820 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



long, obtuse; petals slightly longer than the sepals. " Cinco negritos," "zapo- 

 tillo de la costa " (Oaxaca). 



2. Ouratea pallida Standi., sp. nov. 



Sinaloa to Guerrero; type from Acaponeta, Tepic (Rose, Standley d Russell 

 14445; U. S. Nat. Herb. no. 637331). 



Shrub or small tree, 2 to 4.5 meters high, with divaricate branchlets; petioles 

 2 to 5 mm. long; leaf blades oblong, lanceolate, ovate, oblong-obovate, or ellip- 

 tic-oblong, acute or obtuse, acutish to rounded at base, finely serrulate through 

 out or subentire, coriaceous, pale green, the venation prominulous beneath; 

 flow^ers in dense racemes or panicles 4 cm. long or shorter, the pedicels about as 

 long as the ovoid buds ; sepals 7 mm. long, obtuse ; petals 8 to 9 mm. long ; 

 anthers 4 mm. long ; carpels ellipsoid, 1 cm. long, very lustrous. 



The shrub is common in dry places along the coastal plain of Sinaloa and 

 Tepic. 



100. MARCGRAVIACEAE. Marcgravia Family. 



Epiphytic or scaudent shrubs ; leaves alternate, leathery, simple or entire, 

 often dimorphous ; inflorescence racemose, terminal, pendulous ; bracts borne 

 in tbe midst of the raceme or upon the pedicels, greatly modified, nectariferous ; 

 flowers perfect ; sepals 5, imbricate ; petals 5, connate at base, or throughout and 

 forming a caplike mass ; stamens 5 to 40 ; fruit globose, coriaceous or fleshy, in- 

 dehiscent, 5 to many-celled. 



Central (terminal) flowers sterile; petals united to form a caducous caplike 

 corolla 1. MARCGRAVIA. 



Central or terminal flowers, as well as the others, fertile; petals nearly distinct. 



^ 2. SOUROUBEA. 



1. MARCGRAVIA L. Sp. PI. 503. 1753. 



1. Marcgravia mexicana Gilg, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 25: Beibl. 60: 26. 1898. 



Veracruz and perhaps elsewhere ; type from Mirador, Veracruz. 



Glabrous shrub, epiphytic and more or less scandent; leaves of fertile 

 branches lanceolate, 6 to 10.5 cm. long, nearly sessile, acuminate, acute or obtuse 

 at base ; inflorescence umbel-like, the pedicels 3 to 5 cm. long, the apex of the 

 rachis bearing several nectaries, these tubular, 7 to 8 mm. long, stalked ; sepals 

 4, orbicular, 2 mm. long; corolla cylindric. 



The genus is represented by a large number of species in the humid forests 

 of tropical America. The nectaries are usually bright-colored. They hang in- 

 verted and are filled with nectar, which is much sought by humming-birds and 

 insects. The young sterile shoots are very slender and vinelike, and their 

 leaves are decidedly different from those of the fertile branches. In sterile 

 specimens which probably belong to M. mexicana the leaves are sessile, ob- 

 long or ovate, and only 1 to 3 cm. long. Specimens of these sterile branches 

 were reix>rted from ISIexico by Liebmann' as Urostigma scandens, he believing 

 that he was dealing with one of the wild figs (Fictis). 



Imperfect Oaxaca specimens evidently represent a second species of the genus 

 for Mexico, but the material is insufficient for identification or description. 

 The Oaxaca plant is known locally as " gallitos." 



2. SOUROUBEA Aubl. PI. Guian. 1: 244. 1775. 



1. Souroubea exauriculata Delp. Att. Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Milan. 12: ISO. 186'). 



Veracruz and Oaxaca. 



Leaves short-petiolate, oblong-oblanceolate, 7 to 14 cm. long, 3 to 5 cm. wide, 

 acute or obtuse, acute at base, thick, glabrous; racemes 10 to 15 cm. long or 



*Dansk. Vid. Selsk. Skrivt. V. 2: 330. 1851. 



