169 



TROPICAL AMERICAN KUBIACE.E.— VIII. 

 Bt H. F. Werxham, D.Sc, F.L.S. 



(Continued from Journ. Bot. 1916, p. 334.) 



Further examination of the material in the National Herbarium 

 has revealed the novelties described in the present paper, including 

 two new genera, one from Guiana, the other from Brazil. The types 

 of all the novelties described are in the National Herbarium. 



Neobertiera, Rubiacearum e tribu Hameliearum novum genus. 



CaJycis tubus campanulato-oblongus ; limbi lobi 4 angusti pro 

 rata subelongati, erecti, persistentes. Corollce primo tubulosse, demum 

 verisimiliter h3'pocrateriformis (maturam non vidi), tubus gracilis 

 staminum in regione imuUum ampliatus, limbi lobos angustiusculos 

 contortos subaequans. Stamina 4, infra corollse fauces inserta ; 

 antherse in tergo prope basin tamen in filamentum latum longiusculum 

 fixse, lanceolato-oblongas. Discus conspicuus cylindricus gl^berrimus. 

 Ovarium biloculare ; st^dus validiusculus nee longus, stigmata in 

 brachiis duobus latiusculis bifido ; ovula in loculis prO tribu pro rata 

 pauca. Bacca minima pisiformis, a calycis lobis persistentibus 

 coronata, bilocularis ; semina + 10 per loculum, majuscula, globosa, 

 conspicue punctata. Fruticuli v. arbores, ramulis teretibus. Folia 

 opposita, breviter petiolata, membranacea, stipulis interpetiolaribus 

 longe persistentibus. Fiores secundi in cymularum thyrsis laxe dis- 

 positi parvi ; bracteae inter minimas. 



This genus falls indisputably into the tribe Hameliese on the score 

 of its fruit, seed, and corolla-characters, but it cannot be included 

 with any genus 3^et described. The nearest ally is, perhaps, Pseudo- 

 Tiamelia (Journ. Bot. 1. (1912) 242), from which the present plant is 

 readily separated by its contorted corolla, appreciably long filaments, 

 glabrous conspicuous disc, and comparatively few and large globose 

 seeds. The inflorescence is closely similar to that characteristic of 

 Bertiera, § Laxcd (Journ. Bot. I. c. 113), from Avhich I have derived 

 my choice of a generic name. The new genus is, moreover, nearly 

 allied to Bertiera also, but is readily separable by its flower-buds, 

 tetramerous flowers and peculiar seeds. 



Neobertiera gracilis, sp. unicum. Fruticulus 40-50 cm. altus, 

 ramulis gracilibus densissime appresse hirto-hirsutis. Folia mem- 

 branacea elliptica utrinque leniter angustata necnon acuta, utrinque 

 prsesertim in venis hirta, venis secundariis utrinque 9-12, petiolo 

 brevi ; stipulce triangulares membranacese acuminatse acutissimse, 

 Fiores par\d graciles in cymarum thyrso laxissime disj^ositi sessiJes v. 

 brevissime pedicellati, cymulse dichotomse, ramulis gracillimis qua 

 ramuli vegetantes indutis, bracteis subsetaceis linearibus. Calycis lobi 

 anguste lanceolati acutissime acuminati erecti ; corollw tubus extus 

 sparsiuscule hirtus gracilis, lobos lanceolatos obtusos glabros sub- 

 jequans, intus insuper prsesertim hirtello-pubescens. 



Hah. British Guiana, Macouria River (not far west of Cayenne), 

 Jenman 2388 ! 



Journal of BoTAyr. — Vol. oo. [July, 1917.1 o 



