204 



RUMPHIUS'S HERBARIUM AMBOINENSE 



OREOCNIDE Miquel 



(Villebrunea Gaudichaud) 



OREOCNIDE RUBESCENS (Blume) Miq. Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. 4 



(1869) 306. 



Urtica rubescens Blume Bijdr. (1825) 506. 

 Villebrunea rubescens Blume Mus. Bot. 2 (1856) 167. 

 Lignum aquatile Rumph. Herb. Amb. 4: 135, t. 70. 



Amboina, Batoe merah River, Robinson PI. Rumph. Amb. 315, Septem- 

 ber 24, 1913, on river banks, altitude about 40 meters. 



Hasskarl, Neue Schlussel (1866) 86, thought that Lignum 

 aquatile Rumph. might be Oreocnide major Miq. or 0. silvatica 

 Miq. ; according to J. J. Smith the former is a synonym of Ville- 

 brunea rubescens B\ume=Oreocnide rubescens Miq., and the 

 latter is a variety of it. The Amboina specimens, which agree 

 closely with the figure, but not very well with the description, 

 appear to be fairly typical of Oreocnide rubescens Miq. Rumph- 

 ius's description is short and rather poor and may include more 

 than this species. 



As to the genera Oreocnide Miquel and Villebrunea Gaudi- 

 chaud, on a strict interpretation the former has priority; see 

 C. B. Robinson in Philip. Journ. Sci. 6 (1911) Bot. 16. 



ROBI NSON IODEN DRON genus novum 



Genus Maoutiae affinis, differt perianthium 9 distincte evolu- 

 tum, 5-denticulatum. 



ROBI NSON IODEN DRON AM BIGUUM (Wedd.) comb. nov. 



Maoutia ambigua Wedd. in Arch. Mus. Paris 8 (1855-56) 483; DC. 



Prodr. 16 1 (1869) 235 33 . 

 Perlarius I latifolius Rumph. Herb. Amb. 4: 120. 



Amboina, Batoe merah, Robinson PI. Rumph. Amb. 21U, August 24, 

 1913, on hillsides at low altitudes. 



The specimen cited above agrees perfectly with Rumphius's 

 description, as well as with that of Maoutia ambigua Wedd., a 

 species known only from Amboina and anomalous in the genus 

 by its distinctly developed pistillate perianth. No previous 

 reduction of Perlarius I latifolius Rumph. has been suggested, 

 other than Hasskarl's opinion that it might be a variety of 

 Perlarius I, that is, Pipturus argenteus Wedd. 



In view of the fact that the species is anomalous in Maoutia, 

 where it was placed by Weddell, it seems best to establish 

 another genus for it; in Maoutia the pistillate perianth is 

 wanting. The generic name I have proposed is selected in 



