NO. 



GENTRY : LAND PLANTS 195 



Found generally in forests and thickets of the tierra caliente in tropi- 

 cal America. Elmore reports seeing only a few plants on a 30° slope; 

 the inflorescences green. 



Bromeliaceae 



Bromelia Pinguin L., Sp. PI. 285. 1753. 



Port Parker, Salinas Bay, March 24, Elmore E3, sandy soil of the 

 upper beach, fruits orange-colored. 



Common along the Pacific slope where it forms spiny colonies. 

 Amaryllidaceae 



Agave costaricana Gentry sp. nov. 



Folia glauca, lineari-lanceolata, tenuia, 6-10 cm lata, 70-80 cm longa; 

 spina terminali conica, ferruginea, 4-5 cm longa, 3-4 mm diam. ad basim, 

 decurrenti 8-12 cm; spinis lateralibus minutis papillatis 0.5-2 mm altis, 

 8-10 mm distantibus; marginibus foliorum directis; inflorescentia panicu- 

 lata; perianthio pallide flavo, brevi-campanulato, 2.5 cm longo, segmini- 

 bus 2 cm longis, 4-5 mm latis, lineariis, obtusis, involutis; staminibus 

 longi-exsertis ; ovario juvenali, 20-25 mm longo, lineari-oblongo ; semina 

 non vidi. 



Typus: Elmore E18, "a few plants growing along the rocky bank of 

 a dry stream bed, at or near Port Parker, Salinas Bay, Costa Rica, 

 March 18, 1939," in hb. Allan Hancock Foundation, University of 

 Southern California. Duplum in hb. Univ. Mich. 



Leaves glaucus, linear-lanceolate, rather thin, at least 6-10 cm wide, 

 70-80 cm long, gradually tapering below; terminal spine straight, reddish 

 brown, conical, 4-5 cm long, 3-4 mm in diam. at base, with or without 

 a narrow basal groove, decurrent as a narrow horny margin along the 

 blade for 2 to 3 times the length of the spine; marginal spines minute, 

 papilloid, brownish, 0.5-2 mm high, more prominent towards the termi- 

 nus of the blade, mostly 8-10 mm apart; margin of the blade straight, 

 lightly and narrowly calloused ; inflorescence a terminal compound pani- 

 cle ; perianth yellowish, rotate or shallowly campanulate, constricted be- 

 low, 2.5 cm long, the segments 2 cm long, 4-5 mm wide, linear obtuse, 

 involute ; filaments inserted a little above the middle of the short corolla 

 tube, long exserted ; stamens large, attached below the middle ; stjde 

 about 4 cm long, long exserted ; stigma triquetrous, truncate ; ovary 20- 

 25 cm long, linear-oblong, constricted above ; seeds not seen. 



This is only the second species of Agave reported for the flora of 

 Costa Rica, the other being Agave Werklei Weber (C.N.H. 23:132. 

 1920). The proposed new species is distinguished by its narrow linear- 

 lanceolate leaves with minute marginal prickles along a straight margin, 



