63 
themselves. He will be remembered as a public servant of rare 
ability and by Kew as a keen botanist, an active and accurate 
observer and an ever ready friend. 
A. W. H. 
IX.—THE “SERRATO-CILIATA ’’ GROUP OF 
TROPAEOLUM. 
D. K. Huaues. 
When an attempt was recently made to name the Tropaeolums 
of Lehmann’s and André’s Andine collections previous to their 
incorporation in the Herbarium, it became necessary to revise 
first the older material according to Buchenau’s monograph of 
the genus in the Pflanzenreich. No serious difficulties arose in 
the course of the revision until the group comprising Buchenau’s 
species 14-29 was approached. This group is characterised by 
the possession of five apically serrate-ciliate petals and almost 
confined to the Andes of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, 
only a few species occurring further north as far as Guatemala, 
or south as far as Bolivia. The affinities of the species referred 
to it are obvious, and the group appears therefore perfectly 
natural. It stands out from the remainder of the genus and 
may conveniently be designated by a name of its own, such as 
“ serrato-ciliata.”’ 
The characters in which the members of this group were so 
far known to differ from each other are, partly foliar, namely, in 
the shape, size and attachment of the leaf-blades and the presence 
or absence of hairs on them, the length of the petioles, the 
development of the stipules, and partly floral, affecting mainly 
the size and colour of the flowers and their parts, and to a Jess 
conspicuous degree, the shape of the petals. Working on this 
basis it soon became evident that a number of new species would 
have to be added from the material at Kew, but as is usually 
the case with the addition of new forms, new characters had 
to be taken into account and studied with regard to their incidence 
and correlation. The more important of them were in this 
instance, the presence or absence of minute papille on the under- 
side of the leaf-blades which make them appear more or less 
greyish or glaucose-pruinose, and secondly of coloured dots or 
mottling, usually confined to the underside of the leaf-blades or 
extending also to their upper side. Mr. L. A. Boodle kindly 
examined the leaves of some of the species with respect to those 
markings, and found that they were due to the presence of a 
