BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
CamBRIDGE, Massacuusetrrs, Ocroser 31, 1935 Vor. 3, No. 10 
STUDIES IN STELIS. V. 
BY 
Oakes AMES 
TWO RARE SPECIES FROM MIDDLE AMERICA 
AMONG THE MIDDLE AMERICAN representatives of the 
highly technical genus Stelis, there are two remarkable, 
closely related species which have proved to be extraordi- 
narily rare. They constitute a rather distinct subsection 
of Lindley’s Labiatae. The first one to be described was 
published by H. G. Reichenbach in 1870 under the name 
Stelis glossula. Although the bibliographical references 
given below would seem to indicate that this species has 
been frequently in cultivation, herbarium records dis- 
prove this. The only specimens of which I have any 
knowledge are the type described by Reichenbach and 
a plant recently collected by C. H. Lankester in Costa 
Rica. The second species to be described was collected 
in Panama by C. W. Powell and was published in 192% 
under the name Stelis inaequalis. In March 1928, 1 found 
asingle plant of this species in the Republic of Honduras 
near Tela on the Atlantic coast. No other collections are 
known to me. That this second species of the alliance 
should have been overlooked through all the years of 
collecting in the countries lying between Mexico and 
Colombia until 1928 and then should have come to light 
almost simultaneously in two widely separated localities 
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