144 NORTH AMERICAN FLORA [Volume 32 



veins in the areoles. Stipules interpetiolar, large, caducous. Flowers small, white, in axillary 

 pedunculate cymes, corymbs, or racemes, bracteate and bracteolate; hypanthium turbinate; 

 calyx 4-5-lobate, the lobes subfoliaceous, equal or unequal, persistent; corolla funnelform or 

 subcampanulate, sericeous outside, the throat villous, the limb 4-5-lobate, the lobes short or 

 elongate, valvate. Stamens 5, inserted in the throat of the corolla; filaments short, barbate; 

 anthers dorsifixed, oblong, obtuse at each end. Disk thick, cupular or lobulate. Ovary 

 2-celled; style short, the branches linear, obtuse, glabrous or hirsute; ovules numerous, the 

 placentae hemispheric, adnate to the septum. Fruit baccate, globose or ovoid, 2-celled. 

 Seeds numerous, minute, obtusely angulate, the testa thin, foveolate; endosperm fleshy; 

 cotyledons broad, the radicle terete, elongate. 

 Type species, Sommera arborescens Schlecht. 



Leaves quite glabrous on the upper surface ; branchlets glabrous or nearly so. 

 Calyx-lobes lanceolate or lance-oblong, acuminate; cymes mostly 3- 



flowered; leaf -blades acute at the base. 1. S. arborescens. 



Calyx -lobes oval or suborbicular, rounded at the apex; inflorescence with 

 more than 3 flowers. 

 Inflorescence racemose; leaf -blades acute at the base. 2. 5. chiapensis. 



Inflorescence cymose-corymbose; leaf-blades subcordate at the base. 3. 5. subcordata. 



Leaves sparsely or densely pilose on the upper surface ; branchlets pilose. 



Calyx-lobes acute or acuminate; bracts broadly ovate or oblong, obtuse or 



abruptly short-acuminate; peduncles 2-5 cm. long. 4. 5. gualemalensis. 



Calyx -lobes rounded or obtuse, rarely acutish; bracts lance-ovate to linear, 



attenuate or long-acuminate; peduncles 1.5 cm. long or shorter. 5. 5. grandis. 



1. Sommera arborescens Schlecht. Linnaea 9: 602. 1834. 



Branches reddish-brown, very sparsely lenticellate, glabrous or very sparsely pilose; 

 stipules lance-oblong, 1.5-2.5 cm. long, acuminate, brown, glabrous; petioles 0.7-2.5 cm. long, 

 appressed-pilose; leaf-blades obovate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, 10.5-26 cm. long, 3.5-10.5 cm. 

 wide, acute or attenuate at the base, subabruptly acuminate at the apex, bright-green above, 

 sublustrous, glabrous, paler beneath, sericeous along the veins, the lateral veins slender, 

 prominent, ascending, straight or subarcuate; inflorescence cymose, usually 3-flowered, the 

 peduncles slender, 1.5-2.2 cm. long, the flowers subsessile; bracts and bractlets linear-lanceolate, 

 attenuate; hypanthium 5-6 mm. long, densely appressed-pilose; calyx-tube about 1 mm. long, 

 the lobes lanceolate or lance-oblong, 5-9 mm. long, acuminate, reticulate-veined, appressed- 

 pilose; corolla densely pilose; fruit oval, 1.2-1.4 cm. long, 8 mm. wide, sparsely pilose. 



Type locality: Near Hacienda de la Laguna, Veracruz. 



Distribution: Veracruz. 



Illustration: E. & P. Nat. Pfl. 4 4 :/. 26, J, K. 



2. Sommera chiapensis Brand. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 6: 196. 



1915, 



Branchlets succulent, glabrous; stipules linear-lanceolate, about 1.5 cm. long, attenuate, 

 glabrous; petioles slender, 2-5 cm. long, sparsely appressed-pilose; leaf-blades obovate, oval- 

 obovate, or obovate-oblong, 12-27 cm. long, 5-10 cm. wide, abruptly acuminate or attenuate 

 at the base, abruptly acute-acuminate at the apex, bright-green above, glabrous, paler be- 

 neath, densely sericeous when young, sericeous along the veins in age, the lateral veins promi- 

 nent, slender, ascending, subarcuate; inflorescence racemose or cymose-racemose, few-flowered, 

 the pedicels 2-3 mm. long, usually solitary at the end of a peduncle of equal or greater length, 

 the primary peduncles 1-2.5 cm. long; bracts small, oblong, obtuse; calyx-tube 1.5-2 mm. 

 long, the lobes semiorbicular or ovate-orbicular, ciliolate; fruit (immature) globose, 7 mm. in 

 diameter, glabrate. 



Type locality: Near Finca Irlanda, Chiapas. 

 Distribution: Known only from the type locality. 



3. Sommera subcordata Standley, sp. nov. 



Branchlets stout, glabrous; petioles 1.8-2.5 cm. long, glabrous or very sparsely pilose with 

 spreading hairs; leaf-blades oval-obovate, about 15 cm. long and 8 cm. wide, subcordate or 

 rounded at the base, abruptly short-acuminate at the apex, bright-green above, sublustrous, 



