07 



©ingmal ^rttcics. 



ON SPEyCERIA, A NEW GENUS OF ROSACEA^, FEOM 

 WESTERN CHINA. 



By Henry Trimen, M.B., F.L. S. 

 (Tab. 201. j 



Among a few specimens brought home by Capt. Gill, R.E., 

 from his journey in Western China in 1877, are some interesting 

 species collected on Ra-Ma-La, a mountain between the towns of 

 Ta-Chien-Lu"^' and Lit'ang, close to the frontiers of Thibet, and in 

 latitude about 30° N. Capt. Gill informs me that the precise 

 locality was a hut called La-ni-ba, at an altitude of 14,335 feet, 

 a little below the crest of the mountain which is at an elevation of 

 14,915 feet. The line of perpetual snow in this latitude is 

 certainly not lower than 17,000 feet. 



Of the plant here figured the specimens are unfortunately 

 incomplete, and I am unable to describe the fruit, but its floral 

 characters are sufficiently remarkable to show it to form a distinct 

 genus of Rosacem. I believe it to be undescribed, and have 

 therefore the pleasure of connecting with it the name of my friend 

 and coadjutor, Mr. Spencer Moore, of the Kew Herbarium, author 

 of several valuable papers in different departments of Botany, in- 

 cluding more than one on the plants of China. It would have been 

 very fitting to have commemorated the discoverer by dedicating 

 this novelty to him, but the existence of the well-known genus 

 Gilia prevents the formation of another of precisely similar sound. 



Spenceeia, gen. nov. Flores hermaphroditi. Calycis persistentis 

 tubus turbinatus ; segmenta 5, valvata, bracteolis 5 stipu- 

 laceis parvis rotundatis extus donata ; faux vix constrictus ; 

 discus tubum calycinum vestiens supra in tubum conicum 

 truncatum stylos includens prolongatus. Petala 6, ampla, 

 rotundata, basi angustata, breviter unguiculata. Stamina 

 circa 30, uniseriata, disco inserta ; filamentis basi parum 

 dilatatis connatisque ; antheris rotundatis loculis valde 

 curvatis. Carpella 2 (vel abortu 1) tubi calycis basi inserta 

 et eo inclusa, perbreviter stipitata, ad apices pilis longissi- 

 mis coronata; styli terminales filiformes, elongati, ex ore 

 disci tubularis longe exserti ; stigmata simplicia acuminata ; 

 ovula in singulis carpellis unica, pendula. Fructus - ? 



S. ramalana, sp. unica. Herba perennis, erecta, in omnibus 

 partibus valde piloso-villosis. Folia caulina parva, sim- 

 plicia, in bracteis transientia ; stipule - ? Flores mediocres, 

 potentiUoideae, longe pedicellati, erecti, pediceUis sub flora 



* Wrongly spelt Ta-tsien-lu, and in many other ways, on maps. 

 N. s. VOL. 8. [April, 1879.] o 



