294 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



implens, reniforme ; testa Crustacea nitida. Arillus nullus. Embryo 

 fere annularis, albumen parcum cingens : cotyledones angusto-lineares, 

 plante, vix in.rquales, radicula gracili longiores. — Frutex boreali- 

 Mexicunus, orgyalis, gUiber ; ramulis divarlcatis spinescentibus ; foliis 

 alteinis nunc fasciculatira confertis spathulatis parvis integerrimis ; 

 floribus parvis racemulosis brevipedicellatis pavvi-bracteatis. 



Phaulothamnus spinescens. — N. AV. Sonora, Mexico, about 

 thirty miles south of the U. S. boundary, and on the Rio Altar, nearer 

 the line, C. G. Pringle, August, 1884. The name (c^aDAos, Odixvo<;) 

 indicates that this is an uncomely shrub, ill to handle. But it is an 

 interesting addition to the order Pliytolaccacece. 



HIMANTOSTEMMA, Nov. Gen. Ascle^nadacearum. 



Calyx 5-partitus, sinubus squamella minima instructis. Corolla alte 

 5-partita, mox reflexa, intus saltern basi processibus plurimis corollinis 

 spathulatis insigniter ornatis ; lobis lato-lanceolatis aestivatione dextror- 

 sum leviter obtegentibus. Corona staminea apici column.e brevis fda- 

 mentorum affixa, sim2)lex margine membranacea, ligulas 10 pra^longas 

 angusto-lineares stipitatas per paria antheris alternantes, et 5 breves 

 subulatas antheris oppositas eaque baud superantes uniseriatim gerens. 

 Antheraj breves, sinubus stigmatis parum dilatati et angulati vertice 

 depressi appositcc, inappendiculatiB, loculis apice hiantibus. Pollinia 

 ovalia, apice pellucido caudicula brevissima appensa, introrsum sub- 

 pendula. Folliculi fusiformes, echinati. — - Herba boreali-Mexicana, 

 vix volubilis, puberula ; foliis oppositis sagittato-cordatis ; pedunculis 

 axillaribus umbellato-bifloris ; corolla extus viridula intus brunneo- 

 purpureis ; ligulis coronix; viridulis. 



HiMANTOSTEMMA Pringlei. — Along watcr-courscs among the 

 rocky hills of N. W. Sonora, Mexico, south of Altar, and about thirty 

 miles from the Gulf, C. G. Pringle, August, 1884. — Stems diffuse from 

 a perennial root, a foot or two long, probably feebly voluble, slender. 

 Leaves less than an inch long, and the petiole of equal length. Pe- 

 duncle short, 3-4-bracteate at the summit, bearing usually two flowers 

 on elongated pedicels. Calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate. Corolla-lobes 

 4 lines long, thickish, veinless ; the upper face sometimes nearly 

 naked, usually beset with some sparse trichomes, like those of the 

 throat, but smaller ; the throat or base of the corolla conspicuously 

 adorned with these singular corolline processes, which are sometimes 

 very numerous, sometimes fewer, but in no obvious order, of purplish 

 hue, fully a line in length, apparently flat, spatulate in form, and 



