base of the corolla, setose-barbate at the base. Ovary 
globose, glabrous, 5-celled, surmounted by five short, 
fleshy styles. Fruit unknown. 
Mexico: Hanging from limestone rocks, western end of the barranca 
Nin-du-da-gé, San Antonio Eloxochitlin, long. 96°45’, lat. 18°12’, 
District of Teotitlan, Oaxaca, altitude 1100 m., July 6, 1939, Richard 
Evans Schultes 795 (Tyre and habit photograph in Herb. Gray; Iso- 
type and habit photograph in Econ. Herb. Oakes Ames and in Herb. 
Schultes; Woop samptes from Type in Wood Collection, Biol. Lab., 
Harvard Univ.); same locality, July 24, 1938, Schultes & Reko 235 
(Tororyrr in Econ. Herb. Oakes Ames, Bot. Museum Harvard Univ. 
and in Herb. Gray). 
Saurauia speluncicola is avery beautiful species inhab- 
iting the shaded, damp hollows which are formed by the 
overhanging crags of a deep gorge or barranca. The shrub 
usually has a hanging or partly hanging habit with its 
strong roots inserted in cracks in the limestone walls of 
the hollows. In some places, the leaves are exposed to the 
continual dripping of lime water which seeps through 
the walls. 
The specific epithet—speluncicola—refers to the pecu- 
liar habitat of the plant and means ‘‘growing in hol- 
lows’’. 
This species represents not only a very local endemic 
but also an extremely rare plant. I collected in the Dis- 
trict of Teotitlin in 1988 and 1939 and devoted many 
hours to the region around San Antonio Eloxochitlan. 
Although I searched carefully for other stations for 
Saurauia speluncicola, | was unable to find it growing 
anywhere except in the barranca Nin-du-da-gé, the type 
locality. In this barranca, furthermore, the species grows 
in isolated colonies and is not abundant. 
If one uses Standley’s key to the Mexican species of 
Saurauia (Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herb. 23 (1928) 814-815), 
the two collections (Schultes 795 and Schultes & Reko 
[ 198 | 
