16 ON SOUTH-AMERICAJSr APOCTNACPiE. 



plant collected in Cayenne by Martin, preserved in the British Museum. I have not 

 adopted Auhlet's generic name, as it might be confounded with his genus Couepia, with 

 his Govpia, and with DeCandoUe's Cupia, but have given its vernacular, Cupi-rana (wild 

 Cupi), a name given to it to distinguish it from the true G\x^i (Couepia guianensis, Aubl.). 

 The floral characters in the , following diagnosis are derived from my own analysis of 

 Martin's plants, which show two very distinct species ; those of the fruit are derived whoU-^ 

 from Aublet's description and drawing, with the necessary correction. 



CupiRANA, nob. Coupoui, Aiibl. ; Calysn tubulosus, margine truncato obsolete 5 -denticulate, crassiuscii 

 lus, 5-nervis, e laminis 2 separabilibus constans, interiore tenuiter membranacea, enervi, margine 

 breviter ciliato, exeriore breviter 5-dentata, demum in lacinias 5 rupta, persistens. Corolla tubus 

 calyce paullo longior, crassus ; limbi segmenta 5, lanceolata, acuta, tubo duplo longiora, imo brevis- 

 sime auriculata, crasse carnosa, opaca, erecto-expansa, aestivatione valde imbricata et simstrorsum 

 simpliciter convoluta. Stamina 5, inclusa, laciniis alterna, imo tubo inserta ; filamenta brevissima, 

 lineari-membranacea j ant her (B biloculares, imo cordatse, sinu dorsali afBxse, loculis anguste lineanbus 

 ad connectivum tenue apice cuspidatim excurrens dorso adnatis, utrinque rima longitudinali 

 introrsum debiscentibus ; pollen subtrigonum, e granulis cohserentibus. Discus parvus, breviter 

 urceolatus, margine crenatus, glaber. Ovarium depresse globosum, bisulcatum, glabrum, disco 

 insitum, eodem dimidio brevius, liberum, biloculare ; ovula pauca, axi affixa. Stylus corollse tubo 

 dimidio brevier, tenuis, sub-4-angulatus, angulis hispidulis, imo pUosus, apice incrassatus ; clavuncula 

 cyiindrica, simplex, aut glandulis 2 linearibus oppositis rigide hispidulis signata : stigmata 2, acute 

 linearia, membranacea, adpressa, glabra, glandulis alterna et sequilonga. Drupa majuscula, ovata, 

 calyce persistente rupto suffulta, abortu unilocularis, monosperma ; semen magnum, amygdalinum. 

 Arbores in Cayenna vigentes, frondosce; folia magna, oblongo-lanceolata, nervosa; flores plwrimi, 

 singulatim pedicellati, summis ramis congesti ; pedicelli hngi aut breves, imo bracteati ; drupae 

 magna, indehiscentes. 



1 . CupiRANA AuBLETiANA, nob. : Coupoui aquatica, Aubl. PI. Guian. ii. Suppl. p. 17, tab. 377 : procera, 

 truaci cortice Isevi, viridi ; ramis crassiusculis, nudis ; ramulis angulato-striatis, fistulosis, medulla 

 repletis : foliis circa 6, altemis, ad apicem ramulorum congestis, magnis. lanceolato-oblongia, infra 

 medium subangustioribus, imo cordatis, auriculis rotundatis et imbricantibus, sursum gradatim 

 angustatis, apice repente acuminatis, glaberrimis, supra pallide viridibus, undique opacis, in costa 

 nervisque sulcatis, venis reticulatis, subtus costa nervisque prominentibus j petiolo angulato, glabro, 

 imo crassiore, limbo 4-5plo breviore : floribus circa 18, in apice ramulorum congestis ; pedicellis 

 teretibus, calyce 4plo longioribus, imo bracteatis ; bractea oblonga rubra, intus dense ramentacea 

 et rufo-tomentosa : calyce tubuloso, adpresse velutino ; corolla calyce 3plo longiore, opaca, seg- 

 mentis vix explicatis : drupa oblonga, immatura ejus Citri medica magnitudine, viridi, imo calyce 

 sufiulta. In Guiana : v. pi. s. in herb. Mus. Brit. Cayenne (Martin) ; fructus nan vidi. 



Aublet's specific name is not adopted, as it presupposes a small aquatic plant, 

 instead of a very tall tree. The trunk is smooth and greenish, with a soft white wood ; its 

 branchlets are filled with a soft pith. The leaves, aggregated at the summit of its bare 

 branchlets, are, in the specimen quoted, 17-20 in. long, 7-8^ in. broad, on petioles 

 4-4^ in. long ; according to Aublet they are 22 in. long, 9 in. broad : they are prettily 

 marked with about 24 pairs of divergent nerves, arcuately conjoined within the margin. 

 About 18 flowers are aggregated on the summit of the branchlet, each on a pedicel some- 

 what thickened above, nearly 2 in. long, and furnished at its base with an oblong sessile 

 reddish bract 1 in. long and ^ in. broad : the calyx is 6 liaes long, 3| lines in diam. ; 



