70 REPORT ON TWO BOTANICAL COLLECTIONS FROM 



tenuiter obtecta et pilis longis paucis laxe ciliata, subtus vel rave utrinque glabra, 



in axillis dense lanato-villosa. Pedunculi 8-12 poll, longi. laxe villosi, rare glabri. 



Capitula 4-|-5 lin. diam., albo-villosa. Bracteae involucrantes 3-4-seriata3, late 



ovatae, acutae, dorso appresse pubescentes, fuscae. Bracteae inter flores oblongse, 



subacuta?, apice dense albo-barbatee. Peceptacuhun pilosum. Sepala elliptica, 



obtusa, hyalino-olivacea, ciliata, apice dense albo-barbata. Petala noris masculini in 



tubutn inf undibuliformem stipitatum connata ; floris fceminei libera, sessilia, anguste 



linearia, dense ciliato-barbata. 



A stemless perennial. Leaves densely rosulate, 1-1| in. long, 1-li lin. broad, linear, 



tapering to a blunt point, rather abruptly dilated into a broad open sbeath at the base, 



rigid, concave and thinly covered with adpressed white jointed hairs on the face, convex 



and glabrous on the back, rarely glabrous on both sides, veins not prominent, scarcely 



striate, often, but not always, thinly ciliate with a few long hairs, densely villose-woolly with 



long fine hairs in the axils. Peduncles 1-3 to a plant, 8-12 in. long, slender, obscurely 6-7- 



angular, thinly covered with short spreading hairs or rarely glabrous ; their basal sheaths 



1-lf in. long, with a rigid oblique subacute ciliate mouth, otherwise glabrous. Heads 



4^-5 lin. diam., at first hemispherical, afterwards globose, monoecious or rarely unisexual. 



Involucral bracts in 3-4 series, the innermost lf-2 lin. long, 1^ lin. broad, broadly ovate, 



acute, fuscous, adpressed-pubescent on the back, ciliate, the outer gradually smaller. 



Flowering-bracts 1^ lin. long, ^ lin. broad, oblong, obtuse or subacute, pale fuscous, 



densely bearded with white hairs on the apical part, lleceptacle pilose with long white 



hairs, as are also the pedicels of the flowers. Male flowers pedicellate ; sepals 3, 1J lin. 



long, \ lin. broad, elliptic, obtuse or subacute, fuscous, densely bearded with white hairs 



on the apical part ; petals arising \ lin. above the sepals, all united into a hyaline 



funnel-shaped tube \ lin. long, truncate, witli 3 very minute teeth at the apex, glabrous ; 



stamens shortly exserted, with white anthers ; rudimentary pistil represented by 3 



clavate bodies, minutely papillate at the apex. Female flowers shortly pedicellate ; 



sepals \\ lin. long, §-f lin. broad, elliptic, subacute, beautifully reticulated with fuscous, 



ciliate from the base and densely bearded on the upper halt' with long white hairs ; 



j>etals 3, free, arising close to the sepals, 1 lin. long, about \ lin. broad, ciliate and 



clothed on both sides with long white hairs ; ovary ovoid, trigonous, glabrous, narrowed 



into a style about \ lin. long, with 3 linear bifid stigmas, and 3 stout appendages, 



papillate at the apex only. 



Summit of Mount Roraima, 8600 ft., JfcC'oi/ueU S,- Quelc/i, 96, 659. 

 Allied to P.falcatus, Koern., and P. jlaresceus, Koern. From the former it differs by 

 its more rigid, channelled leaves, less woolly heads, and more acute involucral bracts, 

 and from P. Jlavescens, Koern., by the narrower and more acute leaves, which have a 

 different pubescence, and the very different flower-heads. It also appears to be near 

 P. Schomburgkii, Klotzsch (which I have not seen), but that plant is described as 

 having longer and broader leaves, striate, with prominent veins on the upper side, a 

 subulate point to the peduncular sheath, much shorter peduncles, and glabrous involucral 

 1 tracts. 



