POSOQUERIA LATIFOLIA. (Rubiaceae). PANAMA PosoQuERIA. 
This is a quick-growing, handsome evergreen tree from tropical Am- 
erica, bearing loose terminal trusses of pure-white tubular flowers that 
are often 6 inches long, but so thin as to give the tree the popular 
name of “Needle Flower.” These flowers which occur in Florida 
from February to April, are so fragrant that their perfume fills the 
entire garden. The tree requires rich soil and is very tender to frost. 
Dr. Fairchild calls attention to a remarkable feature of the tree: “At 
the end of the tube is a small saucer-shaped ‘corolla and long pro- 
truding stamens. These stamens are so set that when you touch them, 
they throw the pollen several inches; a surprising performance.” 
Its behavior is very similar in this respect to the blossoms of Kalmia 
latifolia, the beloved MounratnLaureEL of North Carolina which Char- 
lotte Hilton Green in “Trees of the South” calls a “small flower-David, 
hurling its slingshot of pollen on marauders.” She explains: “The 
perfect, star-like flower has ten stamens, and the anther of each, is 
carefully hidden in one of ten little pocket cavities. When a bee creeps 
down iuto the flower for a sip of nectar its weight releases a tiny 
spring and up shoots the anther, dusting with golden pollen the body 
of the hairy visitor.” Although often just a shrub, P latifolia in its native 
habitat grows to 18 or 20 feet, and has thick, dark green, oval or 
oblong leaves. The yellow fruit looks like a small orange. “When in 
flower, the tree is a showy and handsome one,” writes Paul C. Standley 
in “Flora of the Panama Canal Zone,” p. 857. Besides importing my 
first tree of Posoqueria latifolia from the experiment station at Summit, 
C. Z., I have raised many plants from seed. There is a good deal of 
confusion over the names P latifolia, P longifolia, and P longiflora. 
Macbride’s “Flora of Peru” separates the first and last, other authorities 
regard them as identical. In juvenile appearance they cannot be told 
from the next entry. 
POSOQUERIA MULTIFLORA. Seeds of this came from the 
Harvard Botanical Garden in Cuba with the notation: “This species is a 
large shrub or small tree, native of Brazil. The flowers are long-tubed 
and borne in clusters. It is called the Needle Flower.” But‘ this is a 
distinct species rather than a confusion of names, because I had seed 
also of P. latifolia from the same source. 
GUETTARDA URUGUENSIS. (Rubiaceae). VELVETSEED. A 
small deciduous tree to 20 feet with twisted branches, from. Uruguay. 
It bears clusters of tubular white flowers in the leaf axils, and is 
rather attractive as a dooryard specimen. 
VALLESIA FLEXUOSA. (Apocynaceae). A small evergreen 
tree of the dogbane family, reaching 25 to 35 feet, of very limited 
range, found only in the hills about Zarcero, Costa Rica. The leaves 
are shining. The star-shaped white flowers are in clusters, somewhat 
resembling the Confederate Jasmine (Rynchospermum)... The. large, 
