156 



Illustrations: Gaertn. loc. cit.pl. 28./. i ; Hook. Exot. Fl. 

 1: pi. 2 ; Lodd. Bot. Cab. //. 86s >' ^^^- Mag. pi. joyg, jo8o ; 

 DC. PI. Grasses, pi. S9- 



Distribution: Cuba: Matanzas {Rugel ySy ; Britton & 

 Shafer 4.50) ; Madruga {Britton & Shafer '/88) ; Calicita near 

 Cienfuegos {Combs 470); vicinity of San Luis, Oriente [Pollard 

 &- Palmer J s^ >' Maxon 4012). Haiti: Port Margot to Corneil 

 [Nash 228) ; La Brande to Mt. Balance {Nash & Taylor 1660). 

 Porto Rico: Yauco {Garber 6j ; Sinteiiis j82j); between 

 Aibonito and Cayey {Heller ^ 16) ; near Aibonito {Uuderivood & 

 Griggs 488). Jamaica : near Rio Grande Ford, Cuna Cuna 

 Trail {Fredholm j20'/); Belvidere {Harris 7646) ; vicinity of 

 Castleton {Maxon 8j6) ; Moneague {£. G. Britton 2gj6). San 

 Luis Potosi, Mexico, to Costa Rica, Colombia, Bolivia, Vene- 

 zuela, and Brazil. Tropical Africa. Mauritius. Ceylon. 



The young shoots are often quite bristly, but the mature plant 

 becomes smooth ; flowers are sometimes developed before the 

 bristles fall away. In the West Indies the plant has not been 

 observed by me at a greater altitude than about 500 meters. 



2. Rhip sails alata (Sw.) Schum. Fl. Bras. 4^: 288. 1890 

 Cactus alatiis Sw. Prodr. y] . 1788. 

 Cereiis alatus DC. Prodr. 3 : 470. 1828. 

 Rhipsalis Swartziana Pfeiff Enum. 131. 1837. 

 Hariota alata Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 262. 1891. 

 Rhipsalis Harrisii Giirke, Monats. Kakt. 18 : 180. 1908. 



Pendent from trees and on rocks, sometimes 5 meters long, 

 with several long branches ; joints broadly linear, lanceolate or 

 linear-oblong, often constricted at the middle or above it, bluntish 

 at the apex, decurrent below into a stipe-like base, rather fleshy, 

 bright green, about i mm. thick, 2-4 dm. long, 4-6 cm. wide, 

 the midvein prominent and stout, the margins crenate-undulate, 

 the lower crenations 1-2 cm. long, the u'pper ones 4-8 mm. long, 

 the main lateral veins ending in the sinuses ; flowers yellowish- 

 white, about 15 mm. long; petals 10, lanceolate, acutish, the 

 outer slightly longer than the inner, erect and nearly parallel ; 

 stamens numerous, about one half as long as the petals ; style 

 slender, about three times as long as the five linear stigmas ; 

 berry ovoid, rounded at both ends, yellow-green, 1 cm. long. 

 [Figure 2.] 



