17,5 Merrill: Studies on Philippine Rubiaceae, IV 441 
petioles pubescent, 2 to 3 mm long ; stipules linear, entire, about 
1 mm long. Cymes rather dense, few-flowered, slenderly 
peduncled, less than 1 cm in diameter, their peduncles pubescent, 
about 1.5 cm long. Flowers (young) about 3 -mm long. Calyx 
globose, about 1 mm long, glabrous, the teeth oblong, 0.5 mm 
long, the pedicels 1 mm long or less. Capsules glabrous, com- 
pressed, about 5 mm wide and 2 to 2.5 mm long, apex nearly 
truncate, crowned with the 5 distinct calyx-teeth, the lateral 
lobes spreading, rounded. 
Luzon, Rizal Province, Mount Lumutan, Bur. Sci. 29785 Ramos 
6 Edaho, August 17, 1917, in forests near the summit, altitude 
apparently about 1,000 meters. 
This species is strongly characterized by its slender, elongated, 
prostrate stems which root at the nodes and its small leaves. It 
is not at all closely allied to any previously described Philippine 
species. 
PLECTRONIA Linnaeus 
PLECTRONIA BRUNNEA sp. nov. 
Frutex erectus, subglaber, novellis minutissime puberulis ; 
foliis in siccitate brunneis, oblongis, subcoriaceis, usque ad 19 
cm longis, junioribus subtus parcissime castaneo-puberulis, per- 
spicue acuminatis, basi leviter decurrento-acuminatis, nervis 
utrinque 7 ad 9, perspicuis, evanescentibus, reticulis obsoletis; 
fructibus axillaribus, solitariis vel binis, oblongo-obovoideis, 
compressis, in siccitate nigris, nitidis, rugosis, obtusis, basi at- 
tenuates, circiter 1.5 cm longis. 
An erect, subglabrous shrub, the very young parts and the 
lower surfaces of young leaves sparingly castaneous-puberulent, 
soon becoming glabrous. Branches terete, dark-brown or red- 
dish-brown, the young branchlets more or less compressed and 
sulcate. Leaves uniformly dark-brown above and paler brown 
beneath when dry, oblong, subcoriaceous, 14 to 19 cm long, 5 to 
7 cm wide, shining, the apex conspicuously acuminate, acumen 
slender, elongated, acute or subacute, sometimes falcate, base 
broad, somewhat decurrent-acuminate; lateral nerves 7 to 9 on 
each side of the midrib, prominent, curved, evanescent, the re- 
ticulations obsolete ; petioles about 8 mm long ; stipules lanceolate- 
acuminate from a somewhat ovate base, about 1 cm long. 
Fruits axillary, solitary or in pairs on a very short peduncle, 
subtended by a pair of ovate, caudate-acuminate bracts about 
5 mm in length, the peduncle and pedicels about 3 mm long, the 
173706 2 
