Theobroma purpureum Pittier in Fedde Rep. Sp. Nov. 
13 (1914) 319. 
The binomial Herrania purpurea was published as a 
nomen nudum in the first edition of Thomas Belt’s **The 
Naturalist in Nicaragua’’ (1874) 116. Belt wrote: 
‘*About here grows a cacao (Herrania purpurea) differ- 
ing from the cultivated species (Theobroma Cacao).”” I 
have been unable to discover a description of the plant 
or a publication of the binomial prior to 1874. In the 
preface of his book, Belt stated that ‘‘Prof. D. Oliver 
of Kew has kindly named for me some of the plants.”’ 
In the collection of Herrania at Kew, I did not find any 
specimen from Nicaragua collected prior to 1874 and 
annotated with this binomial. Dr. N. Y. Sandwith of 
Kew has kindly searched through the archives and _ re- 
ports that he can find nothing which might suggest that 
Oliver had published the binomial. 
Pittier’s description of Theobroma purpureum was 
based upon a Panamanian plant collection, and he made 
no mention of a prior publication of this specific epithet. 
There is no doubt that the binomial which Belt published 
refers to the same concept which Pittier later and inde- 
pendently described and for which he used the identical 
specific epithet. In accordance with the International 
Rules of Botanical Nomenclature, therefore, we must 
consider Pittier’s Theobroma purpureum as the first valid 
use of the specific epithet. 
'TERNSTROEMIACEAE 
Mahurea tomentosa Ducke in Arqu. Inst. Biol. 
Veg. Rio Janeiro 1 (19385) 208; in Trop. Woods 43 
(1935) 22. 
It would appear that this collection is the first of the 
genus Mahurea from Colombia. There are several spe- 
cies from Venezuela, the Guianas and Brazil, usually 
[ 133 | 
