71 



PUYA heterophylla. 

 Various-leaved Puya. 



HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 

 Nat. ord. Bromeliace^. 

 PUYA. Botanical Register, 1 840. fol. 1 1 . 



A. heterophylla ; bulbosa, foliis primordialibus basi coriaceis concavia dila- 

 tatis sursi^m subulatis cornels spinosis serratis ; secundariis teneria lan- 

 ceolatis inermibus multo longioribus parcissim^ pruinosis, spica sim- 

 plici sessili imbricata foliis multo breviore, bracteis lanatis calycibus 

 brevioribus. 



Sepala lineari-lanceolata, cornea, acuminata, carinata, suhlanata, petalis 

 breviora. Petala carnea, ligidata, convoluta, basi squama duplici serratd in- 

 stnccta. Stamina G, basi perianthii inserta ; antheris linearibns. Ovarium 

 basi immersum, maxima pro parte liberum, triangulare, jJl/rainidafum, 3-locu- 

 lare, polyspermum ; stylo filiformi ; stigmatibus convohttis. 



A very pretty plant, evidently belonging to the genus 

 Puya, and most remarkable for bearing two kinds of leaves. 

 Those at the base of the plant arise from tough, concave, 

 broad, horny petioles, which overlie each other, forming a 

 kind of bulb, and are extended into narrow, hard, serrated, 

 spiny, brown processes about two inches long. The leaves, 

 on the other hand, which are last formed, are thin, lanceolate, 

 bright green, and more than eighteen inches long when full 

 grown, and bear no resemblance to the first. The flowers are 

 arranged in a close, oblong spike, composed of imbricated 

 woolly cartilaginous pale green bracts, occupying the centre 

 of a bulb of spiny leaves in the place of the thin leaves before 

 mentioned. 



I am indebted for my knowledge of it to John Rogers, Esq. 

 Jun. of Sevenoaks, with whom it flowered in May 1840, and 

 who has given me the following memorandum concerning its 

 history and habits. 



December, X840. 2 u 



