scapo erecto, gracili, debili, sed apice non fragili; syn- 
carpio paucifloro, parvo, maturitate haud ultra 4 cm. 
longo; maturitate coma magna in speciminibus visis; 
seminibus perpaucis vel nullis; sepalis 6 mm. longis; 
petalis 15 mm. longis. 
Brazil, State of Parahyba, cultivated as a pot plant, ornamental, 
Joao Pessoa, March 1, 1989, Baker Sf Collins s.n. (Type in Gray 
Herb.); State of Pernambuco, cultivated ornamental, Recife, March 
4, 1939, Baker % Collins s.n. (Gray Herb.); State of Par4,Tapary on 
the Rio Tapajoz, May 1929, Dahlgren Sc Sella 28 (Field Museum). 
Natives told of seeing this variety in the wild state 
in the vicinity of Recife, but Baker and Collins were un¬ 
able to verify the statement. The variety is cultivated 
in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia as well as in the places in¬ 
dicated above. 
The scape is so weak that in cultivation it has to be 
supported, indicating that its natural habitat is probably 
fairly dense brushland. The very small few-flowered and 
nearly or quite seedless syncarp distinguish this variety 
from the typical one. Also, perhaps partly because of its 
smaller size, it shows no tendency to break at the junc¬ 
tion of the scape and the syncarp. The coma is relatively 
large in the only known mature specimens, but this may 
be due to living in the shade because the coma of typical 
A. ananassoides is much larger in shaded plants. 
[ 80 ] 
