226 ON SOUTH-AMEEICAN APOCYNACE^. 



Secondatia, a. DC. Sepala 5, parva, acuto-ovata, subaequalia, imbricata, intus squamulis totidem 

 mimitis altemis aut oppositis irregulariter sitis munita. Corolla subparva ; tubus subbrevis, imo 

 constrictus, superne paulissime ampliatus, intus pilosulus ; segmenta trapezoideo-dolabriformia, apice 

 sinuato-tmncata, tubum sequantia aut superantia, expansaj in sestivatione dextrorsum convoluta. 

 Stamina imo tubi inserta et eidem subsequilonga ; filamenta subbreria, glabra ; anthercs liueares, in 

 conum cohserentesj apice acuminatsEj imo in aristis 2 tenues paullo divergentes fissse, dorso hirsutae. 

 Discus urceolatus, fere ad basia in lobos 5 obtusos fissus; ovaria 2, subglobosa, disco paullulo 

 breviora. Folliculi 2, fusiformi-oblongi, aut ovatiores, validi, sublignosi, divaricatim erecti, sutura 

 ventrali dehiscentes, et ibi placentiferi j placenta coriacea, striata; semina numerosa, lineari- 

 oblonga; coma magna, e pUis longis elasticis subrevolutim curvatisj embryo in albumine, cotyle- 

 donibus semiteretibus, quam radicula supera triplo longioribus. 



Sufirutices intertropici, plerumque Brasiliani, subscandentes, glabri ; folia opposita, obhnga, ple- 

 rumque parvula, petiolata; inflorescentia terminalis, breviter racemosa, pluri- vel pauciflora ; flores 

 inconspicui. 



1. Secondatia densiflora, A. DC. Prodr. viii. p. 445 j Miill. Fl. Bras. xxvi. p. 108, tab. 32 (anal, floris 

 et fructus) . In Brasilia, prov. Cuyaba et Goyaz : v, s. in herb. Mus. Brit. Cuyaba (Manso, ex herb. 

 Martius) ; in herb, meo prov. Goyaz (Gardner 3325) . 



Prof. De Candolle unites witli tliis a specimen from Guiana, a species alluded to by 

 Bentham (Lond. Journ. Bot. iii. p. 250, sub Schomb. 599). Miiller joins with it other 

 plants from Minas and Guiana ; but from the differences in the diagnoses of De Can- 

 dolle and of Mtiller, and from the discordance in the floral analysis of the latter from 

 that I observed in Manso's specimen, we may conclude that two, if not three, species 

 have been confounded together by MiiUer. The following description of the species is 

 given from a careful examination of the specimens of Manso and Gardner. Miiller's 

 floral analysis therefore relates not to this species, but to another, either from Minas or 

 Guiana. 



It is apparently a scandent plant, having somewhat slender, curving, subfistulose, sub- 

 lenticellate, striate, glabrous branches, with axils 1^ in. apart, and a small acute stipule 

 on each side of the opposite petioles ; leaves ovate-oblong, roundish or subacute at the 

 base, suddenly constricted at the summit into a narrowish subacute acumen, the margins 

 sinuously undulating, thinly chartaceoTis, glabrous, green above, midrib prominulent, 

 vpith 12 pairs of fine distinct divergent nerves, free and somewhat arching but not 

 conjoined within the margin, a little darker beneath, opake, with prominulent nerves and 

 scarcely visible transverse veins, 3-4 in. long, IJ- 2 in. broad, on subpatent channelled 

 petioles 4-5 lines long ; panicle terminal, in the sinus between the ultimate pair of leaves, 

 nearly 1 in. long, biramose at the base, the branches divided and bearing from 20 to 40 

 small flowers on approximate alternate pedicels 2-3 lines long, supported each by a 

 bracteole the size of the sepals ; sepals ovate, obtuse, with ciliate membranaceous mar- 

 gins, I line long ; corolla hypocrateriform ; tube cylindrical, inside glabrous in the middle 

 towards the base, but thickly pilose in the mouth, 4 lines long ; segments ovate, slightly 

 dolabriform, dextrorsely convolute, 2 lines long, 1^ line broad ; stamens seated near the 

 base of the tube ; filaments short, puberulous ; anthers liaear, 2;| lines long, very acu- 

 minate, with 2 parallel basal prongs ; disk urceolate, cleft halfway into 5 obtuse lobes 

 nearly as long as the ovaries ; foUicles 2, subdivergent, often solitary by abortion, with 



