G8 THB APETAL0U8 F0CriSIAS OF SOUTH AMKUICA. 



their " Flora Peruviana," vol. iii., p. 89, t. .322. fig. b. (1802) ; and 

 the second, F. macrantha, by Sir William Hooker, in the " Botanical 

 Magazine," t. 4233 (1846). But tliere arc specimens in the Kew 

 Herbarium of three, if not four, undescribed species; the whole form- 

 ing a very distinct section, diifei'ing from the potalous series in several 

 important characters. Indeed, were it not that the New Zealand 

 species are intermediate in character, the South American apetalous 

 Fuchsias would constitute as good a genus as many of those generally 

 admitted. However, after examining the various modifications of struc- 

 ture offered by the different species commonly referred to this genus, 

 it does not appear desirable to separate them under different genera. 

 The species under consideration, as far as the material I have been 

 able to examine goes to determine th(; (juestion, are strictly and in- 

 variably apetalous. On the other hand, the New Zealand species have 

 either no petals or only \ery small ones. With the exception oi F. 

 membrcmacea, all the South Ameiican species are described by collectors 

 us climbing epiphytes or as trailing over rocks, and this may be of the 

 same nature for any evidence we may have to the contrary, whereas 

 the New Zealand species are terrestrial. The species of both regions 

 possess in common the character of alternate leaves. In the New 

 Zealand species there seems to be a tendency towards a separation of 

 the sexes, as in some of the small-flowered petulous Mexican sjx'cies, 

 whilst the American are apparently strictly hermaphrodite ; and the 

 calyx-tube is more or less prominently 8-ribbed, the ribs corresponding 

 to the lines of the attachment of the filaments. A peculiarity of some 

 of the American species is to be leafless during the flowering period ; 

 indeed, nos. 1 to 4 are more or less characterised by the absence of leaves 

 when in flower. 



I have seen no leaves at all of F. insignis, which all collectors 

 described as leafless; and I have only seen uuite young ones, at the 

 tips of the branches, of F. apetala, hirmta, and macrantha. All these 

 four species shed their bark, and have stout warty branches bearing 

 clusters of flowers at their tips. The other two, F. tnembr an acea and 

 F. talicifolia, are remarkably distinct from the foregoing and from 

 each other. They have slender branches, clothed with foliage when in 

 flower, and axillary flowers borne throughout the whole length of the 

 branches. For convenience I here give brief descriptions of all the 

 South American apetalous species known to me. They are restricted 

 to the mountains of Peru, Ecuador, New Grenada, and Venezuela. 

 The following key will aid in distinguishing them. 



Leaves large, hairy, ovate or cordate, appearing 



after or with the flowers, which are clustered 



at the ends of the branches. 



Stamens not exceeding the sepals; sepals very 



short in proportion to the tube, ovate. 



Flowers 4-6 inches long, nearly or quite 



glabrous on the outside . . .1. maci-antha. 

 Flowers about 2 inches long, very hairy on 



the outside 2, hirsuta. 



Stamens exserted ; sepals ovate or lanceolate, 

 half or a third as long as the tube. 



