BRITTON: STUDIES OF WEsT INDIAN PLANTS 329 
cm. long, at first appressed, later spreading, about as long as the 
racts. 
On trees, Trinidad. Type from Moruga (Britton and Bioad- 
way 2430). Related to T. aloitolia Hook. 
Alpinia silvicola sp. nov. 
Rootstocks rather stout, scaly. Sterile stem 2-3 m. high; 
leafy; leaves oblong, thin, glabrous, closely many-veined, 3-5 dm. 
long, 6-10 cm. wide, the apex acuminate, the base narrowed, the 
petioles 1-2.5 cm. long, the sheaths striate; lower leaves reduced 
to thin sheathing scales. Fertile stems about 3 dm. high, pubes- 
cent above, with a few, narrow scales 3-4 cm. long; spike dense, 
several- to many-flowered, 7-10 cm. long; bracts 1- flowered, 
shorter than the flowers; calyx about 1.5 mm. long, pubescent, 
its lobes broad; corolla yellow, about 2 cm. long; fruit oblong, 
about 3 cm. long, its juice blue-black. 
Forests of the northern mountain range, Trinidad. Type from 
Mount Tocuche (Britton, Hazen and Mendelson 1301). 
Calathea trinitensis sp. nov. 
Leaves erect, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, glabrous, the blade 
up to I m. long and 3 dm. wide, rather shorter than the slender 
petiole, rather abruptly narrowed at the base, the apex abruptly 
tipped, the midvein prominent, the innumerable lateral veins close 
together. Scape glabrous, about 7 dm. high; spike dense, about 
2 dm. long; bracts oblique, many-veined, 3-4 cm. long, their 
spreading tips acute; flowers yellow, about 3 cm. long, the seg- 
ments linear, parallel-veined, acute. 
Forest, heights of Aripo, Trinidad (Britton and Freeman 2360). 
In flower March 16, 1921. 
Ficus ierensis sp. nov. 
A tree up to 10 m. high or higher, glabrous. Leaves broadly 
elliptic or elliptic-orbicular, subcoriaceous, pinnately 5- to 9-veined 
on each side of the rather prominent midvein, rounded at the 
apex, cordate at the base, 10-20 cm. long, the stout petiole one 
fourth to one third as long as the blade; fruiting peduncles 
slender, about 1 cm. long; fruit globose, 12-18 mm. in diameter; 
bracts 2 or 3, broad, rounded, nearly as long as the fruit; ostiolum 
sunken, about 2 mm. in diameter. 
Hillsides in relatively dry districts, Trinidad. Type fae 
North Post Road (Britton, Hazen and Mendelson 774). Similar 
