114 MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN [VOL. 10 



areas of the genus can be satisfactorily clarified. Needless to say, such a treatment 

 will necessarily involve a concerted effort on the part of field workers to re-collect 

 in critical type localities both flowering and fruiting materials, preferably from 

 marked trees. This work has already been outlined and it is hoped may be con- 

 tinued. It goes without saying that since intermediate stages of floral structure 

 occur, a study of Nectandra must involve a concomitant treatment of the genus 

 Ocotea as well and the "fringe" genus, Pleurothyrium, the latter heretofore 

 thought to be restricted to the Amazonian area, but which perhaps may be far 

 more widely distributed. Then and only then can a re-evaluation of generic 

 delimitation be undertaken with hope of a satisfactory and acceptable conclusion. 

 The following discussions and descriptions must rest on the study of the in- 

 adequate materials currently available in herbaria. 



Nectandra cuspidata Nees & Martius in Nees, Syst. Laurin. 330. 1836. 



Types. In ripa Fluminis Amazonum, praesertim ad villain Ega Provinciae 

 Fluminis nigri Brasilae, et in sylvis Japurensibus eiusdem Provinciae, Ianuario 

 mense ichoante anthesi et cum f ructu maturo ; porro in sylvis secus fluvios Maue 

 et Amazonum Provinciae Paraensis et Fluminis nigri, Septembre cum floribus 

 fructibusque, Martius (syntypes, fl., fr. M) ; ad Ega iuxta flumen Amazonum, 

 Poeppig (syntype). 



Vernacular Names. Guada-yek (Bernardi) ; Laurel (common). 



Distribution. Tree probably occurring very widely from Trinidad and Tobago 

 along the lower coastal areas of the Guianas, Venezuela and northern Brazil, 

 from Para westward to the lower Rio Orinoco and Rio Solimoes Basins in 

 Amazonas, south to Paraguay ; and occasional^ in the Guayana Highland area 

 of Bolivar and Amazonas, Venezuela and adjoining Colombia. VENEZUELA. 

 Bolivar: Kussarivara (El Leon) formaciones secundarias, Uriman, Bernardi 

 1631 (fl. NY) ; Amazonas: terrenos arenosos y humidos a orillas del Rio Orinoco 

 en los alrededores de San Fernando, Molina <& Barkley 18 V 174 (fl., y. fr. US) ; 

 occasional in Sabana Huachapana, left bank of river 30 km above mouth of Rio 

 Ventuari, Maguire, Wurdack & Keith 41469 (fl. NY), along river just below 

 Raudal Gallineta, Rio Siapa, Wurdack & Adderley 43578 (fl. NY). COLOMBIA. 

 Comisaria del Vaupes: en suelos arenosos y selvas densas, region de San Felipe 

 a orillas del Rio Guainia, Molina & Barkley 18 Va 003 (fr. US) ; Intendencia 

 del Meta: dense, humid forest, El Mico Airstrip (Camp 1), Philipson, Idrobo 

 & Fernandez 1397 (fl. BM). 



Nc&tandra cuspidata, described from the Rio Negro and Rio Solimoes regions, 

 with a variety macrocarpa from Rio de Janeiro (which may be only a mature 

 fruiting specimen) may bear ellipsoid or globose fruits, always totally exserted 

 and subtended by a shallow, flaring cupule. 



The specimens collected by Maguire, Wurdack & Keith and by Wurdack & 

 Adderley are quite similar in every respect, both showing long, narrowly lanceo- 

 late leaves with attenuate, tapering tips and numerous, full-flowered inflores- 

 cences. The Colombian material bears smaller leaves and fewer, few-flowered 

 inflorescences. 



Nectandra pichurim (H. B. K.) Mez, Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5 : 449. 1889. 

 Ocotea pichurim H. B. K. Nov. Gen. Sp. 2: 132. 1817. 



Type. Crescit in uliginosis iuxta Cano de Berita, prope Calabozo, Venezuela 

 fructificat Martio, Laurel incolarum, Humboldt (holotype, fl. P). 



