10 THE GENUS MANETTIA 



Manettia, then, appears to be at a relatively primitive stage o£ 

 evolution among Kubiacese. All the species are climbing plants, of 

 the simplest sort, climbing sometimes as much as 20 to 30 yards 

 solely by the torsion of their graceful stems. They are devoid of all 

 such adaptations as tendrils, hooks, twining leaf-stalks, etc. In this 

 direction they reveal only such faint tendencies as the deflexed minute 

 bristles and indumentum in the case of 31. holiviana and M. 

 Q-laziovii, and the elongated leaf-stalks of M. glandulosa and a 

 few others. 



Geogeaphical Distribution. 



Manettia is essentially a genus of the warmer parts of America ; 

 nearly all the species are confined within the tropics. Five are 

 endemic in the temperate zone just south of the Capricorn line. 

 M. cojHlifolia, with a wide distribution in the South American tropics, 

 is found in Argentina and Paraguay. 



M. cordifolia and M. coccinea are the only two species with any- 

 thing approaching a wide distribution. The former is chiefl}^ Brazilian, 

 occurring from San Paiilo in the south-east to Ceara on the north- 

 east coast, and as far west as the Andes of Peru. In temperate 

 regions it has been found in the hilly parts of Paraguay, and about 

 Tucuman in Argentina. Of the three varieties of this species, 

 var. rflahra is much better known than the parent-species ; it is 

 identical with M. glabra Cham. & Schl., which invariably appears in 

 cultivation and illustration (see supra^ p. 6) as 31. cordifolia 

 itself. This variety has been recorded from Peru and Bolivia in the 

 west to Bahia in the east of the tropical region. But it seems to be 

 more abundant south of the tropic — in Paraguay, Uruguay, and 

 Entre Bios. Var. attenuata has appeared in Minas Geraes as Avell 

 as in Peru ; and \a.Y.Jiliformis comes from northern Paraguay. 



M. coccinea, on the other hand, is essentially a western species, 

 being recorded from Mexico, throughout the states of Central 

 America, throughout the West Indies, and by way of Trinidad to 

 French Guiana, its most easterly station. 



The distribution of all the other species is circumscribed within 

 very narrow limits for each. This is a matter for some surprise, 

 considering the climbing habit of these plants, and the special dis- 

 persal-mechanism, in the shape of a broad wing, possessed by the 

 numerous seeds. I have already suggested an explanation of this 



(P-8)- - . , 



Apart from the somewhat doubtful 31. reclinata (which the 



reader should consult under the heading 31. coccinea in the sys- 

 tematic account of the species) Mexico has three native species, one 

 of them, the large-flowered 31. zimapanica, being endemic ; a second, 

 31. fexilis, is recorded also from Guatemala and Colombia ; the third 

 is 31. coccinea. Beside the two last-named, Guatemala has one 

 endemic species, 31. orhifera. Costa Rica claims, beside the 

 ubiquitous 31. coccinea, two native species, both endemic : 31. harhata 

 and 31. costaricensis. Cuba, a land of endemic species, has but one 

 endemic 31anettia, 31. lygistoides, so far as the present investigation 

 goes, and only one other native, 31. coccinea. Of the other West 



