217 



WEST INDIAN HEPATIC^. 

 By William Henry Pearson, M.Sc, A.L.S. 



A COLLECT roN of HepatlccB made in the West Indies by Miss 

 Eleonora Annitage in 189G was sent to F. Stephani and named by 

 him some years ago. It has been presented by Miss Armitage to the 

 Manchester Muse am and I have been asked to make a list of the 

 species. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I have examined 

 the specimens and compared them witli those in the Museum, and 

 have added my notes on the same and descriptions of new species. 



I follow Dr. Spruce's arrangement as published by Mr. A. Gepp 

 in " Hepaticie EUiottianae " ( Journ. Linn. Soc. xxx. 331 ; 1894) 

 except that I raise the subgenera of Lejeunece to the rank of genera, 

 in accordance with recent writers. In my descriptions of size of 

 stems and cells I use the relative terms suggested by Dr. Spruce in 

 the preface to my Hepaticce of the British Isles (1902). 



During the preparation of the paper I have drawn twenty-three 

 plates of figures. On account of the expense these cannot be pub- 

 lished ; meanwhile they are deposited with the specimens in the 

 Manchester Museum. 



Tribus I. Jubule,^. 



Odontolejeuxea lunulata (Web.) Spruce. Hah. On leaf, 

 Mountain Lake, Dominica, Jan. 189G. 



Ohs. The specimens in Spruce's Hep. Am. et And. Exsicc. in the 

 Manchester Museum are male plants, with very long amentula, 30 to 

 3() pairs of bracts ; bracts dentate, bracteoles denticulate. Stephani 

 says (Sp. Hep. v. 178 ; 1912) " amentula small, 6 pairs of bracts " ; 

 the underleaves are entire, except at theii* base where the}^ are coarsely 

 dentate, some are sagittate ; Stephani sa3's " everj^where regularly 

 denticulate " ; Spruce says (Hep. Am. et And. p. 145 ; 1884) " wings 

 of the perianth wide"; Stephani {op. cit.) has "wings narrow," I 

 find them wide. 



Odontolejunea Armitagei, n. sp. Monoicous. Medium size ; pale 

 brown ; dichotomous. Leaves subimbricate, patent-divergent, semi- 

 ovate, an tical margin spinulose-serrate ; j^ostical with 2-4 teeth (2 ver}'- 

 large) ; lobule subquadrate. Underleaves 3 to 4 times smaller than 

 the leaves, rotund, entire. Bracts oblong-ovate ; bracteole oval- 

 spathulate. Perianth pyriform, tricarinate, upper portion winged. 



Growing on the upper surface of living leaves, to which the plant 

 is attached by the peculiar rosette bunches of radicles — as Dr. Spruce 

 says ''like a closely rayed star," or, to use a very homely illustration, 

 a chimney sweeper's brush ; pale to olive brown in colour ; medium 

 size ; when wet and detached from the leaves, flaccid and delicate. 

 Stems innovantl}'' dichotomous. the innovant branch arising, on one 

 side only, from below the perianth. Leaves patent-divergent (70°) to 

 almost horizontal (90°), convex, subimbricate ; lobe semi-ovate to 

 oval, apex rounded or subacute, with 2 or 3 teeth ; antical margin 

 Journal of Botany. — Vol. 60. [August, 1922.] q 



