested, especially so in V. albicaulis. 

 The corolla is glabrous, in rare cases with a few short hairs 

 at the tips of the clefts. The bristles of the inner series of pap- 

 pus are fine, yet persistent, and five to seven times longer 

 than those of the outer one. The anthers are rather large, 

 about 2,5 mm long. 



The geographical range of this group extends from the 

 island of Margarita near the coast of Venezuela over the Les- 

 ser Antilles up to Porto Rico. V. arborescens is, may be, the 

 primitive type of the group, being confined to the Windward 

 Islands. From it V. albicaulis can be derived directly, struc- 

 turally and geographically, occupying the Leeward Islands 

 and Porto Rico. V. borinquensis I suppose to be a more 

 recent offshoot from V. arborescens. 



3. The allies of V. baharnensis Griseb. 



Three species of the Bahamas, V. baharnensis Griseb., 

 V. arbuscula Less., V. obcordata Gleason, and one species 

 from eastern Cuba, V. convplicata Griseb. They are distin- 

 guished from V. arborescens and its allies by the dense tomen- 

 tum of their leaves and branches and by the highly reduced 

 inflorescence. The three Bahaman species (at least two of 

 them) are, besides, characterized by the existence of a few 

 long hairs at the tips of the clefts of corolla; in V. compli- 

 cata these hairs are lacking. The group can be derived direct- 

 ly from V. albicaulis. The Cuban species evidently derives 

 its origin from the Bahamas, and is to be looked upon as the 

 most recent offshoot of the Arborescens-Bahamensis-br&nch. 



4. The allies of V. fruticosa Sw. 



Five species of Jamaica, V. divaricata Sw., V. acumi- 

 nata Less., V. expansa Gleason, V. pluvialis Gleason and 

 V. rigida Sw., one species of south-western Hispaniola, V. 

 fruticosa (L.) Sw., and four little-known species of eastern 

 Cuba, V. parvuliceps Ekman, V. yunquensis Gleason, V. 

 leptoclada Sch.-Bip. and V. pineticola Gleason. They are 

 distinguished from V. arborescens and its allies by the broader 



