804 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



Plants about 1 meter high, sometimes wholly herbaceous, the stems hirsute 

 and glandular-pilose; leaves short-petiolate, narrowly lanceolate to broadly 

 ovate, acute or acuminate, serrate, thinly pilose or glabrate ; inflorescence chiefly 

 terminal, open ; petals 6 mm. long ; fruit 5 mm. in diameter. 



5. MelocMa hirsuta Cav. Monad. Diss. 323. pi. 175. f. 1. 17S8. 

 Riedlea serrata Vent. Choix PI. Cels pi. 37. 1808. 



Melochia serrata St. Hil. & Naud. Ann. Sci. Nat. II. 18: 36. 1842. 



? Riedlea jurgensenii Turcz. Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou 31*: 211. 1858. 



Riedlea heterotricha Turcz. Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou 31': 211. 1858. 



Jalisco to Veracruz and Oaxaca. West Indies, Central America, and South 

 America. 



Low shrub or herb ; leaves short-petiolate, oblong to rhombic-ovate, 2 to 7 

 cm. long, rounded to acuminate at apex, rounded or cordate at base, serrate, 

 green, pilose or glabrate ; flowers in dense sesile clusters, these usually forming 

 a terminal spike ; bracts hirsute ; petals purple, 8 to 12 mm. long. " Ilaiz de 

 toro " (Costa Rica); " estancadera " (Colombia); " bretSnica " (Porto Rico); 

 " malva mora " (Cuba). 



6. Melochia nodiflora Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 97. 1788. 

 Guerrero to Veracruz and Oaxaca. West Indies and Central America. 

 Slender shrub, sometimes 2 meters high ; leaves slender-petiolate, mostly 



ovate, acute or acuminate, rounded or subcordate at base, .serrate, thin, green, 

 usually glabrous or nearly so ; flowers mostly in dense axillary glomerules ; 

 petals pink or purple. "Malva colorada" (Cuba) ; "niozote de monte" (Nicara- 

 gua) ; " bretonica," " bretonica prieta " (Porto Rico). 



7. Melochia tragiaefolia Standi., sp. nov. 



Type from La Salada, Miehoaciin {Nelson 6927; U. S. Nat. Herb. 399266). 



Branches red-brown, glandular-pilose when young ; leaves slender-petiolate, 

 ovate-cordate, acute or acuminate, 4 to 5.5 cm. long, coarsely dentate, thin, 

 green, minutely velutinous-pilosulous on both surfaces ; bracts ovate, brown ; 

 calyx densely glandular-pubescent, the lobes ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, about 

 as long as the tube ; petals 6 mm. long ; fruit glandular-pubescent, the 5 carpels 

 easily separating, tardily dehiscent. 



8. Melochia urticaefolia (Turcz.) Standi. 



Riedlea urticaefolia Turcz. Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou 31*: 209. 1838. 



Jalisco to Morelos and Oaxaca ; type from Oaxaca. 



Slender shrub, 1 to 2 meters high ; leaves slender-petiolate, ovate-lanceolate to 

 broadly ovate, acute or acuminate, rounded or subcordate at base, dentate, thin, 

 green, sparsely appressed-pilose on the upper surface or glabrate; petals purple, 

 7 to 10 mm. long. 



It is doubtful whether the name urticaefolia really belongs to this plant, or 

 whether it is not rather a synonym of M. nodiflora. In the latter case the pres- 

 ent plant appears to be without a name, unless it may be M. corymbosa (DC.) 

 Hemsl. 



9. Melochia tomentella (Presl) Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer, Bot. 1: 132. 1879. 

 Riedlea tomentella Presl, Rel. Haenk. 2: 148. 1836. 



Sinaloa to Oaxaca ; type from Acapulco, Guerrero. 



Slender shrub ; leaves mostly short-petiolate, ovate-lanceolate, long-acuminate, 

 rounded or subcordate at base, coarsely dentate, thin, green ; flowers all in 

 dense axillary glomerules ; petals 5 to 8 mm. long. " Malva de los cerros " 

 (Sinaloa). 



The plant is said to yield a good quality of fiber. 



