BLAKE: NEOMILLSPAUGHIA 79 
in their axils. After the fall of these leaves, the extremely abbre- 
viated branchlet on which they were borne bears at its tip a dense 
fascicle of flowers. It is from the appearance of the old branches 
denuded of leaves and bearing numerous fascicles of flowers that 
Bentham’s description of the inflorescence has been drawn. The 
inflorescence of the new species P. guwatemalensis described below 
is precisely the same. In P. cordifolius Rose & Standley, however, 
the flowers are borne in short axillary racemes, 2—3 cm. long, often 
with a cluster of small leaves at the base, and as they are arranged 
in several successive axils and do not appear until after the fall 
of the primary leaves subtending them they simulate a panicle in 
appearance. 
There is considerable diversity in the descriptions of the flower 
of Podopterus by different authors. Humboldt and Bonpland* 
in their original description ascribe to it six sepals, three outer and 
three inner, the outer being winged, the inner flattish and scarcely 
shorter than the outer. The stamens are described and figured 
as six, with subulate glabrous filaments, and the single ovule is 
said to be erect. Meisner’s description{ agrees essentially with 
theirs, with the added point that the ovule is subsessile. Bentham 
and Hooker’s descriptiont is taken largely from that of Humboldt 
and Bonpland, owing to their lack of complete material. The 
filaments are said to be filiform and the ovule subsessile. Baillon§ 
gives the number of sepals as five or six, the stamens as six to nine, 
with subulate filaments, and the ovule as stipitate. His figures 
show five sepals and eight stamens. Dammer,|| in the Pflanzen- 
familien, gives the sepals as five, three outer and two inner, the 
stamens as eight, and the ovule as stipitate. In all the specimens 
I have examined (representing all the known species), with one 
exception, the sepals are five and the stamens eight, with subulate 
glabrous filaments; in a single flower of P. cordifolius, however, 
out of three examined, there were nine stamens. The seed has 
not yet been described, but fully mature fruits of Podopterus 
mexicanus collected by Pringle (No. 10181) at Tomellin Canyon, 
* Pl. Aequin. 2: 89. pl. 107, 1812. 
§ Hist. Pl. 11: 394. 1892. 
|) Engler & Prantl, Pflanzenfamilien 3°: 32. 1892. 
