46 Contributions from the Gray Herbarium 
plants described by Greene as R. californica but R. sitchensis dis- 
plays similar variation in the degree of hairiness. R. Suksdorfii 
quite replaces R. sitchensis in California and is much the more 
common in Oregon. 
Hypro.ea ovata Nutt. Harper has collected this species in 
southwestern Georgia thereby extending its range eastward from 
Louisiana. Brand, Pflanzenreich iv. 251. 179 (1913), distinguished 
the Georgian plant from the typical form as var. georgiana, charac- 
terized by the glabrous upper portions of the calyx. Unfortunately, 
however, Harper’s no. 1170 (the type no. of var. georgiana) as 
represented in the Gray Herbarium has the calyx quite as uniformly 
pubescent as in specimens from the region of the lower Mississippi 
and in no way is distinguishable. 
HypROLEA AFFINIS Gray, Man. ed. 5, 370 (1867). Brand, 
Pflanzenreich iv. 251. 184 (1913), credits this species with densely 
pubescent sepals when as a matter of fact they are entirely gla- 
brous. Gray, l. c., laid emphasis upon this character, his descrip- 
tion reading “ glabrous throughout ” and, in a note, “ distinguished 
[from H. quadrivalvis] by the smoothness and the broader sepals.”’ 
Brand’s misinterpretation of H. affinis led him to write in regard 
to it and H. quadrivalvis: ‘‘ Der vorigen Art sehr ahnlich und oft 
mit ihr verwechselt, aber geographisch streng geschieden.” As a 
matter of fact the species are definitely and consistently distinct 
as pointed out by Gray in 1867 (not “‘ 1872” as given by Brand). 
Pri og MEGAPOTAMICA Sprengel, var. paraguayensis (Cho- 
dat), comb. nov. H. paraguayensis Chodat, Bull. Herb. Boiss. vil. 
app. i. 78 (1899). 
This variety differs from the typical state only in the presence 
of spines. H. spinosa L., var. inermis Spruce represents a similar 
variation and it seems to me possible that the presence or absence 
of spines may be a Mendelian trait. H. megapotamica is regarded 
by Brand as the spineless condition of H. spinosa and he unneces- 
sarily makes the new combination H. spinosa L., var. megapo- 
tamica (Sprengel) Brand when this variety is already furnished 
with a name, i. e. var. inermis Spruce. It is obvious however both 
from the original characterization and from Bennett’s treatment 
that Sprengel’s plant from southern Brazil and Chodat’s from 
adjacent Paraguay are the same and nicely distinct from H. 
