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to time. The plants will be slightly curved when dried but may 

 be readily straightened out by placing them for a short time 

 under moderate pressure. By this method it is said that the nat- 

 ural colors of the plants are admirably preserved. — H. M. R. 



Bromeliaceae in Costa Rica. — The monograph of the 

 Bromeliaceae by Dr. C. Mez, the great specialist, gives the 

 number of known species in Costa Rica as 56 (in 1896). Yet 

 the real number of species in that small country is about 300. 

 All the genera with superior ovary are epiphytes in Costa Rica, 

 as are also, among those with inferior ovary, the two genera 

 Aeclunea and Billbergia and a few of the genus Hepetis. The 

 chief reasons why such a small percentage of the species is rec- 

 ognized are to be sought in the great similarity of many species 

 and the dissimilarity of individuals of the same species at different 

 ages and under different conditions. There are many species 

 with a number of varieties and finally there is a complete con- 

 fusion of natural hybrids among the superb large Conostachides 

 of the high frost-region. For these reasons, there are few 

 botanists and collectors who venture to take up the Bromeli- 

 aceae seriously in Costa Rica. Only after living for years in the 

 Bromeliaceae region does one become able to recognize the types. 

 Dr. Mez states that the same confusion exists among the smaller 

 species of Tillandsia in Argentina, etc., where they have become 

 entirely mixed by natural crossing. Another reason for the pres- 

 ent neglect of this exceedingly interesting family is the difficulty in 

 drying most species, especially in the wet season. Again many spe- 

 cies have a very local distribution or arevery scarce. — C. Werckle. 



A Texan Cherry — Prunus eximia. A tree becoming 26 m. 

 tall, with wide-spreading branches and glabrous twigs. Leaf- 

 blades relatively thin, mainly ovate, varying to oblong, oblong- 

 lanceolate or oval, 3—8 cm. long, obtuse, or slightly acuminate, 

 but blunt, glabrous, delicately reticulated, serrate with appressed 

 teeth, bright green above, pale green beneath, slender-petioled : 

 racemes drooping, 5—7 cm. long, glabrous : pedicels 4—8 mm. 

 long, thickened upward : sepals deltoid, slightly broader than 

 long, acute: corolla white, 10—12 mm. broad: petals orbicular- 

 ovate : drupe globular, 8— 10 mm. in diameter, purple, sweet. 



In river valleys, south-central Texas. Type, Heller, PI. So. 

 Tex., no. 1592. 



