40 Britton: Studies of West Indian plants — XI 



Poly gala rhynchosperma Blake, sp. now 



Slender erect annual, 14-25 cm. high, simple or few-branched 

 above, evenly but not densely puberulous with short, thickish, 

 incurved or subappressed eglandular hairs. Leaves alternate 

 except for 1 or 2 basal whorls, rather crowded, short-petioled, 

 the blades linear, 6-14 mm. long, 0.5-1.3 mm. wide, acute, 

 cuspidulate, i-nerved, sparsely puberulous like the stem, erect; 

 peduncles 5-15 mm. long; racemes slender, cylindric, gradually 

 narrowed to an obtuse apex, loose below, 2-9 cm. long, the axis 

 becoming 10.5 cm. long and more, puberulous like the stem; 

 bracts oval or obovate, caducous, 1.5 mm. long, puberulous at 

 base, with rather short abrupt caudate purplish tips; pedicels 

 glabrous, 1 mm. long, clavellate; sepals pinkish white with green- 

 ish center, glabrous, the upper oval-ovate, obtuse, 1.5 mm. 

 long, the 2 lower oblong, obtuse, 1.2-1.5 mm. long, sometimes 

 obscurely 1 -denticulate on each side near apex; wings pinkish 

 (when dried), obovate, 3 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, rounded or 

 obtuse, scarcely clawed, 3-nerved; upper petals slightly shorter 

 than keel, the free portion obliquely ovate, obtuse, 3-nerved; 

 keel 3-3.2 mm. long, slightly surpassing the wings, the crest on 

 each side of a deeply trifid lamella and a 2- or 3-fid or 2-parted 

 lobe with linear segments; capsule pendulous at maturity, 

 slightly surpassing the wings, elliptic-oblong, emarginate, 3.3 

 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide; seeds subcylindric, 2.2 mm. long, 

 densely short-pilose, distinctly rostrate at base (beak conic, 

 0.4 mm. long); aril fastened to upper half of beak, 0.7 mm. 

 long, the 2 lobes rhombic, acute or obtuse, appressed; stigma 

 with short blunt retrorse lower lobe and substipitate penicillate 

 upper lobe. 



Sabana del Cerro, near Zarzal, Oriente, July, 1922 {Leon loggo; 

 type No. 1,049,981, U. S. National Herbarium). 



Among North American species Polygala rhynchosperma is 

 nearest P. paniculata L., which is densely stipitate-glandular 

 and has shorter wings and an erostrate seed. The Venezuelan 

 P. Funkii Chod., known to me only from Chodat's description 

 and figures, is evidently closely related, having similar bracts, 

 seed, and stigma. It is described as glabrous, with acute lance- 

 elliptic sepals, acute wings, and a crest composed on each side 

 of an acute triangular entire lamina and an undivided linear 

 lobe. 



Polygala ambigens Blake, sp. now 

 Stems usually solitary from a slender but evidently perennial 

 root, simple or sparsely branched, 3.5-6 dm. high, very slender, 

 glabrous throughout or sparsely incurved-puberulous on the 



