^OHMEA. 35 



Subgenus 2. Hohenbergia (Sclmltes fil.). 

 [Hoplophytiwi Beer). 



3. M. PLATYNEMA Baker in Journ. Bot. 1879, 166. Pironneava 

 platynema Gaudich. Atlas, Bonite, t. 64. Holienhergia platynema 

 Baker in Eef. Bot. sub t. 284. — Whole plant reaching a height 

 of from 6 to 10 ft. Leaves lorate from an ovate base, 2-3 ft. long, 

 5-6 in. broad at the middle, horny, glabrous on the face, thinly 

 lepidote oh the back, deltoid-cuspidate at the apex, the spreading 

 horny teeth curved, middle-sized, the lower ^ in. long. Panicle 

 ample, tripinnate, with shortly peduncled cylindrical branches, the 

 lower a foot long, subtended by large red lanceolate branch-bracts; 

 tertiary branches short, corymbose, each subtended by a rigid 

 lanceolate bract; flower-bracts coriaceous, ovate, mucronate, J~|- in. 

 long. Ovary with calyx i— |- in. long ; sepals ovate, with a large 

 erecto-patent horny mucro. Petals pale, 2-3-times the length of 

 the sepals. 



Hab. Woods of South Brazil, Weddell ! Homhron ! Gaudichaud 371 ! 

 Burchell 764 ! Tioeedie ! Miers 3211 ! Glaziou 5465 ! 8027 1 15672 1 This is the 

 giant of the genus and rivals Tillandsia regina in the breadth of its leaves. 



4. M. PYTiAMroALis Benth. Bot. Sulph. 173. Hohenbergia pyra- 

 midalis Baker in Eef. Bot. sub t. 284. — Leaves lanceolate, 2 ft. or 

 more long, 2 in. broad at the middle, moderately firm in texture, 

 thinly lepidote on the back, narrowed gradually to the point, the 

 marginal prickles large, spreading, brown, the lower ^ in. long. 

 Peduncle including the inflorescence 4 ft. long. Panicle tripinnate, 

 2 ft. long ; main rachis very flexuose, red ; main branches deflexed, 

 oblong, copiously compound, subtended by large red lanceolate 

 branch-bracts ; tertiary branches very numerous, patent, spicate, 

 1-1|- in. long ; flower-bracts ovate, rigid, mucronate, J-^ in. long. 

 Ovary with calyx ^ in. long ; sepals ovate, longer than the ovary, 

 not mucronate. Petals pa]e, shortly protruded. 



Hab. Guayaquil, Cuming 1178 ! Sinclair ! Woods of Atacamas, Barclay 

 782 ! gathered in Dec, 1836. Western slope of Chimborazo, Andre 4053. 



5. M. Melinonii Hook, in Bot. Mag. t. 5235 (M.D.); Carriere in 

 Bev.Hort. 1880, 390, with fig. ^. Jenmani Baker in Journ. Bot. 1882, 

 329. Hohenbergia Melinonii Baker in Eef. Bot. sub t. 284. — Leaves 

 20 or more in a utricular rosette, lorate from a large oblong base, 

 2-4 ft. long, 1J~2 in. broad at the middle, green on both sides, 

 moderately firm in texture, deltoid-cuspidate at the tip, the teeth 

 middle-sized, horny at the tip. Peduncle a foot long ; bract-leaves 

 pale. Inflorescence a dense tripinnate panicle about a foot long, 

 5-6 in. broad ; branches short, erecto-patent, lower slightly com- 

 pound, subtended by lanceolate branch-bracts ; flowers spaced out, 

 erecto-patent, all sessile ; flower-bracts rigid, ovate, mucronate, 

 ^ in. long. Calyx with ovary | in. long, bright red ; sepals short, 

 ovate, minutely mucronate. Petals red, \~^ in. longer than the 

 sepals. 



Hab. French Guiana. Introduced into cultivation by Melinon about 1840. 

 British Guiana, on the banks of the Essequibo river, Jenman 903 ! Upper 

 Demerara river, Jenman 4039 1 The imperfectly-known Bromelia surinamensis, 

 Miquel in Linnaea, xviii. 378, from Dutch Guiana, seems to be nearly allied. 



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