Britton : Studies of West Indian plants 563 



eastern Cuba in company with Prof. H. 1^. Fernow, in 1906; col- 

 lected also by C. Wiit^^ht, near Guantan.imo. 



3. Harrisia portoricensis sp. nov. 



Plant slender, 2-3 ni. liit;h, little branched, the branches 3—4 

 cm. tliick, I I -ribbed, the ribs rounded, the depressions between 

 them shallow. Areoles 1.5-2 cm. apart ; spines i 3-1 7, grayish 

 white to brown with dark tips, the longer ones 2.5-3 cm. long; 

 bud obovoid, depressed-truncate, its scales with many curled white 

 iiairs 6 mm. long or less; flower about 1.5 dm. long; sepals 

 pinkish green inside ; scales of the corolla-tube lanceolate, ap- 

 pressed, 1.5 cm. long, loosely hairy, the hair completely decidu- 

 ous in flakes ; fruit ovoid, yellow, tubercled, acuminate at the 

 apex, rounded at the base, 4 cm. long, 3 cm. in diameter. 



Description from N. Y. B. G. no. 2^6jj, collected by N. L. 

 Britton and John V. Cowell, near Ponce, Porto Rico [no. IJ2^)^ 

 in 1906. 



4. Harrisia gracilis (Mill.) 



Cer£7is gracilis Mill. Card. Diet. ed. 8, no. 8. 1768. 



Cereiis repandus Haw. Syn. PI. Succ. 183. 181 2. Not Ccrcus 



j'cpandiis L. 

 ? Ccrcns suhrcpandus Haw. Suppl. PI. Succ. j^. 18 19. 



Plant much branched, often 7 m. high, dark green, its branches 

 rather slender, somewhat divergent, 9-1 i -ribbed, the ribs rounded, 

 the depression between them rather shallow. Areoles 1.5-2 cm. 

 apart; spines 10-16, whitish with black tips, the longer 2-2.5 cm. 

 long ; bud oblong-ovoid, short-pointed, its scales with a few straight 

 white hairs 8-12 mm. long; corolla 2 dm. long, the scales of its 

 tube greenish brown, narrowly lanceolate, abruptly bent upward 

 near the base, acuminate, about 2 cm. long, havmg a few hairs, the 

 sepals pale brown, the petals white ; fruit depressed globose, yel- 

 low, about 5 cm. bng, 6-7 cm. thick, the base flat, the top bluntly 

 pointed, strongly tubercled when young, the tubercles low-conic, 

 about 4 mm. high, about 1.5 cm. from tip to tip, bearing a decidu- 

 ous triangular-lanceolate scale 6-8 mm. long, becoming confluent, 

 the fruit finally smooth or nearly so. 



Description from N. Y. B. G. no. 2iC)02, collected in Jamaica 

 by Mr. John F. Cowell in 1904, and from Britton i2jj, Great 

 Pedro Bay, Jamaica. This plant has been observed by me in great 

 quantities in the arid districts of the southern part of Jamaica, and 

 is represented in our collections by living specimens from six locali- 

 ties. I designate this species as the type of the genus. 



