86 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



in 1887 (n. 1378) in the mountains of Chihuahua in fruit, and de- 

 scribed from plants in flower at the Cambridge Botanic Garden in 

 July, 1888. 



Nemastylis Dugesii. The plant described by myself as a 

 Tigridia in Proc. Am. Acad. 20. 375, based upon drawings by Prof. 

 Duges, should doubtless have been referred rather to Nemastylis, as 

 the style-branches are plainly represented to be alternate with the 

 anthers. 



Calathea crotalifera. Low; leaves oval, abruptly acute at 

 each end, 1J to 2 feet long by 10 or 12 inches broad, yellowish green, 

 the midvein with a narrow whitish margin, paler beneath ; petiole 2 

 or 3 feet long, at base sheathing the one or two peduncles, which are 

 8 or 10 inches high : spike erect, distichous, G to 10 inches long, the 

 bracts (20 to 40) closely imbricated, duplicate-reniform, subtruncate, 

 1^ inches long or less, yellowish green tinged with red ; bractlets 

 doubly winged on the back : flowers mostly included, yellowish ; 

 sepals scarious, 4 to 6 lines long, about half the length of the petals. 

 — In wet shaded places at the base of the El Mico Mountains near 

 Yzabal, Guatemala, April, 1885 ; also received in flower from Messrs. 

 Reasoner Brothers, of Manatee, Florida, cultivated from Guatemala 

 roots. The resemblance of the spike to the rattle of a Crotalus sug- 

 gests the name. 



Sisyrinchium anceps, Cav. Having had occasion to investigate 

 the nomenclature and synonymy, as well as validity, of the species 

 of Sisyrinchium found within the limits of Gray's Manual, I would 

 again propose the restoration of the above name for one of our forms. 

 The error made by Linnaeus in uniting the Tournefortian Bermudiana 

 from Bermuda with the species that had come into cultivation in Eu- 

 rope from this country was recognized by the botanists generally of 

 that day, and the two species were kept distinct afterward, as they had 

 been before. Miller (1768) was the first to give a definite binomial 

 name to the American plant, calling it S. angustifolium, and the form 

 intended by him is easily recognized from his description, and from the 

 figure given by Dillenius, which represent a plant with a simple stem 

 bearing a single spathe. In 1783, Lamarck published the name 

 S. gramineum for what as described by him and afterward, figured by 

 Redoute would appear to be the same thing. In 1788, Cavanilles 

 gave the name S. anceps to what might also be considered the same, 

 except that his figure shows a plant with a branching stem. Michaux 

 afterwards in his Flora described two species (S. Bermudiana and 

 S. mucronatum) as found by him in the Atlantic States. Of these, 



