160 Evans: Hepatic ae of Puerto Rico 



oblong to obovate, 1.2 mm. long, 0.85 mm. wide, plane or nearly so, 

 margin entire or irregularly sinuate, apex broad, truncate or sub- 

 retuse ; perianth slightly exserted beyond the bracts, oblong-obo- 

 void, 1.5 mm. long, 0.85 mm. wide, rounded to truncate at the apex, 

 slightly or not at all compressed, mostly ten-keeled, the keels ex- 

 tending to below the middle, rounded and separated by deep 

 grooves : c? bracts in one or two pairs below the involucre, essen- 

 tially like the ordinary leaves : mature sporophyte not seen. 

 (Plate 6.) 



On trees and logs. Near Mayaguez, Heller (44.63a). Near 

 Cayey, Evans (py). Mount Morales, Utuado, Howe (465). The 

 writer's specimens from near Cayey may be designated the type. 

 The species has also been collected in Cuba, Wright, Underwood & 

 Earle, and in Jamaica, Underwood, Evans. 



B. insidaris is closely related to B. densifolia, and the two 

 species have been more or less confused. B. densifolia was origi- 

 nally collected in Brazil, where it seems to be abundant and widely 

 distributed. Its range extends also along the chain of the Andes 

 from Colombia to Bolivia. In North America it has been recorded 

 from Mexico by Gottsche and from the island of St. Vincent by 

 Spruce. It resembles B. insidaris in general habit, in its auriculate 

 underleaves and in its pluriplicate perianth. It is markedly distinct, 

 however, in its dioicous inflorescence, the male inflorescences form- 

 ing long spikes with closely crowded bracts. It differs also in its 

 greater size, in its more sharply pointed leaves, in the fewer and 

 smaller teeth along the free margin of the lobule and in its invo- 

 lute underleaves. Even in B. densifolia the leaves are sometimes 

 rounded as in B. insidaris, but this is an exceptional condition and 

 is usually associated with incomplete development. 



B. corticalis, which is surely to be expected in Puerto Rico, is 

 considerably smaller than B. insidaris, and the teeth along the 

 free margins of the lobules are fewer and simpler, each tooth con- 

 sisting usually of a single projecting cell. The species is further 

 characterized by its dioicous inflorescence, by the more distinct 

 bracteal lobules, ligulate-lanceolate in outline and rounded at the 

 apex, and by the more strongly compressed perianth with fewer 

 and more irregular keels. Another close ally is B. chinandana 

 (Gottsche) Schiffn.,* at present known from Mexico and Ecuador. 



Hedwigia 33 : i8o. pi. p./ J2 - 40 . ,894. The species is based on Phragtni- 

 coma bicolor var. chinantlana Gottsche, Mex. Leverm. 172. 1863. 



