Brocchinia serrata L. B. Smith in Caldasia[1], no. 
4 (1942) 14, f. 2. 
For over one hundred years, Brocchinia and Navia 
have been separable by a number of supposedly strong 
characters and, as recently as 1980, Harms (Pflanzenreich 
15a: 99, 102) placed them in different subfamilies. With 
the discovery of Brocchinia serrata, however, most of 
these characters broke down, for, although this species 
has an appendaged seed and lax inflorescence like those 
of typical Brocchinia, it has also serrate leaves and a 
largely superior ovary as in Navia. There remained an 
apparent correlation between inflorescence and seed char- 
acters, until Maguire brought back some gigantic species 
of Navia (still unpublished) from southern Venezuela. 
At the time the distinction of the inflorescence was 
lost, a better character for separation seemed to be gained 
in recognizing the cochlear imbrication of the sepals in 
Navia, setting the genus apart from all the Pitcairni- 
oideae. However, the discovery of the new and much 
younger material of Brocchinia serrata noted below now 
demonstrates the same character in Brocchinia. This is 
corroborated in the type species of the genus, Brocchinia 
paniculata Schult.f., by H. Garcia-Barriga 13731 from 
the Comisarias Amazonas-Vaupés, Rio Apaporis, Jiri- 
jirimo. Brocchinia and Navia thus appear to be more 
closely related to each other than to any other genera in 
the Pitcairnioideae and, in the final analysis, differ only 
in the presence or absence of a seed appendage. 
CoLtombia: Comisaria del Vaupés, Rio Kuduyari, Cerro YapobodA. 
Alt. 450m, October 5, 1951, Richard Evans Schultes & Isidoro Cabrera 
14210.—Same locality. Alt. 270-300 m. Lat. 1°20’ N, Long. 70°30! 
W. April 1953, Schultes & Cabrera 20051.—Rio Kubiyt, Cerro de 
Kafiendd. Alt. 380-680 m. November 2-4, 1952, H. Garcia- Barriga 
15096. 
Vriesia chrysostachys I. Morren var. steno- 
phylla L. B. Smith var. nov. 
[71 ] 
