Bush — The Texas Tradescantias. 189 



distinsuished by its extreme smoothness. The precise locality 

 where Wright collected his No. 701 is not known, but I pre- 

 sume it must have been in extreme Western Texas, probably 

 near the Guadalupe Mountains, where Havard secured his 

 specimens. Mr. C. B. Clarke in his description of Tradescan- 

 tia linearis * in De Candolle's Monographiae Phanerogama- 

 rum,t refers Wright's No. 701 to that species, in which he is 

 clearly in error, for that part of his description of T. linearis, 

 " umhella longe peduncula/a, terminali, 3-4-radiata,^^ can 

 not possibly apply to Wright's specimens in which the cymes 

 are sessile. 



Specimens examined: Texas: From Western Texas (San 

 Antonio ?) to El Paso, Wright 701, May to October, 1849, 

 type (N) ; foot-hills of the Guadalupe Mountains, Havard, 

 date of collection not given (N). 



9. Tradescantia vaginata Bush sp. nov. 



Stems erect, stout at base, 3-5 dm. tall, much branched above , 

 smooth and glaucous, branches very slender, ascending; leaf- 

 blades long-linear, acuminate-attenuate, 2-4 dm. long, 2-6 mm. 

 wide, straight or a little curved, conduplicate, very smooth. 

 Sheaths very large and loose, papery, striking in appearance, 

 smooth and glaucous; bracts of the involucre 2, linear, much 

 shorter than the leaves, smooth. Cymes about 12-to 15- 

 flowered ; pedicels 1-3 cm. long, densely glandular-pubescent ; 

 sepals linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 10-15 mm. long, densely 

 glandular-hirsute; corolla large, apparently pale blue. — 

 Northern Texas. Summer. 



Perhaps to be compared with T. occidentalism from which 

 it differs in the large papery sheaths, long linear leaves, much 

 branched habit, and glandular-hirsute sepals. 



Specimens examined: Texas: Lipscomb, Lipscomb County, 

 Arthur H. Howell 78, July, 1903, type (N); 24, July 1, 

 1903 (N). 



* Benth. Plantas Hartwegianas. 27. ("1839). 



t Clarke, Monograph. Phanerogam. 3:298-299. (1881). 



