Hepaticae : Yale Peruvian Expedition of igii. 327 



retains a primitive type of branching. In the present collection five 

 species are in a condition to be determined, a sixth species being ster- 

 ile and doubtful. Of the five species the first three noted below 

 belong to the subgenus Chonanthelia of Spruce, the fourth to the sub- 

 genus Trachycolea, and the fifth to the subgenus Thyopsiella. The 

 three species of Chonanthelia are among the most widely distributed 

 Frullaniae of the American tropics but have never been illustrated. 

 Since they are of interest from various points of view the writer takes 

 the present occasion for discussing them at length. The species of 

 Trachycolea has already been figured and described by the writer 

 in another connection,^ while the species of Thyopsiella vs, still in need 

 of further study. 



27. Frullania gibbosa Nees 



Frullania gibbosa Nees; G. L. & N. Syn. Hep. 411. 1845. 



On rocks. Santa Ana, 3,000 feet, August 4, 1911.' 



The author of F. gibbosa based his species on a series of specimens 

 from the West Indies, Guiana, and Brazil. In the later pages of the 

 Synopsis Hepaticarum it is recorded also from Mexico and Colombia. 

 Spruce extended its known range into Peru and commented on 

 the curious fact that it behaved as a weed and always grew in the 

 neighbourhood of human habitations .^ Stephani notes its occurrence 

 in Alabama and in Chile and states also that it is very common in 

 tropical America, without giving definite localities. The material 

 from Santa Ana belongs to Spruce's variety densissima, which he 

 suggests may be specifically distinct. In the opinion of the writer, 

 however, the differential characters assigned to this variety represent 

 exaggerations of the features characteristic of the species and are 

 neither marked enough nor constant enough to warrant a specific 

 separation . 



The first specimen of F. gibbosa quoted by Nees von Esenbeck 

 was collected by Swartz on tree-trunks in Jamaica and may be re- 

 garded as the type of the species. It represents a part of the material 

 upon which Swartz based his Jungermannia obscura^ a composite 

 species which is no longer recognized. A portion of this type material, 

 preserved in the Lindenberg herbarium at Vienna {No. 6979), has 

 been examined by the writer; it is unfortunately very fragmentary 

 but seems referable to F. gibbosa as at present understood. The 

 same herbarium contains specimens from Colipa, Mexico {Liebmann, 



1 Trans. Conn. Acad. 10: 14. pi. 6. 1897. 



2 Hep. Amaz. et And. 22. 1884. 



3 Fl. Ind. Occid. 3: 1869. 1806. 



