Genus Neraudia — COWAN 
237 
that of the subspecies nor is the category 
in any way related to the horticultural usage of 
the term. Some workers have advocated the 
abolition of the term "variety” and have used 
the argument that there is confusion in its usage 
in formal taxonomy and in horticulture. How- 
ever, it is a category sanctioned in the Inter- 
national Rules and the "confusion” is mostly in 
the minds of the workers who advocate abolish- 
ing the term. A variety may arise by hybridiza- 
tion where two populations meet geographically, 
or it may be produced as a result of population 
changes induced by geologic or climatic isola- 
tion, although the origin in either manner may 
be obscured by the disappearance of inter- 
mediate forms. In general, it is assumed that 
varieties are incipient species. 
Although subspecies and forms have not been 
recognized in the study of this group, it seems 
advisable to attempt a definition of them. The 
subspecies category seems to be applied best 
to groups of varieties with less than specific 
distinctness but more distinctness than a variety. 
Forms are taxonomic units (within either the 
specific or varietal population) which exhibit 
morphological differences of less significance 
than those shown by a varietal, subspecific, or 
specific group. Such entities appear sporadically 
within populations of higher categories. The 
difficulty lies in the recognition of forms, for 
unless extreme care is exercised each ecad may 
receive recognition as a form and be named 
and described as such. Forms are considered 
varieties in the embryonic state of differentia- 
tion. 
SYSTEMATIC AND DESCRIPTIVE TREATMENT 
Genus NERAUDIA Gaudichaud 
Neraudia Gaudichaud, Freyc. Voy. Uranie 
Bot.: 500, 1830. 
Erect, climbing, spreading, or vining shrubs 
or small trees with watery-milky or very milky 
sap; branches usually arcuate but sometimes 
erect and straight, branchlets green with pinkish 
tint at growing tip, pubescence very sparse to 
abundant, hairs erect or appressed, grayish or 
whitish or almost hyaline; petioles 0.5-6 cm. 
long, terete, sparsely or abundantly pubescent, 
hairs erect or appressed, straight or irregularly 
bending and curving. Leaf blades 3-19.5 cm. 
long, 1.5-7 cm. wide, elliptic, lanceolate, ob- 
lance-elliptic, elliptic-ovate, ovate, slightly obo- 
vate, or oval, thin or membranous to thick- 
coriaceous, palmate or triplinerved; upper sur- 
face glabrous or with few to many erect or ap- 
pressed hairs, cystoliths disciform, even with 
upper leaf surface, pulvinate, or strongly salient 
with rounded or sharply truncate apex ( in dried 
material), lower surface glabrous or with few 
hairs largely restricted to venation, or with many 
erect or appressed hairs over entire lower sur- 
face, or with dense covering of erect to sub- 
erect, irregularly curving and bending hairs, 
or puberulent; principal veins and primary 
branches of veins slightly or strongly salient, 
margin entire, dentate, repand, or irregularly 
undulate; base cuneate, cuneate-decurrent, ob- 
tuse, or sub-cordate, apex abruptly acute to 
long-acuminate or tapering gradually into an 
acute or long-acuminate tip. Pistillate flowers 
sessile or on pedicels 0.5-2 mm. long, some 
flowers with subtending bract, calyx lobes fused 
into perigynium with tip drawn out into beak, 
perigynium pilosulose with few, ascending, ap- 
pressed hairs or many erect hairs, beak flaring 
or narrowing upward, irregularly laciniate to 
four acute-toothed, to four acuminate-toothed, 
to three-toothed collariform, stigma 2-8 mm. 
long, receptive stigmatic hairs on all surfaces 
or one side lacking stigmatic hairs. Achene en- 
closed in accrescent, thin to thick-fleshy, smooth, 
or sharply angled and ridged calyx, achene 1-3.5 
mm. tall, usually with distinct apical and basal 
portions, apical portion conic, depressed-conic, 
hemispheric, separated from basal portion by 
deep acute constriction or by very shallow or 
slight constriction or without definite, complete 
constriction, basal portion flat, depressed-convex, 
or convex, outer margin plane or involute, seed 
ellipsoid or ovoid, constricted in upper part or 
entire. Staminate flowers sessile or on pedicels 
0.5-2. 5 mm. long, four calyx segments cohering 
