6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 72 



mated that it has borne 20 sets of flowers and fruits and may possibly 

 be 20 years old. While all the flowers we have seen are terminal, 

 it is possible that they may sometimes occur from other places on 

 the terminal joint. In one specimen examined we have found an 

 enlarged areole near the base and one on the side of the terminal joint, 

 which suggests that they had been flower-bearing. Plumier's illus- 

 tration, which is not accurate, shows numerous lateral flowers. The 

 stubby flowering joints, while usually solitary, appear sometimes in 

 pairs. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATES 



Plate i 



Plumier's original illustration of Neoabbottia paniculata, reduced; repro- 

 duced from plate 92 of Burmann's Plantarum Americanum. 



Plate 2 

 Neoabbottia paniculata (Lam.) Britt. & Rose A. B. Two types of growth. 



Plate 3 



Neoabbottia paniculata (Lam.) Britt. & Rose. A, a plant growing in the 

 open ; B, a plant growing in a thicket. 



Plate 4 



A. Neoabbottia paniculata (Lam.) Britt. & Rose. Upper part of a plant. 



B. Neoabbottia and Cephaloccrcus. a. An elongated hranch of Neoabbottia ; 

 e, a terminal hranch of Neoabbottia, fruiting for the first time; c and f, stubby 

 hranches of the same, which have produced fruit for many years ; b and d, 

 small plants of Cephaloccrcus polygonus, growing epiphytically on Neoab- 

 bottia. 



