PITTIER: VENEZUELAN MAHOGANY 33 



After my first trip to Venezuela the above observations were 

 reported to the then best recognized authority on the family 

 Meliaceae, Casimir de Candolle, whose death science has lately 

 had to lament. Mr. de Candolle's views confirmed mine. In 

 a letter he referred to the necessity of revising the generic defi- 

 nition of Swietenia as to the mode of dehiscence of the capsule, 

 and expressed his intention of describing the Venezuelan species 

 as new. This he seems not to have been able to do, for which 

 reason I now proceed to give my own description, dedicating 

 the species to the memory of that illustrious botanist, whose 

 friendship I am proud to have enjoyed for nearly forty years. 



Swietenia CandoUei Pittier, sp. nov. 



A tree up to 40 meters high, the trunk erect, 120 cm. in diameter at 

 the base, covered with rimose bark, the crown more or less elongate- 

 ovoid. Leaves abruptly pinnate, glabrous, the rachis 15 to 22 cm. 

 long, terete, slender, the petiolar part 7 to 8.5 cm. long; leaflets 3- or 

 4-jugate, opposite, subcoriaceous, inequilateral, the petiolules slender, 

 canaliculate, 6 to 12 mm. long, the blades ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, 

 acute or subacute at the base, long and narrowly cuspidate at the apex, 

 4 to 1 1 cm. long, 2 to 4 cm. broad, shining above, dull and paler be- 

 neath. 



Inflorescence axillary, entirely glabrous, 10 to 15 cm. long, the pe- 

 duncles 5 to 6 cm. long, the flowers pediceled, yellowish white, the bract- 

 lets minute, caducous; pedicels 3 to 6 mm. long, slender, erect; calyx 

 short, cupular, the 5 lobes ovate-rounded, obtuse; petals (imbricate in 

 bud) inequilateral, obovate, obtuse, 5 to 6.5 mm. long, about 3 mm. 

 broad, reflexed in anthesis; stamen tube tubular-urceolate, 4 mm. long, 

 the teeth narrow and acuminate, the anthers subsessile, ovoid-oblong; 

 disk crenulate, 0.8 mm. high; pistil about 4.5 mm. high, glabrous, the 

 ovary ovoid, the style rather slender, the stigma discoid, 1.5 mm. in 

 diameter, entirely exserted from the stamen tube at full anthesis. 



Fruiting peduncles 10 to 24 cm. long; capsule distinctly obpyriform, 

 13 to 14 cm. long, 8 to 9 cm. in diameter, pale brown outside, with a 

 rugose surface; valves 5, opening mostly from top to base, ligneous, 

 7 to 8 mm. thick, with a white inner coating adhering loosely to the 

 seeds; central column about 11 cm. long, club-shaped and 5-winged, 

 fight and spongy; cells 5, provided at the top with a double series of 

 spongy, dark brown scales, the 9 to 12 perfect seeds inserted on these 

 by a hilum at the apex of the wing, 2 to 4 of the upper seeds being 

 generally undeveloped and imperfect; wing basal, about 7 cm. long and 

 2.5 cm. broad, papyraceous, thicker on the outer margin, two fibro- 

 vascular bundles here connecting with the hilum; body of the seed more 

 or less flattened, rounded at the tip, about 2.4 cm. long, 1.5 cm. 

 broad, 5 to 8 mm. thick, entirely smooth and of a rich brown color, 



