Part 2, 1921] RUBIACEAE 115 



36. COSMIBUENA R. & P. Fl. Per. 3: 3. 1802. 



Glabrous shrubs, usually epiphytic, erect or pendent. Leaves opposite, petiolate, suc- 

 culent. Stipules large, interpetiolar, deciduous. Flowers large, terminal, solitary or cymose, 

 rarely paniculate, pedicellate, bracteate and bracteolate; hypanthium oblong or turbinate; 

 calyx tubular or campanulate, 5-6-dentate, deciduous, the teeth usually unequal; corolla 

 salverform or funnelform, the tube elongate, the limb 5-6-lobate, the lobes spreading, con- 

 torted. Stamens 5 or 6, inserted below the throat of the corolla; filaments short; anthers 

 basifixed, linear, included. Disk cupular. Ovary 2-celled; style elongate, clavate at the 

 apex, bifid; ovules numerous, ascending, imbricate, the placentae longitudinally bilamellate, 

 adnate to the septum, revolute. Capsule narrowly oblong or cylindric, coriaceous, 2-celled, 

 septicidally bivalvate from the apex, the epicarp separating from the endocarp. Seeds nu- 

 merous, oblong, the body small, the testa membranaceous, produced at each end into a narrow 

 bifid wing; endosperm fleshy; cotyledons ovate, the radicle short, obtuse. 



Type species, Cosmibuena acuminata R. & P. 



Calyx truncate, entire or minutely dentate. 1. C. Skinneri. 

 Calyx coarsely dentate. 



Leaf-blades abruptly pointed or short-acuminate at the apex. 2. C. oralis. 



Leaf-blades broadly rounded at the apex. 3. C. paludicola. 



1. Cosmibuena Skinneri (Oerst.) Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Am. 

 Bot. 2: 12. 1881. 



Buena Skinneri Oerst. Vidensk. Meddel. 1852: 48. 1852. 



Branches thick, fleshy; petioles about 1.2 cm. long; leaf-blades obovate, 6.2-7.5 cm. long, 



3.7-5 cm. wide, obtuse at the apex; cymes 3-flowered; calyx truncate, entire or minutely dentate, 



slightly longer than the hypanthium; corolla-lobes oblong, obtuse; capsule oblong; seeds 



winged at each end, the wings acute, entire. (Description compiled.) 



Type locality: Volcan d'e Masaya, Nicaragua, at an altitude of 600 to 900 meters. 

 Distribution: Known only from the type locality. 



2. Cosmibuena ovalis Standley, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 



18: 137. 1916. 



? Cosmibuena macrocarpa Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Am. Bot. 2: 12. 1881. Not C. macrocarpa Klotzsch, 

 1846. 



Young branches very thick, fleshy, brownish; stipules obovate-oval, 1.3-2 cm. long, 

 rounded at the apex, thick; petioles stout, 0.5-2.5 cm. long; leaf-blades oval, broadly obovate- 

 oval, or oval-orbicular, 6-14 cm. long, 3.5-8 cm. wide, acute or subacuminate at the base, 

 rounded or obtuse at the apex and abruptly short-acuminate, with a broad obtuse or acutish 

 acumen, subcoriaceous, lustrous above, slightly paler beneath, the lateral veins prominulous, 

 5-8 on each side, distant, nearly straight, ascending at an acute angle; inflorescences 3-5- 

 flowered, the pedicels very stout, 1-2 cm. long; hypanthium cylindric, 10-12 mm. long; calyx 



11 mm. long, 5-dentate, the teeth deltoid, acute; corolla-tube 6-7 cm. long, 3.5-5 mm. thick, 



the lobes oblong, 2.5-3.2 cm. long, 9-11 mm. wide, rounded at the apex, minutely ciliolate; 



anthers 10-13 mm. long; style villous above, the branches 5-6 mm. long; capsule oblong, 4.5 



cm. long, 10-12 mm. thick; seeds brown, 5 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide. 



Type locality: Vicinity of Ola, Province of Code, Panama, at an altitude of 100 to 350 meters. 

 Distribution: Costa Rica and Panama. 



3. Cosmibuena paludicola Standley, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 

 18: 137. 1916. 



Small tree, 4-5 meters high, the branches stout, succulent; stipules oval-obovate, about 



12 mm. long, rounded at the apex, thick; petioles very stout, 8-12 mm. long; leaf-blades ob- 

 ovate, obovate-oblong, or oval-obovate, 8-10 cm. long, 3.5-5 cm. wide, acute or cuneate at 

 the base, broadly rounded at the apex, coriaceous, the lateral veins evident, about 5 on each 

 side, nearly straight, arcuately anastomosing near the margin; inflorescence usually 5-flowered, 

 the pedicels very stout, about 1 cm. long; hypanthium cylindric, 12-14 mm. long; calyx 9 mm. 



