20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 69 



Hab. : Vicinity of Thika, British East Africa, alt. about 1,350 

 meters, Sept. 6-7, 1909, No. 1139. 



Certainly near P. seriata; but the leaves gradually tapering from 

 a somewhat hastate base, and therefore triangular in outline, scarcely 

 concave, not plicate, the margins quite plane and closely and finely 

 denticulate, with single, not geminate teeth, and the nerve only 

 lightly and distantly roughened at back, are good distinguishing 

 characters. 



BREUTELIA SUBGNAPHALEA (C. M.) var. DENSIRAMEA Negri 

 Loc. 3,630 meters, Nos. 1571, 1576. A fine variety, with the branch- 

 ing very regularly and closely pinnate. The stems are sometimes 

 densely tomentose above, but more often are quite free from to- 

 mentum. 



Breutelia subgnaphalea is exceedingly near to B. diffracta Mitt., 

 from West Africa. Vegetatively, indeed, I can find no difference. 

 The fruit of B. diffracta, however, has an erect or only flexuose seta 

 of above a centimeter in length, whereas that of B. subgnaphalea is 

 described as short and recurved ; the only capsule I have seen is on 

 so short a seta that it is entirely concealed by the capsule, in the 

 Kew specimen. C. Miiller does not describe the peristome, and I 

 am not aware whether it is present, or absent as in B. diffracta. 



BREUTELIA AURONITENS Negri 

 Loc. 3,630 meters, Nos. 1543, 1567. A very beautiful plant, with 

 tall, robust, densely foliate stems 15 to 20 cm. in length, of a bright 

 golden yellow. No. 1567 is the J 1 plant, and has the leaves abruptly 

 reflexed, whereas the normal form has them widely patent only. No. 

 1543 is in two forms, one having the reflexed leaves as in 1567, 

 though not certainly a J 1 plant. This gives the stems a very different 

 appearance, and I supposed at first that two species were involved, 

 but it is clearly only a dimorphic form of the plant. Is the deflexion 

 of the leaves by any chance a secondary sexual (J 1 ) character? The 

 same variation occurs, according to Brotherus, in B. Stuhlmanni 

 Broth. This fact suggests the doubt whether the two species are 

 actually distinct. Both were found first on Ruwenzori ; they are 

 similar in most characters, but differ in that B. Stuhlmanni has the 

 stems tomentose above, a less robust habit, and a rather shorter leaf- 

 base ; but in view of the variation as to tomentum in B. subgnaphalea 

 described above, and taking into account the rather remarkable 

 dimorphism of leaf-direction occurring in both plants, there appears 

 to be some ground for suspicion as to whether they are actually 

 distinct. 



