506 STANDLEY: the species OF AGONANDRA 



genera of the small group being restricted to Africa, Asia, Aus- 

 tralia, and the East Indies. The occurrence of the genus in 

 Mexico is a matter of considerable interest, atid it is still more 

 interesting in view of the fact that three species, apparently, 

 are represented in Mexico. These are described below. 



Agonandra Miers (Ann. Nat. Hist. II, 8: 172, nomen nudum. 1851); 

 Benth. & Hook. Gen. PI. i: 349. 1862. 



Shrubs or small trees, glabrous or pubescent; leaves alternate, petio- 

 late, estipulate, entire, somewhat succulent, with inconspicuous vena- 

 tion; flowers ver}^ small, green, usually dioecious, racemose; calyx 

 minute, cupular, obscurely 4 or 5 lobate ; petals 4 or 5 in the staminate 

 flower, narrow, the stamens 4 or 5, opposite the petals, alternating with 

 conspicuous scalelike glands of the disk; petals none in the pistillate 

 flower, the disk urceolate, surrounding the ovary; fruit a drupe, the 

 seed erect. 



KEY TO SPECIES 



Leaves acute or acuminate at apex, or sometimes obtuse and abruptly 



pointed ; young branches glabrous i . A. racemosa. 



Leaves rounded or obtuse at apex; young branches finely puberulent. 



Fruit 8 mm. long 2. A. obtusifolia. 



Fruit 15 mm. long 3- A. conzattii. 



I. Agonandra racemosa (DC.) Standi. 

 Schaejfferia racemosa DC. Prodr. 2: 41. 1825. 



Shrub or small tree, 4 or 5 meters high, glabrous throughout, the 

 branches very slender, green when young; petioles 4 to 9 mm. long; 

 leaf blades lanceolate to broadly elliptic-ovate or even rounded, 4 to 

 7.5 cm. long, I to 4.5 cm. wide, cuneate to broadly rounded at base, 

 pale beneath; racemes longer or shorter than the leaves, the flowers 

 pedicellate , bracts acute or acuminate, covering the buds but caducous 

 in anthesis; petals about 2.5 mm. long; fruit subglobose, about 8 mm. 

 long. 



Specimens Examined: 



Sonora: Sierra de Alamos, 1890, Palmer 298. 



Sinaloa: La Rastra, alt. 600 meters, 1899, Goldman 361. Along 

 road from Culiacan to Las Flechas, 1899, Goldman 313. 



Tepic: Maria Madre Island, May 11, 1897, Malthy. 



Colima: Manzanillo, 1890, Palmer 1009. 



Michoacan or Guerrero: Sierra Madre, alt. 480 meters, in 

 granitic soil, Langlasse 860. San Marcos to Copala (Guerrero), alt. 

 60 to 150 meters. Nelson 2290. 



