ON 80UTH-AMEEICAN APOCTNACIU:. 249 



brusli-like spike, signalized by seyeral imbricate bracts partly concealing as many incon- 

 spicuous flowers, wbicb bave a tubular corolla witb small rounded segments 3-4 times 

 sborter tban tbe tube. De Candolle, in his description of the genus, assigns a sinistrorse 

 convolution to the segments of the corolla, which is not correct ; but Miiller rightly gives 

 them a dextrorse direction. 



Laseguea, a. DC. (char, emend.) Sepala 5, ovato -acuminata, submembranacea, intus squamula integra 

 vel irregulariter dentata singulatim munita ; corolla tubulosa ; tubus cylindricus, calyci sequalis vel 

 longior, medio paullo constrictus, et ibi anniilo piloso intus donatus; segmenta 5, insequilatera, 

 oblique ovata, angulo sinistra acutiora, tubo 3-4plo breviora, dextrarsum convoluta. Stamina 

 inclusa, ad medium tubi annulo piloso inserta ; filamenta brevissima, margine villosa ; anthera lineari- 

 oblongse, in conum cohaerentes, apice membrana apiculatse, imo cordatse rel obtuse et brevissime 

 bilobse. Discus e lobis 5 obtusis, ovariis dimidio brevior ; stylus filiformis ; clavuncula incrassata, 

 imo membrana peltata munita ; stigmata 2, parva, terminalia. FoUiculi 2, tenuiter teretes, erecti, 

 vix curvati, ssepe longissimi. Semina numerosa, subimbricata, lineari-oblonga, apice truncata, 

 striolata ; coma erecta, seminis sesquilongitudine, e pilis mollibus conf ecta. 



Plantae America intertropica, rare extratropicm plerumque Brasilianoe, a radice s<Bpe tuberoso orta ; 

 ramuli subherbacei, vel sublignosi, scandentes ; folia opposita, ovato-oblonga, scepe cordata, subbreviter 

 petiolata; racemi axillares vel subterminales, pedunculati, crebre multiflori, aspergilliform£S, imbri- 

 catim bracteati ; flores mediocres, inconspicui, pedicellati. 



1. Laseguea Gdilleminiana, A. DC. Prodr. viii. p. 481 ; Deless. Icon. v. p. 23, tab. 53 : Laseguea erecta, 



var. Guilleminiana, Miill. Fl. Bras. fasc. xxvi. p. 135, tab. 41. In Brasilia, prov. centralib : v. s. in 

 herb. Mus. Brit. Minas Geraes (Claussen) . 



This plant has a stout erect pubescent stem, with axils | in. apart ; its decussately 

 opposite leaves are oval, mucronate at the apex, cordate at the base, pubescent beneath, 

 with prominent nerves and reticulate veins, 3-4i|^ in. long, 2-3 in. broad, on petioles 

 1 line long; raceme elongated, 4-8 in. long, pyramidal, bare at the base, densely 

 flowered, clothed with imbricating lanceolate bracts, each 5 lines long, supporting a 

 single pedicellate flower ; pedicels twisted, pubescent, 6 lines long ; sepals glabrous, 

 lanceolate, 9 lines long, 1 line broad at the base ; tube of corolla cylindrical, 8 lines 

 long ; segments 1 J line long, acute, dextrorsely convolute ; stamens inserted on a pilose 

 ring above the middle of the tube, included; filaments short; anthers coherent in a 

 cone ; disk of 5 truncated lobes, half as long as the 2 ovaries. 



2. Laseguea ekecta, Miill. (in parte) I. c. p. 135 : Laseguea acutifolia^ A. DC. Ann. Sc. Nat. 1844, 



p. 261 j Walp. Rep. vi. p. 477: Echites erecta, Veil. Fl. Flum. p. 113, Icon. iii. tab. 45. In 

 Brasilia, ad Encrucilhada, prope conterminam prov. Rio de Janeiro et S. Paulo : «o« vidi. 



An erect shrub, about 18 in. high, with a stout semiherbaceous pubescent stem, 

 bearing a single branchlet, the axils being 2 in. apart ; leaves decussately opposite, erect, 

 subovate, cordate at the base, narrowing upwards into a subacute point, margins 

 undulate, beneath pilose, with prominent subascending nerves, 3-4 in. long, 1^2 J in. 

 broad, on petioles 2 lines long ; racemes axillary and terminal, narrowly spicate, on a 

 peduncle 4 in. long in flower (longer in fruit), with very approximate flowers, signalized 

 by many imbricate adpressed acute bracts 4 lines long ; pedicels 4 lines long ;, sepala 



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