159 



Jamaica: Woodstock, near Newmarket, Westmoreland {Brit- 

 ton 1583; Harris ggg^)\ Belvidere, Hanover {Harris y6zg)- } 

 Kempshot, Hanover {Britton & Hollick 2J.08) ; Mandeville, Man- 

 chester {Britton 3751 s ). The plant flowers in autumn. 



This species has been misinterpreted by authors, commencing 

 with Grisebach (Fl. Br. W. I. 302. i860) and the name alatns 

 applied to the other somewhat similar plant of Jamaica to be 

 described below. I have satisfactorily identified it from Swartz's 

 description, and by the aid of a tracing of a type specimen pre- 

 served in the herbarium of the British Museum of Natural History, 

 kindly sent at my request by Mr. A. B. Rendle, and Professor 

 Urban informs me that the Swartz specimen preserved in the 

 Stockholm Herbarium is also certainly this species. 



The name Rhipsalis alata is to be found incidentally mentioned 

 under Cereus alatns m Steudel, Nomencl. ed. 2, I : 333, published 

 in 1 84 1, without any description of the plant referred to, and is 

 therefore a hyponym to be disregarded. 



3. Rhipsalis jamaicensis Britton & Harris, sp. nov. 



Pendent from trees, the young shoots quite bristly, the older 

 joints smooth ; plant 3-10 dm. long, the main axis angular; 

 joints 1-4 dm. long, 12.5 cm - wide, dull green, about 2 mm. 

 thick, the apex bluntish, the base narrowed into a stipe 1-6 cm. 

 long, the margins low-crenate ; flowers yellowish green, about 

 6 mm. long, the petals about 7, oblong to oblanceolate, not very 

 widely expanding, obtusish ; ovary oblong, with a few scales ; 

 stamens 20-24 ; style much longer than the three oblong 

 stigmas; berry globose, white, 6-8 mm. in diameter. [Figure 3.] 



Jamaica : Troy, Cockpit Country {Britton 5//, type); vicinity 

 of Troy {Maxon 2813); near Montpellier {E. G. Britton 2863); 

 Bath to Cuna Cuna Gap {Britton 3302). 



In " Gesamtbeschreibung der Kakteen.," p. 636, the late Pro- 

 fessor Schumann, erroneously describing this plant as Rhip- 

 salis alata, refers the Costa Rican Rhipsalis coriacea Polak. 

 Linnaea 41 : 562, 1877, to it as a synonym. This species is, 

 perhaps, its closest relative, but after growing the two side by 

 side at the New York Botanical Garden, I am convinced that 

 they are distinct. 



