166 



COMPARETflA. 



not only with respect to the temperature but also with respect to 

 tlie periodical rainfall and the hygrometric condition of the atmosphere. 

 The mean temperature of the entire region is about 18° C. (64° F.), 

 but tlie difference between the annual maximum mean and the annual 

 minimum mean of the Avarniest and coldest month is inconsiderable ; 

 it is only 1-5° — 2" C. (2° — 3° F.) in Colombia and Ecuador, but in 

 Guatemala it is 6*5° — 7 "5° C. (12' — 14° F.). The quantity of moisture 

 in the atmosphere varies somewhat according to the season, but there 

 is sufficient ground to conclude that during the wet season it is 

 probably of uniform proportion over the entire zone. 



Comiiarettia falcata is very particular as to the tree on which it 

 grows ; in Guatemala it is found on oaks and oranges with but few 

 exceptions ; in other places it selects the Guava tree (a species of 

 Inga). The woods in which it appears are usually of a thinly set 

 copse-wood character or in park-like savannahs. The plants vary with 

 locality ; in Guatemala they are small, producing short wiry scapes with 

 only three to five flowers but intensely coloured ; in some parts of 

 Colombia they are much longer and produce strong panicles of twenty- 

 five to forty flowers. 



Rodriguezias (Burlingtonias), Trichocentrums and lonopses grow under 

 much the same conditions as this plant.* 



Comparettia Macroplectron, side and front view of flower. 

 (From the Gardeners' Chronicle.) 



C Macroplectron. 



Stems about an inch long, sheathed by rigid scales, usually mono- 

 phyllous, but sometimes diphyllous, in which case the leaves are unequal. 

 Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 3 — 5 inches long. Scapes slender, sub- 



F. C. Lehmann in Gard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 24. 



