684 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



13. ORTHOSPHENIA Standi., gen. nov. 



Erect shrub ; leaves alternate, coriaceous, glandular-serrate, short-petiolate ; 

 stipules minute, subulate, persistent; flowers minute, solitary or fasciculate 

 in tbe leaf axils, nearly sessile; calyx deeply 5-lobate, the lobes obtuse, 

 thickened, persistent; petals 5; stamens 5; stigma nearly sessile, shallowly 

 bilobate ; fruit apparently dry and indehiscent, thin-walled, 1-celled ; seeds 2, 

 basilar, erect, without endosperm. 

 1. Orthosphenia mexicana Standi., sp. nov. 



Type collected between Miquihuana and Doctor Arroyo, along the boundary 

 between Tamaulipas and Nuevo Le6n (Nelson 4509; U. S. Nat. Herb. no. 

 33253S). 



Branches terete, grayish, glabrous or nearly so ; leaves approximate, erect 

 and subappressed, subimbricate, cuneate-obovate, 5 to 8 mm. long, rounded at 

 apex, cuneate at base, on a very short thick petiole, very thick, glabrous or 

 nearly so, coarsely glandular-serrate, the venation nearly obsolete; flowers 



1 to 3 in each axil, about 1.5 mm. long in bud, glabrous ; fruit oval-globose, 3 

 mm. long, green, smooth and glabrous ; seeds semiglobose, blackish, 2.5 mm. 

 long. 



The type specimen consists of a fruiting branch. The writer has seen one 

 other specimen of the plant, collected by Berlandier and labeled " Matamoros ? " 

 It consists of a single branch bearing flower buds. Each tooth of the leaves 

 ends in a pore from which there is a copious exudate of wax. When the 

 leaves are boiled in water the wax melts and rises to the surface. 



14. ACANTHOTHAMNUS T. S. Brandeg. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 3 : 383. 1909. 

 1. Acanthothamnus aphyllus (Schlecht.) Standi. 



Celastrus aphyllus Schlecht. Linnaea 15: 458. 1841. 



Acanthothamnus viridis T. S. Brandeg. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 3: 383. 1909. 



Scandivepres mexicaniis Loesener, Repert. Sp. Nov. Fedde 8: 292. 1910. 



Puebla and perhaps elsewhere; type from JacualtepSn. 



Densely branched glabrous shrub, 1 meter high, with green alternate 

 branches; leaves alternate, caducous, narrowly spatulate, 5 mm. long; stipules 

 glandlike; flowers axillary, pedicellate; calyx 5-lobate; petals 5, suborbicular, 



2 to 3 mm. long ; stamens 5 ; ovary 2-celled ; fruit ovoid, red, 5 mm. long, the 

 exocarp thin, fleshy, 1-celled ; seed 1. 



In general appearance the plant suggests KoeherUnia. There is little doubt 

 that the names given by Schlechtendal and Brandegee apply to the same plant. 



15. PEHROTTETIA H. B. K Nov. Gen. & Sp. 7: 73. 1825. 



Shrubs or trees ; leaves alternate, short-petiolate ; flowers minute, polygamo- 

 dioecious, in axillary panicles ; calyx 5-lobate ; petals 5, valvate or obscurely 

 imbricate; stamens 5; ovary 2-celled; fruit baccate, 2-celled, 2 to 4-seeded. 



Leaves broadly rounded at base; panicle branches glabrous 1. P. ovata. 



Leaves obtuse or broadly cuneate at base; panicle branches minutely puberulent. 



2. P. longistylis. 



1. Perrottetia ovata Hemsl. Diag. PI. Mex. 6. 1878. 



Perrottetia glabrata Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 5: 110. 1897. 



Veracruz ; type from Jalapa. 



Tree, 4.5 to 6 meters high, glabrous throughout or nearly so ; leaves broadly 

 ovate, 7 to 13 cm. long, 4 to 6 cm. wide, long-acuminate, serrulate ; panicles lax 

 and open, long-pedunculate, equaling or shorter than the leaves. 



