THE UNIVERSITY

OF ILLINOIS

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THE UNIVERSITY

OF ILLINOIS

LIBRARY

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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

FOUNDED BY MARSHALL FIELD, 1893

PUBLICATION 283

BOTANICAL SERIES VOLUME X

FLORA OF THE LANCETILLA VALLEY

HONDURAS

BY

PAUL C. STANDLEY

"/ •»

ASSOCIATE CURATOR OP THE HERBARIUM, DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY

B. E. DAHLGREN

ACTING CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY

EDITOR

CHICAGO, U. S. A.

JANUARY 15, 1931 ,

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

CONTENTS

PAGE

Illustrations 5

Introduction 7

Geography and inhabitants 10

Climate 14

Vegetation 16

Second-growth 16

Upland forests 19

Stream banks 26

Seashore 27

Wooded swamps 29

Marshes 31

Progreso region 32

Epiphytes 33

Weeds 35

Relationships of the flora 38

Economic plants 40

Vernacular names 45

Exploration of the region 47

Plan of the flora 48

Acknowledgments 49

Annotated list of genera and species 50

Index . . 396

"•^

7

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE

I. Forested hills above Lancetilla Experiment Station.

II. Lancetilla Experiment Station.

III. Forest near Lancetilla.

IV. Corozo palm thickets.

V. A giant ceiba tree.

VI. Hemionitis palmata.

VII. Chamaedorea pacaya.

VIII. Desmoncus polyacanthos.

IX. Geonoma binervia.

X. Geonoma glauca.

XI. Carludovica Oerstedii.

XII. Anthurium scolopendrinum.

XIII. Monstera pertusa.

XIV. Philodendron guttiferum.

XV. Philodendron radiatum.

XVI. Xanthosoma roseum.

XVII. Aechmea bracteata.

XVIII. Tillandsia compressa.

XIX. Xiphidium caeruleum.

XX. Heliconia Bihai.

XXL Heliconia crassa.

XXII. Costus spicatus.

XXIII. Calathea insignis.

XXIV. Calathea lutea.

XXV. Calathea macrosepala.

XXVI. Pleiostachya pruinosa.

XXVII. Maxillaria rufescens.

XXVIII. Sobralia decora.

XXIX. Trigonidium Egertonianum.

XXX. Lacistema aggregatum.

XXXI. Peperomia Gollii.

XXXII. Piper auritum.

5

6 ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE

XXXIII. Myriocarpa yzabalensis.

XXXIV. Chichicaste (Urera baccifera).

XXXV. Pokeweed (Phytolacea rivinoides).

XXXVI. Cissampelos grandifolia.

XXXVII. Wild nutmeg (Virola guatemalensis).

XXXVIII. Hirtella guatemalensis.

XXXIX. Pithecolobium arboreum.

XL. Cynometra retusa.

XLI. Rosewood (Dalbergia cubilquitzensis).

XLII. Acalypha costaricensis.

XLIII. Croton glabellus.

XLIV. Tragia Bailloniana.

XLV. Pate (Paullinia scarlatina).

XLVI. Luehea Seemannii.

XLVII. Malvaviscus Cutteri.

XLVIII. Carpotroche platyptera.

XLIX. Casearia arguta.

L. Hasseltia mexicana.

LI. Xylosma sylvicola.

LII. Passion-flower (Passiflora biflora).

LIII. Begonia Popenoei.

LIV. Conostegia xalapensis.

LV. Miconia impetiolaris.

LVI. Stemmadenia Donnell-Smithii.

LVII. Vara blanca (Aegiphila fasciculata).

LVIII. Cestrum panamense.

LIX. Cyphomandra mollicella.

LX. Lycianthes vulpina.

LXI. Aphelandra aurantiaca.

LXII. Diateinacanthus hondurensis.

LXIII. Jacobinia umbrosa.

LXIV. Psychotria marginata.

LXV. Faramea stenura.

LXVL Gurania Makoyana.

LXVII. Eupatorium morifolium.

LXVIII. Tres puntas (Neurolaena lobata).

FLORA OF THE LANCETILLA VALLEY

HONDURAS

PAUL C. STANDLEY

INTRODUCTION

Botanical institutions receive frequent requests for publications

describing the collective vegetation and the individual species of the

flora of Central America. They come from amateurs and botanists

who live in the region or who wish to visit it or to study its plants.

To such correspondents the reply must be made that there is no

publication covering satisfactorily the whole of Central America,

and very little that treats of the floras of the separate countries.

Besides the bare list of species published fifty years ago by Hemsley

in the Biologia Centrali- Americana, when only a comparatively small

proportion of the Central American species were known, the only

works at all useful are the L/ista Preliminar de la flora salvadorena,

by Dr. Salvador Calderon and the present writer, which is only an

annotated list of species, and the more recent and somewhat more

comprehensive Flora of the Panama Canal Zone that appeared in

1927.

It is obvious that there is room for another descriptive botanical

work dealing with even a very limited portion of Central America,

for many more, in fact. The present flora is more than a mere list

of the species growing in the Lancetilla Valley, but something less

than a descriptive manual. Although intended to cover only a very

small and limited area, the area is one altogether typical of the wet

lowlands of the whole Atlantic coast of Central America. A botanist

working anywhere along the Central American coast immediately

discovers that the area in which he is engaged is conspicuously

different botanically from all the others that he has visited pre-

viously, but he must admit that the great majority of the species

are common to all the localities that he has visited.

On the Atlantic coast the writer is familiar with areas in Panama,

Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala, and he remembers each one

as having distinctive characters common to none of the others,

although the most plentiful and abundant plants are everywhere

the same.

8 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

The present enumeration of lowland Honduran plants includes a

vast majority of the species found in any region along the Central

American coast, and even far inland. On the other hand, no farther

away than Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, or Puerto Castilla, Honduras,

there are found at least a few conspicuous trees and herbs, frequently

very characteristic ones, that are not known to grow about Lancetilla.

The Flora of the Lancetilla Valley will, nevertheless, be found nearly

as useful for study purposes anywhere in the lowlands of Central

America as in Honduras. For that matter, it will be found to contain

some mention of a large proportion of the commoner plants that

inhabit southern Mexico, the West Indies, and even northern South

America.

The scope of this flora is a limited one. It is intended to cover

primarily the Lancetilla Valley, which runs inland along the Tela

River for five miles from the port of Tela, Honduras. At Lancetilla

is located the Experiment Station of the Tela Railroad Company,

under the direction of Wilson Popenoe. Stimulated by the enthusi-

asm of the director of this station, and encouraged by the friendly

and helpful attitude toward scientific investigation always manifested

by the United Fruit Company, and especially by its present president,

Victor M. Cutter, this station has become a headquarters for natural

history investigations. Because of exceptionally favorable condi-

tions existing here for such work, there is good reason to expect that

Lancetilla Station will become increasingly important as headquarters

for research work, and we may hope to obtain, through the coopera-

tion of interested specialists, a detailed account of the botany and

zoology of this little-known part of Central America. In botany, at

least, no better center for field work could be chosen, since heretofore

nothing at all has been known of the Honduran flora. The collections

made by the writer on the coast and in the interior are the first of

any extent to have been procured anywhere in the whole Republic

of Honduras. Inasmuch as they represent exploration in very limited

areas, it is evident that at present we know but little of Honduran

vegetation. Practically all the interior, a highly diversified mountain

area, and even most of the coast still await exploration, and there is

no doubt that they will yield a profitable return for the effort

expended in exploring them.

The field work upon which this published flora is based was per-

formed from November, 1927, to March, 1928, while the writer was

a member of the staff of the United States National Museum. The

work was conducted through the cooperation of the National

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 9

Museum and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, through

the interest of Professor Oakes Ames, and with the hearty support

of Victor M. Cutter, president of the United Fruit Company, and

of Wilson Popenoe, director of Lancetilla Experiment Station of the

Tela Railroad Company. Throughout the winter, the somewhat

fickle weather permitting, work was carried on from headquarters

maintained at Lancetilla.

Never have I worked under such favorable conditions. With

provision made for every bodily comfort and with every convenience

for collecting and preserving specimens, there was none of the waste

of time and effort usually demanded by worries regarding the mani-

fold problems ordinarily involved in even a moderate amount of such

work. No more convenient location could be found. Virgin forest

may be reached in five minutes from the station, and there is a choice

of routes in every direction, each one leading to some more interesting

locality. Daily trips in all directions failed to exhaust the flora,

although it must be confessed that toward the end of the winter

additional species were not so plentiful as formerly. There is every

reason, however, for believing that residence here during the summer

months would add a substantial number of species not observed

during the winter.

Most of the writer's attention was devoted to the immediate

vicinity of Lancetilla Station, and consequently the limited area

known as the Lancetilla Valley was explored rather thoroughly. This

consists of the rugged valley of the Tela River, up to the tops of the

hills which rise on either side to an elevation of about six hundred

meters. Frequent excursions were made also about Tela, along the

coast, in a region with decidedly different botanical features from

those existing near Lancetilla. Since the distance from Lancetilla

to Tela is only three miles, and that to the tops of the hills consider-

ably less, it may be seen that the region is a small one.

It is quite unfair for one unacquainted with Central America to

judge such an area by one of similar size in the United States. A

comparison is scarcely possible. In several years one person would

be unable to explore every bit of it, and until he did, he could not

be certain that he had obtained all the species of plants. Moreover,

he probably would be unable to find all of them in proper condition

for collection in a single year. In a similar area in the United States

it would be altogether impossible, I believe, to find an equal number

of species.

10 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

The Lancetilla flora, however, is intended to include all the species

collected in the Tela Division of the United Fruit Company, although

the Lancetilla Valley is the only part of this region that was covered

at all thoroughly. The Tela Division extends inland some thirty

miles along the Ulua River, to and beyond the town of Progreso,

which lies in a region much drier than that about Tela. Obviously it

would be impossible to cover in a few months a large tropical area

like this. Several visits were made to Progreso, to Quebrada Seca

near by, and to La Fragua, and two brief excursions were devoted

to the Guaymas District. All the species collected in the Tela Divi-

sion have been listed in this report, but there doubtless exist several

hundred more which were not collected.

Toward the end of the winter a trip of three weeks was made to

the mountains of the interior of Honduras, and as far southward

as the capital, Tegucigalpa. Several hundred plants were collected on

the pine-clad mountains about Siguatepeque, in the Department of

Comayagua, but these are not listed here, since they are representa-

tive of an altogether distinct flora, more like that of the Pacific

coast of Central America.

The Lancetilla Valley is situated three miles inland from the

port of Tela, a little west of the center of the northern coast of

Honduras. It is a newly settled region, and can not compete in

historical interest with Puerto Cortes, whose very name is significant,

or with Truxillo, to the east. The latter is celebrated in history as

the first spot upon the American mainland on which the Spaniards

set foot. The present town of Truxillo is the most picturesque and

the most pleasantly located of all the ports of Central America, being

the only one, in fact, that I have ever seen which has any attractive

points at all, with the possible exception of La Libertad, in Salvador.

Lying on the lowest slopes of a high mountain, on an elevated bench

which provides the drainage so badly needed in other ports, its low

white walls, its dignified old, very old, church, and its palm-thatched

Carib village give it an appearance quite in keeping with its more

than four hundred years of existence. Seldom, even in the most

conservative parts of the interior, have I seen a settlement so per-

meated with the atmosphere of Spanish colonial days.

But Tela is quite another place, a modern town, with more com-

forts and conveniences, it is true, but without picturesqueness. It

is too "American" (the Central Americans themselves use this word,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 11

meaning North American, when they desire to indicate progressive-

ness) to be picturesque or interesting. Along this coast must have

tramped Hernan Cortes and his followers on their historic march to

Truxillo, but there is no visible reminder of the fact. No one can

appreciate better than a botanist the heroism of that epochal journey

of Cort4s, across the swamps of southern Mexico, Pete"n, and Hon-

duras. Attempt to make the journey now, with the knowledge that

there are railroads and convenient settlements close at hand, and see

what difficulties you will have. Whatever may be said of the

Spaniards of that day, there is no denying their courage and their

endurance, and of these qualities no man had such an ample stock

as the conqueror of Mexico.

The difficulty of exploring the flora of the Honduran coast results

from the broken surface of the country and especially from the abun-

dance of thickly grown and impenetrable swamps and the extensive

marshes. If it were not for the substantial clearings that have been

made and the railroad lines that have been constructed, it would be

almost impossible to explore the region at all, for travel in any direc-

tion would be terminated quickly by some obstacle which scarcely

could be surmounted.

All but the most unobservant visitors from the North soon notice

one curious feature of the Tela region which is in striking contrast

with the United States — there are no wagon roads. Furthermore,

there are very few trails. One misses here the picturesque and friendly

oxen and the creaking carts. Only in those parts of the coast where

sugar cane is grown are there oxen, and consequently roads. This

absence of cart roads is almost universal in the tierra caliente of

Atlantic Central America. Their place is taken by the banana rail-

roads and their innumerable branches, over which there are operated

light motor cars or even automobiles.

As the Honduran shore is approached, there is seen beyond the

fringe of mangrove swamps or the sandy beaches an expanse of com-

paratively level country lying between the hills and mountains,

which here approach closely to the shore. In some places the hills

advance to the sea, and the more level land extends like bays and

coves of verdure between them. The major part of the arable land

of the Tela region consists of the flood plain of the great Ulua River

and its tributaries, and it is along and near this river, and generally

at some distance from the town of Tela itself, that most of the bananas

are grown.

12 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

The Lancetilla Experiment Station is situated in a very narrow

valley, that of the Tela River, which is a short stream across which

one can walk easily, unless averse to wetting one's feet — a stream

with a swift current of clear, cool water. During a heavy rain this

river may become a raging torrent, but it soon subsides to its normal

volume. There is but little low or swampy land along its course,

the banks being usually elevated and well drained.

On either side of the valley rise steep-sided hills, to an extreme

height of 600 meters. They are densely forested, deep green, and

very beautiful, especially when half veiled with clouds after rain

storms. Above Lancetilla the valley narrows rapidly, its sides become

steeper, and it soon ends against a high wall of hills, since it has the

familiar form of the "box" canyons of the West.

Tela lies at the mouth of this valley, where the Tela River empties

into the sea. A railroad branch runs eastward to Jilamo Junction,

through banana plantations now mostly abandoned, to connect with

another railroad that runs to La Ceiba, the first port to the eastward.

West from Tela extends the main line of the Tela Railroad, which

runs through the principal banana plantations of the company, to

and beyond the inland town of Progreso, on the Ulua River. Innu-

merable branches of the railroad cover all the banana plantations,

to provide for transportation of the fruit to the port.

Practically all the land within this area that is fit for the purpose

is covered with banana plants which, however beautiful when stand-

ing alone or in moderate quantities, become exceedingly monotonous

when massed in plantations many miles in extent. Between the

banana plantations, however, are large areas unsuited for their culti-

vation. These consist, near the coast, of wide marshes and of densely

wooded swamps which can not, or at least have not, been drained.

Much swamp land has been ditched and planted. The most spec-

tacular of these unused areas is the great Toloa Swamp that is crossed

by the railroad as it approaches the Ulua River from Tela. It is like

many other swamps or marshes in Central America, a shallow lake

with an abundance of aquatic plants, and such a profusion of water

birds as one sees only in the tropics.

Eastward from Tela there is more of this open, swampy land, and

also wooded swamps, in which the back water rises at high tide. To

cross them at such a time one must follow a guide and wade water

to the knees, although at low tide it is possible to walk almost dry-

shod along the same trails. It is across such a swamp as this that

one reaches the picturesque seashore Carib village of Triunfo.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 13

Although the Caribs are much disliked by the Spanish people, a

northerner will admire the neatness and cleanliness of their villages,

in striking contrast to most Spanish coast towns.

One of the outstanding features of the Tela region, and a charac-

teristic of the Atlantic lowlands generally, is the absence of exposed

rock. In the lower places any rocks soon would be covered with silt,

but even in the hills rocks seldom are seen except along the water-

courses, where streams fall over stony channels. In a few places,

especially along the Ulua and still farther inland, there are exposures

of a white rock that contrasts sharply with the green vegetation.

Probably all the hills and mountains soon would be equally exposed

if the protecting forest were removed.

Most of the region covered by this flora lies in the Department

of Atlantida, Honduras, but the part toward Progreso belongs to the

Department of Yoro. Although politically referable to Central

America, the banana country is in most respects alien to Central

America proper. In Costa Rica there is a saying that, after landing

at Limon, one does not arrive in Costa Rica until the town of Turri-

alba, many miles inland, is reached. The real Central America con-

sists of the interior and of the Pacific coast, which are without foreign

influence. This is true in spite of the fact that much of the wealth

of these countries is derived from the banana plantations of the

Atlantic coast. One who knows only the banana country, knows

nothing of Central America. On the coast and in the interior every-

thing is different— the country, climate, people, customs and culture,

plants, animals, and even the food.

On the banana coast North American customs prevail, and North

American standards, so far as they can be maintained. This is the

natural result of the influence of the Americans who direct the work

of the large banana properties. Here on the coast one is likely to hear

English spoken more often than Spanish. Besides the ordinary

tongue, one makes the acquaintance of a peculiar and extraordinary

"English," that weird mingling of English words and African gram-

mar affected by another element, the West Indian negroes, who

always are found in large numbers along the coast. They seldom

settle in the interior, partly, it is said, because they are unable to

endure the upland climate, but more probably because of the antip-

athy of the Spanish population.

Another element of the coast, scarcely alien but certainly not

Spanish, is composed of the Caribs, who dwell in considerable numbers

in Honduras and elsewhere along the Central American coast. Their

14 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

homes are always on the seashore or on the banks of the larger streams.

These Caribs are doubtless a very different people from the true

Caribs who inhabited the Antilles and the coast of northern South

America 400 years ago. They consist now of the descendants of the

original Caribs and West Indian slaves who escaped to the Spanish

Main. They speak their own peculiar and difficult language, with

its astonishing intonation, and it is not unusual to find Carib children

who speak equally well— or badly — Carib, Spanish, and English.

The Spanish laborers in the banana plantations are not of homo-

geneous origin. Many are Hondurans from the interior, lured to the

coast by the comparatively high wages. Others come from Nicaragua,

and still more from overpopulated Salvador, and there are found

occasional stragglers from other Central and South American coun-

tries. With all these elements, and representatives of many nations

of Europe, besides occasional Chinese and East Indians, the popula-

tion of Central American coast towns is rather cosmopolitan.

CLIMATE

In climate the Atlantic coast of Central America is, so far as we

know, rather uniform. Certain localities, such as San Juan del Norte,

Nicaragua, are famous for their heavy rainfall, but probably there

are no trustworthy data to support their reputation.

Everywhere along the coast the rainfall is heavy, and more or less

continuous throughout the year. This is in striking contrast with

conditions on the Pacific coast, where there is a prolonged dry season,

often without any precipitation, from about November to May.

The following table shows the rainfall in inches at Lancetilla

Experiment Station from 1926 to 1929. The data for these and the

succeeding tables are reproduced here through the courtesy of Hartley

Rowe, Vice-President of the United Fruit Company.

1926 1927 1928 1929

January.. 26.40 23.91 28.67 11.85

February 9.75 6.40 15.70 0.94

March 5.60 3.08 3.29 0.54

April 4.60 0.17 12.08 0.59

May 6.25 1.26 2.74 5.19

June 1.60 2.96 5.06 6.85

July 7.40 10.41 10.86 12.71

August 8.50 29.12 6.10 13.34

September 4.00 9.96 12.97 9.86

October... .... 16.40 7.89 9.81 17.46

November... ... 36.00 26.15 38.21 7.59

December.. 9.50 5.66 26.78 46.42

Totals.. . 136.00 126.97 172.27 133.34

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY

15

These figures cover so few years that it is difficult to draw any

conclusions from them. Their most striking feature is the apparent

almost haphazard distribution of the rainfall during the year, but

evidently the wettest months are November, December, and January.

During January, 1928, more than twenty-eight inches of rain fell,

nearly half of it on the first day of a temporal. For two weeks

showers were so frequent that it was possible to do but little

botanical collecting.

Rains usually are welcomed, unless they are so violent as to

damage bananas and railways, for they cool the air and make living

conditions more endurable. During prolonged rainless periods the

temperature is excessive and oppressive.

The mean temperature and the mean relative humidity at Lan-

cetilla during 1926-29 are shown in the following tables:

MEAN TEMPERATURE

1926 1927

January 70.40

February 74.50

March 72.70

April 76.00

May 78.40

June 80.50

July 80.00 78.70

August 79.20 78.20

September... 79.50 78.70

October 78.40 76.80

November 68.69 73.90

December 73.20 74.00

MEAN RELATIVE HUMIDITY

1926 1927

January 89.91

February 90.00

March 77.00

April 75.00

May 76.20

June 77.00

July 74.80 82.00

August 82.00

September 82.00

October 83.00 88.00

November 81.00 90.00

December.. 90.90 88.98

1928

70.90

74.00

74.90

77.60

78.20

79.20

78.80

78.80

79.30

77.10

74.60

72.00

1928

87.00

85.00

81.00

88.00

84.00

85.80

86.00

86.20

88.20

89.80

92.30

90.60

1929

72.90

74.00

75.35

78.48

78.83

78.51

78.04

78.25

78.59

76.60

75.70

72.50

1929

87.20

80.00

77.80

76.00

79.45

84.52

84.30

84.60

84.50

90.30

88.40

91.00

During the time I spent at Lancetilla, the temperature was found

to be rather agreeable and comfortable for the most part, certainly

more so than in some other places along the coast. One suffers much

more from the heat at Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, Limon, Costa

Rica, or Colon, Panama; or at least that is the writer's experience.

16 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

At noon, especially in the sun, the heat is intense at Lancetilla, but if

sitting quietly one may be comfortable enough. Even when walking

or climbing over the trails, one's clothing does not become saturated

with perspiration so quickly as in some other places. The highest

temperature reported at Lancetilla is 94°, in June, 1927, and April,

1929.

At night the temperature nearly always is pleasant at Lancetilla,

as it is generally in the lowlands of Central America. The nights are

so delightful, especially when there is moonlight, that one can

sympathize in a certain degree with the enthusiasm of those poets

who have sung of the delights of the tropics. At Tela a blanket often

is needed toward morning, and during an extended temporal as many

as two blankets may be found comfortable. The lowest temperature

recorded for Lancetilla is 53°, in March, 1928. It is rather amusing

now, as I look at the temperature records for January, 1928, to find

that the minimum was 61°, yet I recall that on several rainy nights

during that month a sweater was very comfortable, if not necessary.

At Progreso, the part of the Tela Division that lies farthest

inland, although records are not available, there is an agreement of

opinion that the heat is greater and more oppressive than at Tela.

Doubtless the proximity of Tela and Lancetilla to the seashore have

something to do with the matter. It is stated, also, that the rainfall

at Progreso is substantially less, and that there is a more definitely

pronounced dry season than along the coast.

VEGETATION

The vegetation of the Tela region may be divided roughly into

two divisions, the hills or low mountains, and the lowlands. These,

it is realized, are differentiated physiographically more than botani-

cally, since many species of plants grow in almost equal abundance on

the hills and in the lowlands. Other plants are more particular as to

their habitat. At least, such a division into low and high country is a

convenient one for purposes of description and discussion.

SECOND GROWTH

Before beginning a description of the natural vegetation, one

important factor must be mentioned. This region has been greatly

modified by cultivation, and the cultivated land, for the most part,

may be dismissed in discussing the native vegetation. The country

centering about Tela depends wholly upon banana growing for the

existence of its inhabitants, and if that industry were destroyed, the

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 17

people would have no choice but to abandon the coast and move to

some other field.

Clearing of many square miles for banana planting has destroyed

a vast amount of the original vegetation. It is probable that some

species have disappeared, at least so far as this area is concerned,

although the number can not be very large. At any rate, some of the

localities most interesting originally have been ruined botanically.

Bananas are planted only in the lowlands, and in this part of Central

America they are never cultivated on slopes except the gentlest ones.

They require land that is moderately well drained, but naturally

swampy ground often is ditched to adapt it to cultivation.

Where bananas are grown, there is no other vegetation of interest

to the botanist. Although they are not cultivated so intensively as

onions or potatoes, it is necessary to keep down the ranker weedy

vegetation beneath them. Consequently the ground covering in

banana plantations consists of low herbaceous plants, the most

common weeds that it is possible to enumerate. I do not remember

ever to have found a single interesting plant in such a place.

Near Tela there are considerable areas of banana plantations that

have been abandoned because of the Panama disease, or on account

of low productiveness. These are, for the botanist, almost as un-

productive as plantations under cultivation. The banana plants

persist for years, with a gradual diminution in fruit production, until

finally they are choked by coarse herbs, shrubs, and quick-growing

trees. In spite of their rank growth, they can not compete indefinitely

with native plants. The lower parts of the Lancetilla Valley, except

where now cleared for use of the experiment station, consist largely

of such abandoned plantations.

Similar to these are the extensive patches of ground which have

been cleared at some time for gardens and corn fields or for pasture

but are now abandoned. The name "guamil" is applied locally to such

places as are covered by second-growth vegetation.

It is astonishing to see how rapidly such abandoned land is

occupied by weeds and shrubbery. It is well known that in the

wet tropics plant growth is exceedingly rapid, but how rapid it really

is can be appreciated only when it is actually observed. Trails cut

through the forest, unless kept open, are closed within a few months.

If cultivated land is left to itself during the wet season, in the course

of a couple of months it will be so densely covered with lusty herbs

six feet high that it is practically impossible to force a way through

18 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

them without use of a machete. Some idea of the nature of the rank

vegetation in such a place may be gained by inspection of the thickets

of giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) flourishing in rich alluvial soil in

the Mississippi Valley.

This guamil must be taken into consideration in an account of the

local vegetation, since it forms so large a proportion of it. It is com-

posed of the most common and aggressive herbaceous plants, most of

which do not exist in virgin forest. Common second-growth herbs

are pokeweed (Phytolacca rivinoides), Neurolaena lobata, Eupatorium

macrophyllum, Acalypha costaricensis, and Pavonia rosea. Every-

where in such situations there is an abundance of the pale guarumo

trees (Cecropia), which always are at their best in the second growth,

although they are found also frequently enough in primeval forest.

The balsa (Ochroma) is another tree that thrives under such

conditions.

There are a host of shrubs that delight in these situations. Some

of them grow almost as rapidly as herbs, and a few quickly attain

the size and habit of small trees. Common shrubs of the guamil are

Piper auritum and P. multinervium, Gliricidia, Trema, Bursera Sima-

ruba, Acalypha diver sifolia, Phyllanthus Conami, Gouania, Belotia,

Heliocarpus, Triumfetta, Malvaviscus grandiflorus, Conostegia xala-

pensis, Stemmadenia, Cordia ferruginea, Tournefortia spp., Aegiphila

fasciculata, Cornutia, Hyptis verticillata, Lantana Camara, Hamelia

patens, Eupatorium odoratum, Baccharis trinervis, Cestrum nocturnum,

and Solanum diversifolium. Several prickly plants abound in second-

growth thickets. About Tela one of the worst pests of the bananas

is the zarza hueca (Byttneria), which forms dense interlacing tangles

everywhere in exposed thickets. Mimosa hondurana, armed with

fine, closely set, recurved prickles sprawls over other shrubs, and lays

hold of one's clothes in a fiendish manner. Where Mimosa invisa

occurs plentifully it is quite as formidable a foe, for it is altogether

impossible to force a way through it.

The vegetation in the immediate vicinity of Lancetilla, close to

the river and on the slopes back of the station, consists in large part

of guamil. Nearly everywhere along the whole line of the Tela Rail-

road, except when passing by marshes or very swampy woods, one

sees nothing else but second growth and banana plantations.

In the region of Puerto Arturo, three miles west of Tela, and at a

few other places in the Tela Division, pastures have been made for

cattle and draft animals. They are overgrown chiefly with Guinea

grass, and by the constant grazing of the animals they are kept in

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 19

some semblance of a northern pasture, although the grass is much

taller and coarser than is usual in the North. Guinea grass grows in

great clumps, among which the cattle sometimes wander half hidden,

browsing only on the tender, fresher shoots. Para grass also affords

good pasture, but it is an untidy plant, sprawling along the ground,

and preferring wetter soil.

UPLAND FORESTS

The writer's acquaintance with the upland forests of this area is

confined almost wholly to the hills that rise on each side of the

Lancetilla Valley. Although these form only a small part of the Tela

region, they are so extensive that one may spend many days in

tramping over them without exhausting their botanical possibilities.

The hills rise to a maximum elevation of 600 meters (2,000 feet),

and except on some of their lower slopes, where they have been cleared

for tillage or pasture, they are covered with heavy primeval forest.

Their slopes are very steep, and the vegetation so dense and tangled

that progress over them is difficult except where trails have been

opened. The forest usually is dripping wet, and the atmosphere

beneath it is much like that of a northern hothouse.

Leaving the office at Lancetilla, one goes southward across some

of the plantings and in five minutes comes to the Tela River, a shallow

stream ten yards wide, flowing over a bed of rounded white stones

and coarse gravel, across which one may hop from stone to stone if

the water is low. Along the tanks are many Ochroma trees and

guarumos. Here grow also rosewood (Dalbergia cubilquitzensis) ;

Pithecolobium arboreum with its dangling, twisted, red pods; Cassia

reticulata with great bunches of orange-yellow flowers; and Casearia

arborea with small red fruits shaped like beech nuts. On the gravel

bars the curious bullhorn acacias, to be avoided because every spine

harbors a colony of alert and savage ants, form open thickets.

Against their trunks are piled masses of sticks and brush, brought

down by the last freshet, for this small stream may, after a heavy

downpour in the hills, become a wide river, flooding all the lower

reaches of the valley with swirling current.

Along the edge of the water the giant leaves of Xanthosoma,

resembling those of the caladium or elephant ear, are prominent.

Here grow bright-flowered cannas and coarse Calatheas. On stones

at the edge of the stream Cuphea utriculosa forms small clumps, its

exposed masses of roots always washed by the moving water.

20 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Across the river one walks for a few minutes through some

abandoned bananas, among which appears an occasional bunch of

slowly ripening fruit. Such abandoned plants, however, produce but

little fruit. Farther on there are thickets of guamil, through which

one hurries to escape from the steamy, overheated air, for these

thickets afford no protection from the sun.

In a moment one passes from these tangles, with their spines and

burs, to the open trail and the deep shade of the tall forest. Here is a

broad, well-kept trail, leading up a steep slope close to one of the

tributaries of the Tela River, or perhaps it is the main stream itself,

since all these mountain watercourses are much alike and of about

the same size. A little higher up there has been constructed a small

dam, from which the water supply of the town of Tela is taken. It is

easy walking here along this plain trail, except where the slope is

very steep, or unless it has been raining hard, so as to make a slough

of the sticky red clay.

One notices immediately the stillness. Great blue butterflies

float silently across the path. Only occasionally is a bird heard.

Perhaps a flock of paroquets chatter as they feed on the fruit of a high

fig tree, or some macaws or parrots scream as they alight on the

branches. This is a favorite haunt of the fine wild turkeys of the

region, and for the curassows, but these game birds are hunted so

persistently that they are very shy. The mountain quail frequent

these woods, but they are seldom seen.

If one walks quietly one may come upon a rabbit-like guatuso or

agouti, nibbling at palm seeds, or discover suddenly a band of

white-faced monkeys fleeing across the tree tops, leaping deliberately

yet to all appearances recklessly from branch to branch. Just before

a heavy rain the air reverberates with the thunderous roaring of the

howler monkeys, which sounds so much like the racket of a titanic

coffee mill. These animals live here in large numbers, but as is the

case in most parts of Central America, they are shy and are very

rarely seen.

Occasionally a band of peccaries may be scented, and they are

heard racing away through the bushes. There are tapirs here, too,

and probably an occasional tigre or jaguar. There must be plenty of

snakes in these forests, for poisonous serpents, especially the deadly

barba amarilla, or fer de lance, are known to be all too abundant on

the Honduran coast, but in the months that I spent walking through

the woods I saw only a very few harmless snakes and one or two

coral snakes.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 21

One's thoughts turn but seldom to snakes, but they are not per-

mitted to stray far from ants. Every botanist who has worked in the

tropics awakes to eloquence when the subject of ants or wasps is

broached. Pluck a branch from a bush, hold it only a moment in

your hand, and immediately you feel the painful bites of several ants.

Some of the epiphytes wrenched from the branches swarm with them.

Sit for a few seconds on the ground to put your plants in press, and

the bites of the tiny pests are felt in unexpected places. When you

pick up your press you are the unwilling agent in removing still more

of these tireless insects from their birthplace.

The wasps are even more to be dreaded. One always is happening

most unexpectedly upon their nests in the most curious places, with

painful and memorable consequences.

The customary silence of this great forest and the dimness of the

light give it a dreary and foreboding atmosphere much the same as

that pervading the deep Douglas fir forests of our own Rocky Moun-

tains. The trees are exceedingly tall, rising to a hundred feet or more,

their tops so far above one's head that the leaves are indistinguish-

able. It is only by examining leaves and fruits and bits of flowers

strewn upon the ground that it is possible to form some idea of the

nature of the trees composing the forest. These cast-off fragments

become so mixed as they fall or drift from the tree tops that often it

is impossible to decide which leaves belong to a certain tree, the more

so since some of the fallen leaves certainly come from the many

creepers that swathe the tree tops.

Some of the trunks, especially those of the figs and ceibas, assume

massive proportions, and their enormous weight is supported by

radiating, bracket-like buttresses that brace them against the wind.

Of course, standing so closely together as they do, these trees do not

get the full force of a heavy wind, which is felt only by their tops.

When a wind storm is passing over, one feels but little wind below on

the ground, but beware of the forest at such a time, for at any moment

a heavy branch, already overweighted with epiphytes, torn loose by

the force of the storm, may come crashing down. Immediately after

a heavy storm is a favorable time for collecting specimens of trees

and epiphytes, for many such branches may be found lying fresh upon

the ground.

The somber color of the tree trunks accentuates the gloom of the

forest. Some of the trunks are smooth and quite free of epiphytes;

others are rough and heavily laden with them. Some of the epiphytes,

especially the aroids, cling tightly to the trunks, but more of them

22 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

clasp the loftiest branches. Such orchids as grow here are likely to

perch so high in the air that they are quite invisible.

Most of these trees as well as their epiphytes have small and in-

conspicuous flowers, but even when the flowers are showy, it seldom

happens that they can be discerned from the ground, for they

usually appear on the very outside of the foliage in the full sunlight.

In order to see what color such a forest does afford, it is necessary to

go to an opposite slope, from which spots of color may be seen at the

proper season, here and there in isolated patches.

A conspicuous element of this section of the forest consists of the

lianas, great woody vines similar to the largest grape vines of northern

forests. These vines commonly do not embrace the tree closely but

dangle loosely about its trunk, several individuals finding support

upon a single tree. A frequent plant of this habit in the forests above

Lancetilla is Marcgravia nepenthoides, here called cachimba (tobacco

pipe), in allusion to the curious form of the flowers, or rather the

nectaries, but the flowers are borne at the top of the forest, and are

seen only after they have withered and fallen. The fresh flowers

attract the hummingbirds, as do the brightly colored flowers of many

other plants. Some of the lianas and epiphytes develop long cordlike

aerial roots that hang limply from the branches.

As in tropical forests generally, the tall trees do not occur in pure

stands but consist of often isolated individuals of many species,

representing numerous families. Certain trees do occur here in much

greater abundance than others. A very large proportion of this high

Honduran forest consists of masica (Brosimum terrabanum), masi-

caran (B. costaricanurn), wild nutmeg or sangre (Virola spp.), carbon

(Guarea excelsa), sapote (Calocarpum mammosum), zapotillo (C.

viride), and paleta (Dialium). Other trees less common but noted

more or less frequently are Naucleopsis, Pourouma, tango (Zollernia),

Ormosia with bright red, beanlike seeds, Simaruba, Protium and

Tetragastris, Spanish cedar (Cedrela), Honduras mahogany, Vochysia

with its handsome yellow blossoms, Astronium, ceiba, wild figs in

great variety, Maria (Calophyllum), Rheedia, and silion (Lucuma

izabalensis} . A rare tree is Aspidosperma, with broadly winged seeds

which sail like butterflies through the air. Occasionally there appears

the smooth copper-colored trunk of a giant Bursera Simaruba, whose

aspect has compelled the application of the apt name of the tree,

indio desnudo ("naked Indian").

Looking about in this dense forest, we note that there are two

principal levels of foliage: the tops of the tall trees, and also a very

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 23

considerable understory at a comparatively low level. This under-

story consists of smaller trees that seem to delight in the darkness.

Many of them are species of such a nature that apparently they can

not exist in full sunlight.

The understory is composed very largely of palms, and of these

the most abundant and conspicuous is the cohune or corozo (Attalea

cohune), which here attains its best development. There are cohunes

also in the lowlands, even in rather swampy ground, but they are

most plentiful on the lower hill slopes. When this forest is viewed

from a distance, the cohunes are not at all or scarcely visible, their

foliage being concealed by the taller trees under which they grow.

On the slopes they stand closely together and very successfully shut

out what light filters through the trees above. Their huge leaves,

frequently 30 feet long, wither after they fall to the ground and make

a thick mulch over it. The nuts germinate freely and form vigorous

beds of seedlings.

Other palms, but lower ones, grow with the cohune. The most

noticeable is the lancetilla (Astrocaryum cohune), with its offensively

armed stems, which has given the name to the valley. There are

also Bactris species, two handsome Geonomas, and several graceful

species of Chamaedorea. One of the neatest of the palms found in

such situations is Malortiea gracilis. It is certain to attract attention

because of its airy habit and especially on account of its cross-shaped

leaves with rows of perforations or "windows" close to the midrib.

A palm of less admirable characteristics is the balaire (Desmoncus).

It is a clambering vine, and possesses pinnate leaves whose midrib

is prolonged and whiplike and provided with abruptly refracted

spines. These tips grope blindly in all directions, and grip any

passing object, ripping it mercilessly.

The forest understory includes a fair variety of other trees than

palms. There is the fine yucca-like Dracaena, with long grasslike

leaves. It has a strange exotic appearance, and naturally enough, for

it is the only American Dracaena, the others being chiefly African.

Guatteria amplifolia grows at intervals in the forest, and Mollinedia

Butleriana is common. Quararibea Fieldii is a frequent tree, note-

worthy for its odor of slippery elm. It is interesting to find here

cacao, apparently quite wild, in association with wild sapotes and

avocados. A tree violet, Rinorea guatemalensis, demands attention,

and there are small trees of Xylosma sylvicola, their trunks freely

armed with branched thorns. Carpotroche is noticed because of its

brightly colored, ball-like, winged fruits, set closely against the

24 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

trunk. Another prominent tree is Pentagonia, with its ungainly

branches and bunches of huge leaves, in contrast with the bright red

flowers clustered at their bases.

Of shrubs there is likewise a good variety, but chiefly rather

inconspicuous ones. Heisteria is rather handsome because of the

round, saucer-shaped, red calyx in which sits a contrasting black

drupe. Several melastomes like the deep shade, notably Tococa

grandifolia, with large leaves of a particularly fine tint of green, and

small but pretty flowers.

The herbaceous plants of the heavy forest are notable more for the

number of individuals than for variety of species. Certain to receive

notice is the bright Aphelandra aurantiaca, with green-bracted spikes

of fiery red flowers. Begonia Popenoei grows on moist banks, readily

associated by the non-botanist with the familiar begonias grown as

pot plants in the North. Two broad-leaved grasses, Pharus glaber

and Streptochaeta, are a welcome variation from the monotony of the

usual weedy tropical grasses. In low places in the forest, especially

along streams, there are often great clumps of certain plants that

have an important part in giving to the undergrowth of the tropical

forest its distinctive aspect. These are the Heliconias, relatives of

the banana, with canna-like leaves and brightly colored, red, orange,

and yellow inflorescences with long, narrow, spreading bracts. Then

there are the Calatheas, with similar leaves but compact bracted

heads; and the Costus species, with thick stems, spirally disposed

leaves, and bright, bracted heads.

Under the densest of the cohunes, where the ground is covered

with rotting leaves, there are very few herbaceous plants. It is here

that one may stumble rather by accident than design upon several

small and very inconspicuous saprophytic plants. The most plentiful

is Sciaphila, which may be found almost anywhere if one bends closely

over the ground. The wiry, reddish stems and the minute flowers

blend so thoroughly with the background that the plants are scarcely

discernible when one is standing. Gymnosiphon (Burmanniaceae)

andLeiphaimos parasiticus are more readily visible, but both are rare.

The latter is a curious tropical representative of the gentians.

Although these two plants belong to widely separated families, they

are confusingly similar in appearance.

On only one occasion did I find the fourth of these saprophytic

plants, Helosis. The individual plants, until inspected closely,

appeared like mushrooms past their prime, and formed small clumps

after the manner of certain fungi.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 25

In the hill forest the cohune palms form a conspicuous belt of

vegetation which has a rather definite limit. The cohunes end

abruptly at an elevation of about 200 meters, and the forest above

them assumes a slightly different aspect. Along this particular trail

which we are following, shortly before the cohunes end, there occur

small patches of silk-grass (Ananas magdalenae). This plant seems

slightly out of place here, for in Panama, where it is more abundant,

it grows in alluvial soil along streams in the forest. As a matter of

fact, soil conditions here probably are essentially the same.

Above the cohune belt the forest is much more attractive because

of its openness. It is possible in some places to see much farther, and

it is easier here to traverse the forest if there is no trail to follow. The

trees appear to be of much the same species, but I think they average

considerably lower. There is a much more conspicuous understory

of dicotyledonous trees, and a much greater variety of shrubs.

Trophis chorizantha is a frequent small tree at this elevation, and

another is Danania piperoides, with its strange whitish inflorescences.

Slender shrubby Pipers are frequent in these woods, and various

bushy Rubiaceae, all much alike to the view of the uninitiated, but

really remarkably diverse when inspected critically. The low, almost

herbaceous Psychotria uliginosa, with large fleshy leaves, pale under-

neath, and stalked clusters of bright red berries, is a handsome plant.

So, too, is the shrub or slender tree, Myginda eucymosa, with plum-

like, cherry-red fruits. Guarea bijuga and Siparuna Tonduziana are

occasional shrubs.

As we climb upward, over the continued steep trails, especially

near the tops of the hills, we note that epiphytes are much more

abundant and more accessible upon the smaller trees. During the

rainy season nearly always there are clouds hanging about this belt

of forest, and it is evident that it is kept constantly dripping wet.

Upon the branches there are dense colonies of filmy ferns and other

small species, small orchids, and a luxuriant covering of mosses,

lichens, and hepatics.

Toward the tops of the hills there are no regular trails, and it is

necessary to follow paths made by peccaries and other animals. The

undergrowth is only moderately dense, and no great amount of

cutting with the machete is necessary to pick a way through the forest.

Reaching the top of the ridge, it is possible to follow along the

summit for a long distance, climbing and descending but little, for

all of these hills seem to be connected as a sort of knife-edge ridge on

each side of Lancetilla Valley. The vegetation on the summits of the

26 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

hills differs but little in respect to species from that occurring any-

where above the cohune belt, but there is an occasional distinctive

plant. Only here did I find a strange melastome, Maieta setosa, its

thick branches densely beset with needle-like hairs, its petioles with

two inflated pouchlike appendages, perhaps for the shelter of ants.

Here only did I see a handsome cycad, Zamia Tuerckheimii. It is

only on these ridge summits that there grows one of the finest palms

of the region, the palmiche, still but imperfectly known, although

apparently a species of Iriartea. Its trunk is supported at the base by

rigid, steel-hard prop roots. Slender and smooth, it rises straight in

the air, to terminate high above in a graceful crown of plumelike

leaves.

The monotony of collecting in these upper forests is broken now

and then by finding small openings in the forest where trees have

fallen some time before. Through the hole thus formed in the forest

roof the sun slants downward, and favors the development of a few

plants that really do not belong here. A recently fallen tree often

affords a good collecting ground, with orchids and many other epi-

phytes. Unfortunately, unless in a well shaded situation, the

epiphytes upon felled trees wither almost as soon as the foliage of

the tree itself.

Between most of the hills there are small streams, but their banks

yield few plants that do not occur farther up the slopes. A terrestrial

Carludovica and a few ferns are confined to the rocks exposed by

these mountain streams. When the streams are large enough to

have a small amount of alluvial soil along their beds, the plants are

more varied. In such places there grow various Acanthaceae, a few

Rubiaceae, and conspicuous individuals of the genera Heliconia,

Renealmia, and Costus.

STREAM BANKS

Lancetilla Station is situated at the very foot of the hills. Going

northward toward Tela, the valley gradually widens, although even

at its mouth it has no very considerable width. All the original

vegetation of the valley floor has been destroyed, and most of that

on the lower hills. Along the river, however, there is a belt of swampy

ground, overflowed when the river rises, which has a plant covering

much like that to be found in the wooded swamps near the coast.

The rather scattered trees in this particular place are mostly

common and uninteresting species. Ochromas and guarumos are the

most characteristic, and mixed with them are numerous young trees

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 27

of the tambor or Schizolobium. The immature trees of this species

are very unlike the adult ones in general appearance. The older

trees growing in the forest have no special character to distinguish

them except their bright yellow blossoms, which are gaudy enough

in their brief season. The young trees, however, are attractive and

rather graceful, tall and either simple or with only a few thick

branches. These terminate in a broad, feathery cluster of huge

leaves so much divided that they remind one inevitably of the fronds

of tree ferns.

One of the most abundant trees along the river, growing not

only on its banks but also some distance back from them, is the

sauce or Central American willow (Salix chilensis). In many parts

of Central America this tree evidently is introduced, but here it has

every appearance of being native, although possibly it was imported

and planted by the aborigines hundreds of years ago. It is very

conspicuous on account of its flexible, drooping branches and because

of the color of its foliage, of a paler and much livelier green than is

usual in tropical trees.

Another prominent tree along the river is the native bamboo,

Guadua aculeata, which towers above most of its companions with

its feathery plumes. The most conspicuous element of the herba-

ceous vegetation is Calathea lutea, a coarse plant two meters high or

more, with huge, thin, vertical leaves, white on the lower side, that

are so stiff that they rustle in the wind like sheets of paper.

SEASHORE

Tela lies on the seashore, the homes of the many employes of the

Tela Railroad Company being built among the coconut trees that grow

abundantly near the beach. Some years ago an extensive plantation

of coconut trees was made here, and these palms are the remnants

of them. It is a delightful place in which to live, just beyond the

reach of the pounding surf, always considerable here, with a pleasant

breeze nearly always blowing.

Like all beaches, this one, although not so picturesque as some,

is a pleasant place along which to walk. At low tide the moist, firmly

packed sand is the road traveled by the Caribs to their near-by settle-

ments. The rubbish deposited at the limit of the high tide is a

fascinating place in which to search for botanical relics, and one may

discover mementos of the vegetation of the whole Central American

coast. Palm seeds seem to predominate, among them representatives

of certain species that I did not find growing near Tela. There are

28 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

quantities of Pterocarpus seeds, stones of the hogplum or Spondias,

and the usual sea beans, the seeds of Mucunas, Caesalpinias, and

Entadas. A good many acorns may be found, and it is puzzling to

guess their source, for no oak trees grow close to the coast in this

part of Central America. Probably these were brought from far

inland by some river, possibly the Ulua. The most remarkable

find was a single stone of the fruit of a species of Calatola,1 a genus

known at present on the one side from Mexico and on the other from

Costa Rica. Such curious objects as an occasional parsnip or a spike

of timothy may be explained as refuse from ships anchored close by.

Of the marine vegetation little is known. As has been found to

be the case in the Canal Zone, seaweeds probably do not abound in

the ocean here, but a few coarse ones are cast up by the waves.

Leaves and stems of Zostera and Ruppia generally accompany them.

The vegetation of the beach is what one would expect in such a

situation. The plants of sea beaches are much the same throughout

tropical America, and as far northward as Florida. Indeed, they

exhibit a certain uniformity over widely separated parts of the earth.

Most abundant and conspicuous, perhaps, are the goatfoot morning-

;lory (Ipomoea Pes-caprae) and Canavalia maritima, both of which

have coarse, ropelike, creeping stems several meters long. Remirea

guianensis grows in small tufts in the loose sand, with Croton mariti-

mus and various other plants. Another morning-glory, Ipomoea

stolonifera, with reduced leaves and flowers, often is plentiful. Com-

mon beach grasses are the vile sandburs (Cenchrus spp.), Chloris

petraea, and Stenotaphrum. Other plants thriving in the sand are

Cakile, Vigna repens with long prostrate stems and yellow beanlike

blossoms, a spurge (Euphorbia ammannioides) , a weedy yellow-

flowered mallow (Sida cordifolia) and the similar Waltheria americana,

Lippia nodiflora, the blue-flowered Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, Diodia

maritima, and a white-flowered composite, Melanthera nivea.

Where there are small level places from which the salt water

drains slowly, often there are extensive colonies of salt-tolerant grasses

and sedges. Just back of the beach are dense thickets, rather narrow

as a rule, composed of shrubs commonly found in such places. One

of the most abundant here is the coco-plum (Chrysobalanus Icaco), a

scrubby bush whose oddly colored but not too agreeably flavored

fruits are esteemed only by children. A bright green, sticky bush,

Dodonaea viscosa, with winged fruits suggestive of those of northern

hop-bush (Ptelea) is prominent in these thickets, with such Rubiaceae

'Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 23: 688. 1923.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 29

as the spiny Randia armata; Alibertia with its white flowers and dense,

shining foliage; and Chiococca, with drooping racemes of compressed,

pure white berries. The seagrape (Coccoloba Uvifera) is confined to

the edge of the beach. It is an exceptionally handsome shrub, with

its dense growth of thick, round leaves, often brightly tinted with

red and pink.

Covering flat places close to the beach that are covered with

salt water at high tide there is a distinct association of plants. The

chief species are a grass, Sporobolus littoralis, and several sedges —

Fimbristylis spadicea and F. spathacea, and Kyllinga peruviana and

K. pungens. In such places there sprawl over the ground the crisp,

succulent stems of Sesuvium Portulacastrum, and the less fleshy stems

of an amaranth, Philoxerus, creep along the soil.

If there are long, narrow lagoons behind the beach, or if the sandy

beach is lacking, the water is bordered by thickets of mangroves,

lifted high above the mud on their stilt roots. Strangely enough, I

did not observe the black mangrove (Avicennia), almost omnipresent

in such situations, but it must occur not far away. The thickets

consist chiefly of the common mangrove (Rhizophora) and its classic

companions, button mangrove (Conocarpus) andLaguncularia. Asso-

ciated with them are such shrubs and small trees as DalbergiaBrownei,

Hibiscus tiliaceus with wide, green and red flowers like hollyhocks,

Pavonia spicata, Cassipourea, and the spiny bully-tree (Bucida).

These salt thickets extend inland for a short distance along the

sluggish streams. In other thickets close at hand, but in soil less

brackish, there is a tangle of such shrubs or trees as Ladstema; the

spiny Ximenia with small, bearded, white flowers and yellow, plum-

like fruits; bayberry (Myrica cerifera); Coccoloba barbadensis, and

C. acuminata with bright red berries; the pond-apple (Annona glabra)

and its relative, Sapranthus campechianus, with purple-brown, car-

rion-scented flowers; Hirtella americana and H. guatemalensis ;

Trichilia havanensis; the nance (Byrsonima) , with golden flower

spikes and pale yellow, edible fruits; Casearia aculeata and C. javi-

tensis; Psychotria Oerstediana; and Morinda panamensis.

WOODED SWAMPS

East of Tela in the extensive swamps, heavily wooded, where

the tide rises and falls, Pterocarpus belizensis seems to be the domi-

nant tree. Its fallen one-seeded pods often cover the surface of the

black water. A spiny palm, Bactris minor, grows in huge clumps,

and forms quite impenetrable thickets. The coarse, 4-sided, prickly

30 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

stems of sarsaparilla (Smilax ornata) climb high on the trees. In

openings a coarse but ornamental aroid, Montrichardia, rises on stilts

from the ooze, or the beefsteak heliconia ( Heliconia Mariae) forms

rank herbaceous thickets as tall as banana plants. The huge,

ungainly, pendent, sanguine flower spikes of this greatest of Central

American herbs inevitably suggest its common name.

Westward from Tela there are many more of these wooded

swamps, alternating with banana plantations and pastures. They

are so thickly grown and contain so much water that they are all but

impossible of access unless lines have been cut through them, or they

have been drained preparatory to cultivation. Along their borders

there is excellent collecting, for here many small trees and shrubs

find their most congenial habitat. Within the swamps themselves

one is likely to be disappointed, because there are comparatively few

herbaceous or shrubby plants that tolerate the deep shade, and the

taller trees are inaccessible.

Ingas luxuriate in these swamps, at least at their edges, and there

are many species of them. Their flowers always are conspicuous

because of their profusion of long, white stamens. Other leguminous

trees that frequent the swamp forest are Pithecolobium longifolium,

which prefers the banks of slow streams ;Cynometraretusa, easily placed

by its two large leaflets; the bright-flowered Lonchocarpus species,

slightly suggestive of black locust, with which they are allied; and

Dalbergia monetaria. Some swamps are almost monopolized by

Erythrina glauca, a beautiful but useless tree, which blazes in spring

with great clusters of orange blossoms.

Other swamp trees are Licania hypoleuca, and L. platypus, called

here urraco, whose long, narrow leaves are of a peculiarly fine shade of

green, and often richly bronzed when first they unfold; Alchornea

latifolia and Omphalea diandra, of the Euphorbiaceae; Symphonia;

Oncoba laurina; and Gustavia integrifolia, with few heavy branches

tipped with clusters of large but narrow leaves. Coarse lianas reach

their best development where there is an abundance of water. They

are represented here by Cnestidium with its brown-velvety leaves;

the giant Entadas with their huge pods; Mucuna rostrata, whose pods

and clusters of flowers depend on long cordlike peduncles dangling

from far overhead; Hippocratea volubilis with depressed, deeply

3-lobed pods; Combretum cocdneum, gorgeous in spring with spirelike

spikes of fiery red blossoms; and the golden-flowered Allamanda,

with prickly pods. Among the shrubs there is Bunchosia nitida, with

yellow flowers and red berries; and Mouriria parvifolia, a melastome,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 31

although one never would guess the relationship from the leaves.

Only rarely does one find here Cephaelis tomentosa, a shrub common in

many parts of the Atlantic coast, and always noticed because of the

vivid red bracts subtending the heads of yellow flowers or blue berries.

One of the handsomest of the local shrubs is Miconia oinochrophylla,

in which, as its specific name implies, the leaves are richly colored

beneath with wine red. It is in such swamps as these that one comes

upon Begonia glabra, a widespread species, but always interesting

because of its vine habit, the succulent stems adhering tightly to tree

trunks by their myriads of rootlets.

The dark, heavily wooded swamps are alluring places in which to

collect, for there is an ever present hope, bred from past experience,

of finding some quite new or curious plant. The only drawback to

this exploration, aside from the uncertain footing, is the myriad

swarms of mosquitoes that invariably infest their heavy shade. When

every exposed or thinly clad portion of one's body is peppered with

the stabs of these persistent creatures, the only solace is remembrance

of the fact that these are not malarial mosquitoes. These insects,

along with chiggers or redbugs, and the usually much less trouble-

some ticks, are annoyances that must be endured and as cheerfully as

possible ignored by those who insist on walking in lowland tropical

woodlands.

MARSHES

Still farther westward from Tela, shortly before the valley of the

Ulua River (claimed, as usual, as the largest river of Central America)

is reached, stretch extensive marshes and open swamps. One's eye

is attracted at once by the abundance of bird life. Birds breed here

by the millions, safe from most of their enemies, and their numbers

are increased at the proper season by flocks of migrating ducks and

other water fowl.

The marshes consist of broad, shallow lakes interspersed with

small, irregular islands of aquatic vegetation. Here grow cat-tails

(Typha) and coarse grasses, such as wild rice (Oryza latifolia), Pani-

cum grande, reeds (Phragmites) with feathery, purple plumes, and

Tripsacum laxum. A tall sedge (Cyperus giganteus) resembles closely

the papyrus of the Nile. A beautiful half-shrubby Hibiscus (H.

Lambertianus) abounds in the Toloa Swamp, its wide flowers delicately

colored in pink. Thalia forms vast colonies in the marshes, its great,

stiff, canna-like leaves rustling in every breeze, or beneath the feet of

birds that alight upon the stems.

32 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Some of the marsh plants are immediately familiar to a northern

visitor. There are arrow-heads (Sagittaria) , with arrow-shaped leaves

and fragile white flowers; pickerel-weed (Pontederia), with purple

spikes; Heteranthera reniformis; and smartweed (Polygonum). Other

common herbaceous plants are Echinodorus, which resembles the

arrow-head in flower and habit; Aeschynomene sensitive/,, and Spheno-

clea zeylandica, a curious plant of no easily visible affinities, whose

determination is likely to worry even a botanist. A characteristic

marsh shrub is the prickly Mimosa pigra, with compact spikes of

pink flowers. It is in the marshes that one sees most frequently

the paradoxical provision tree (Pachira aquaticd), whose clumsy

branches appear altogether inadequate to support their inordinate

burden of heavy fruits.

The quiet water of the marshes usually supports a rich flora of

floating plants. Water lettuce (Pistia), with its neat rosette of

spongy leaves that it is hard to associate with the arum family,

covers the water solidly in places. Almost equally prolific is Salvinia,

which sometimes is piled by the wind in heaps along the shore.

Other floating plants of more or less abundance are Azolla, duckweed

(Lemna and Spirodela), Jussiaea natans, and waterlilies (Nymphaea).

In the lower land near the swamps there are many fine individuals

of the stately cabbage palm (Oreodoxa), which seems not to extend

far inland. Cohune palms are everywhere.

The open marshes extend all along the lower valley of the Ulua.

Where not quite so low, most of the area is planted with bananas, for

it is here that the best banana land is found.

PROGRESO REGION

The region about Progreso, the largest inland settlement of the

Tela region, is decidedly different in topography because of its

proximity to the first of the higher mountains of the interior. Its

climate also is substantially different, the rainfall being much less

than at Tela, and the heat more intense, especially in the dry season.

Among the trees growing about Progreso are various species that

apparently do not extend to the coast, and some of them recall the

flora of the Pacific slope of Central America. They include such

trees as the castano (Sterculia apetala), ear- tree or guanacaste

(Enterolobium) , Sparattanthelium, Albizzia adinocephala, Colubrina

rufa, Muntingia, Guazuma, and Calycophyllum. Especially familiar

to one who knows the dry Pacific slope is an old friend, Cordia alba,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 33

which grows there in such monotonous abundance. ^ There appear

here, likewise, several new shrubs, such as Clematis dioica, Calliandra

confusa and C. yoroensis, the gaudy-flowered Cassia biflora, Bentham-

antha mollis, Acalypha villosa, Croton ciliato-glandulosus, Gouania

eurycarpa and G. lupuloides, Rauwolfia canescens, and Vernonia

patens. Even among the herbaceous plants there are additions, like

Portulaca pilosa, Stylosanthes humilis, Dalechampia scandens, Euphor-

bia graminea, Tragia volubilis, Melochia lupulina, and the stinging

Gronovia scandens. J Practically all these plants are seen more fre-

quently on the Pacific slope of Central America than on the Atlantic,

and they are characteristic of a drier climate than that of Lancetilla.

Progreso lies close to the mountains of the interior. I did not

visit the hills nearest the town, which undoubtedly would have added

many species to the present list.

EPIPHYTES

An important and characteristic element of the Lancetilla flora

consists of the epiphytes that play so important a role in tropical

vegetation generally. Many of the trees in the forest are laden with

epiphytes of great diversity in habit and relationship, but these

plants are not so abundant here as in some other parts of Central

America. Nowhere, probably, do they attain such lavish develop-

ment as in the higher mountains of Costa Rica, where every tree is

covered with ferns, orchids, aroids, bromeliads, Ericaceae, Gesneria-

ceae, and many other groups, and festooned with mosses and hepatics.

In the Tela region there are several trees which begin life as

epiphytes, and often continue that habit of growth nearly or quite

throughout their life. Typical and most abundant of such trees are

the wild figs (Ficus spp. ) . Their seeds germinate on some high branch,

and the young plant develops slender cordlike roots that descend the

parent trunk to the ground. The roots increase in number and size,

forming a network that closely embraces and finally strangles the

host plant.

Most of the fig trees in time become large, independent trees that

often have huge trunks. A few species seem always to be epiphytic,

and never attain a great size. The Coussapoas nearly always are

seen as epiphytes, and although they may attain considerable size,

usually they do not kill the host but grow side by side with it. The

Clusias have a similar life history.

There are epiphytic shrubs of diverse families. They include the

strange Marcgravia, which grows as a great vine, Souroubea of the

34 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

same family (Marcgraviaceae), Adelobotrys among the melastomes,

Codonanthe and the red-flowered Columneas of the Gesneriaceae,

Hillia tetrandra among the Rubiaceae, and representatives of two

genera of composites, Liabum and Eupatorium araliaefolium.

The shrubby plants of the mistletoe family (Loranthaceae) are

parasites rather than epiphytes, although often they grow in associa-

tion with the latter. Another parasite of the region is the herbaceous

dodder (Cuscuta).

There are three or four families of herbaceous plants in which

epiphytes predominate. The aroids compose a very large proportion

of the mass of epiphytic vegetation. Some of them, like the Mons-

teras and species of Philodendron and Syngonium, are large, coarse

vines. The Monsteras especially always attract attention from

strangers because of the large perforations in their leaves. Philo-

dendron radiatum, with huge, deeply cut leaves, also is a conspicuous

plant. The Anthuriums usually are small and relatively slender

plants, although a few of them are vinelike in habit.

Nearly all the bromeliads (plants of the pineapple family) are

epiphytes. They are represented here by several species of the vast

group Tillandsia, and by members of the genera Aechmea, Catopsis,

and Vriesea. Many of them have very handsome and showy inflores-

cences. Their enlarged leaf bases hold water in which insects breed

and other animals find a congenial home. It is a remarkable fact

that this great family is confined to the American tropics.

The group to which one's thought inevitably turns when epiphytes

are mentioned is the orchid family. A large number of orchids, of

course, are terrestrial plants, and a few such species grow in the

Lancetilla region. Most tropical orchids, however, are perched upon

branches or cling to the trunks of trees. Orchids are fairly plentiful

on the Honduran coast, but most of them, as is usually the case, are

small plants with insignificant flowers. They grow ordinarily so high

on the trees that they are out of sight, and about Lancetilla the

number of individuals is small in comparison with what may be

found in the mountains of Panama or Costa Rica. The local species

include some Sobralias and Epidendrums with handsome blossoms,

neat plants of the genus Dichaea, the odd bird-head orchids (Ornitho-

cephalus), and vanilla.

Other epiphytes are the Peperomias, of the pepper family. The

genus Peperomia is a large one in Central America. It consists of very

succulent, brittle herbs, practically all of which are epiphytes. The

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 35

only other Central American genus of the family, Piper, on the other

hand, consists of shrubs, nearly all of them terrestrial in habit.

One other group of plants of the Tela region is prevailingly

epiphytic, the cactuses. They include species of Epiphyllum and

Rhipsalis, or mistletoe cactus. In arid regions, as is well known,

cactuses grow in soil, but in the humid tropics the plants have assumed

the arboreal habitat, and are associated with orchids, ferns, and

mosses.

WEEDS

To the botanist weeds are plants to be abhorred because they

occupy space that might be filled more profitably by more interest-

ing vegetation. In the strictest sense of the word, a weed is a plant

growing where it ought not to be. The only real weeds, I presume,

are plants growing in cultivated ground and competing unfairly with

useful plants, but, in the sense employed here, a weed is a plant,

usually herbaceous but often shrubby and sometimes even a tree,

which occurs in tiresome abundance in cultivated ground, abandoned

fields, about dwellings, or along roads. Our herbaria are filled with

specimens of them, brought back from the tropics by inexperienced

and too enthusiastic — or gullible — botanists.

Most weeds are of little or no interest to the systematic botanist

and, if gathered at all, are taken only to complete the record of the

flora of a region. They are of little significance in studying the

vegetation of an area, because they occur only under artificial con-

ditions. Very often they are or have the appearance of being intro-

duced, and therefore are alien plants.

It is interesting to observe the weeds that spring up in new

clearings in recently occupied regions. At first there are no intro-

duced weeds. I have studied such places particularly in Florida,

New Mexico, and Central America. In the first plantings made in

these places the stirred soil is invaded by native species, which grow

somewhat more luxuriantly than is their wont when in closer com-

petition with their customary associates. With such conditions the

collector often finds an ideal collecting ground in cultivated places.

But after a few years seeds of alien plants are introduced with

planted seeds, and by other means, and the less resistant native

species are crowded out.

In Central America there is a large number of weedy plants that

grow almost everywhere except in virgin forest and savanna. Almost

all of them are American in origin, but since they never or very

36 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

seldom are found in virgin land, and even then with the appearance

of casual introductions, one can but wonder where they may have

grown when the whole American continent was free of human inhabit-

ants. If a region in Central America were abandoned for a few

centuries by man, it is probable that most of these plants would

disappear. Surely their present abundance, vigor, and diversity

must be the result of a very long association with the human race.

Perhaps it is worth while to list here the most common weedy

plants of the Lancetilla region. They include most of the commonest

weeds of Central America, and of tropical America generally. If

every collector who works in tropical America would carry this list

into the field with the firm resolution never to collect a specimen of

any species that it includes, he would attain merit with all the larger

herbaria, whose space already is cluttered with a disproportionate

number of specimens of such plants. These species seem to possess

a fatal attraction for the undiscriminating novice, who delights in

increasing his collections by their repeated inclusion.

The following weeds all are presumed to be of American origin.

The species starred are ones that are even more excessively abundant

than the others. The list could be increased by dozens of other

species almost as plentiful as those cited.

Axonopus compressus

*Digitaria sanguinalis

Echinochloa colonum

*Eragrostis ciliaris

Oplismenus hirtellus

*Panicum barbinode

*Panicum maximum

*Panicum trichoides

Paspalum paniculalum

*Setaria geniculata

*Cyperus ferax

Fimbristylis diphylla

Selena melaleuca

Commelina elegans

Commelina longicaulis

Piper peltatum

Alternanthera sessilis

*Amaranthus dubius

*Amaranthus spinosus

*Chamissoa altissima

Cyathula achyranthoides

Gomphrena dispersa

*Iresine Celosia

*Boerhaavia caribaea

Boerhaavia erecta

*Petiveria alliacea

Rivina humilis

*Drymaria cordata

*Mimosa pudica

Cassia occidentalis

Crotalaria incana

Crotalaria retusa

*Indigofera suffruticosa

*Indigofera mucronata

*Aeschynomene americana

Desmodium adscendens

Desmodium frutescens

*Desmodium Scorpiurus

Desmodium triflorum

Phaseolus lunatus

*Euphorbia brasiliensis

^Euphorbia hirta

*Euphorbia hypericifolia

Phyllanthus Niruri

*Triumfetia Lappula

*Pavonia rosea

*Sida acuta

*Sida rhombifolia

Cuphea carthagenensis

*Jussiaea suffruticosa

Spigelia Humboldtiana

*Asclepias curassavica

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 37

Ipomoea polyanthes Melothria guadalupensis

Heliotropium indium *Momordica Charantia

*Priva lappulacea *Pseudelephantopus spicatus

Hyptis capitata Ageratum conyzoides

•Satoa occidentahs *Mikania micrantha

Solanum mgrum _ , , .

•Scoparia dulcis Baltimora recta

*Blechum pyramidatum Echpta alba

Mitracarpus hirtus *Melanthera aspera

Richardia scabra *Bidens pilosa

Hemidiodia ocimifolia *Tridax procumbens

*Borreria laevis Neurolaena lobata

*Borreria ocimoides Erechtiles hieracifolia

The introduced weeds of Central America, at least those recog-

nizable as such, are usually few in number. At this date, 400 years

after the first settlement of European people in Central America, it

is almost impossible to determine which weeds are adventive in any

given locality and which native. Many tropical weeds are cosmo-

politan in distribution, and it is probable that the history of few of

them is so well authenticated that their original habitat can be

stated with any degree of confidence, even by those who write with

the greatest pretense of authority upon the subject.

The following are some of the few plants presumed to be adventive

in the Lancetilla region:

Coix Lachryma-jobi Amaranthus gracilis

Cymbopogon citratus Mirabilis Jalapa

Cynodon Dactylon Nasturtium portoricense

Dactyloctemum aegyptium „ , „ '

Eleusine indica Bryophyllum pmnatum

Rumex crispus Ricinus communis

Achyranthes aspera Lochnera rosea

Achyranthes indica Emilia sonchifolia

All of these except two are claimed to be of Old World origin.

Mirabilis Jalapa is clearly American, but apparently it is found no

longer as a truly wild plant. It is one of a considerable number of

ornamental or edible plants long grown in American gardens whose

exact native habitat is and doubtless always will be obscure. Nastur-

tium portoricense grew where it bore every appearance of being an

introduced plant. If the plants are correctly identified, perhaps they

came originally from the Antilles. The species is reported to be a

native of Porto Rico, but one familiar with the systematic botany

of tropical America, and especially with the Cruciferae, even without

detailed knowledge of Porto Rican vegetation, must look with skepti-

cism upon the statement that it is native in the West Indies.

38 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Cymbopogon, Bryophyllum, Ricinus, and Lochnera evidently are

escapes from cultivation. Of Rumex crispus only a few plants were

found in a horse corral, where their occurrence was accidental and

will not long continue. The other Old World species enumerated

probably were casual introductions that obtained a foothold hundreds

of years ago.

RELATIONSHIPS OF THE FLORA

If any one has occasion to study the distributional data of the

species listed from the Lancetilla region he will be impressed by the

monotonous repetition of the phrase "widely distributed in tropical

America." It is of such plants that the flora of the Central American

coast principally consists. This same flora ranges from Veracruz in

Mexico southward along the whole Atlantic coast of Central America

to the humid portions of northern Colombia. Very similar is the

flora of the Guianas, and I have been much impressed recently, while

studying large collections made along the Amazon River as far west-

ward as Iquitos, Peru, by the similarity also of the Amazonian flora.

The same genera occur in the Amazon Valley, and many of the same

species.

Nevertheless, one who collects here and there along the Central

American tierra caliente will not find its flora too monotonous, unless

too much time is devoted to the region. In every locality there occur

interesting plants not observed elsewhere. The percentage of such

apparent endemics is small, it must be admitted, but it does exist.

Every now and then one finds species far distant from their recorded

range. Unexpected genera make their appearance, often a thousand

miles from their nearest known occurrence. The discovery in the

Tela region of the genus Zollernia, hitherto supposed to be restricted

to Brazil, is an instance of this sort; also the finding here of Dicras-

pidia, an abnormal genus of the Tiliaceae, recently described from

Costa Rica and Panama.

Zollernia was found at about the same time in British Honduras.

That country, more than any other of Central America, perhaps,

has yielded surprising records of this sort. It is almost certain that

some of these South American genera and species now known in

North America only from British Honduras will be discovered sooner

or later in intervening regions, but the fact is that up to the present

time they have not been found in them.

The physiography of most of the Atlantic coast of Central

America is fairly uniform, affording everywhere the same alternation

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 39

of open swamps, swampy forest, and densely forested hills whose

slopes in wet weather are slippery beds of tenacious red clay. The

forest looks much the same, wherever you go, but when the species

of trees and of the undergrowth are studied, there are sensible varia-

tions. In Costa Rica localities but ten miles apart may have quite

different species of plants in the undergrowth. One striking plant

abundant in a certain spot may not be found at all only five

miles away.

The vegetation of the Tela region seems to me to be much more

uniform than that of the Costa Rican lowlands, perhaps because I

have spent so much more time collecting in the former. About

Lancetilla, unless a locality with different soil or climate is visited,

the flora seems to be rather constant.

The dominant trees here are Brosimum and Dialium, just as at a

similar elevation in Guatemala, but you miss here the Manicaria

swamps so conspicuous about Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. I presume

that they do occur not far from Tela, but I did not see them. Not

far inland in Guatemala pine trees make their appearance on the low

hills whose slopes have much less elevation than the hills of Lancetilla.

In Honduras, in order to find pines, you must go far inland, into a

much drier region than that of Lancetilla. In some parts of the

Central American coast, as in British Honduras and Nicaragua, pine

trees come quite to the seashore.

About Tela one misses the profusion of Rubiaceae, Acanthaceae,

and Myrsinaceae that abound in the lowlands of Costa Rica, nor do

you find here the Lecythidaceae and Theobromas so conspicuous

there. The Tela region looks very much like that of the Canal Zone,

yet a surprising number of the trees and smaller plants are different

in the two areas. Miconia argentea, so much in evidence on the shores

of Gatun Lake, is scarce about Tela, and many other trees conspicuous

and abundant in one or the other of the two regions are rare in the

other or altogether absent. The distribution of species along the

Atlantic coast seems so erratic that one is inclined to believe it chiefly

a matter of chance.

Taking all its elements into consideration, it may be stated that

the flora of the Lancetilla Valley and its environs is about the average

of that general along the Caribbean shore. It contains some local

elements, but most of its species will be familiar to one who knows

well either Panama, Costa Rica, or Guatemala. Its flora is, of course,

very different from that prevailing on the much drier Pacific coast,

and from that found in the mountains of the interior of Honduras.

40 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

ECONOMIC PLANTS

On the following pages, besides the native or accidentally intro-

duced flora, there have been listed all the economic and ornamental

plants observed in the Tela region. These form quite as important a

part of the collective flora, or at least they are fully as important

to the residents in the region, as any of the native plants. To a

visitor, moreover, especially to one not previously acquainted with

the tropics, the cultivated plants, nearly all of them new to him, will

prove of paramount interest.

Most of the edible plants growing under cultivation about Tela

are listed here, but probably some of the uncommon fruits have been

overlooked. It is certain that some of the ornamental plants have

escaped mention, since no careful survey of them was undertaken.

The Central American people generally, at least the women, are

devoted to flowers, and poor is the home that does not boast a few

plants tended for their flowers or foliage, planted in the dooryard or

grown in pots in protected places. No time was available for visiting

every house of Tela and the outlying country, where doubtless many

other ornamental plants might have been discovered. The cultivated

plants of Central America generally are somewhat limited in number,

and one familiar with any part of the region seldom is surprised by

novelty, except about the fincas of the rich.

The most important cultivated plant of the Tela region is the

banana, which supplies the chief article of export from Honduras.

No other country of Central America furnishes so large a crop of

this Old World fruit for export. Without the banana Honduras

would be poor indeed, for the time at least, since its coffee crop is

small in comparison with what is produced in Guatemala, Salvador,

Nicaragua, or Costa Rica. Coffee, of course, is grown for market

only at higher elevations, usually at 2,000 feet or more, and com-

paratively little of Honduras' many square miles of elevated land

probably is adapted to coffee culture.

As a local source of food, the most important crop is maize or

Indian corn, which always, or at least for many centuries, has been

the chief food staple of the more civilized inhabitants of Central

America. It is grown abundantly in the Tela region, although

obviously not on so large a scale in an area devoted primarily to the

production of bananas. The other important food crops are beans

and rice, after which follow sugar, and a host of minor vegetables

such as yucca or cassava, yams, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cabbage,

and others of less importance.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 41

Fruits also are grown in considerable variety. Here in the

banana country, where most of the land is owned and occupied by

the banana companies, private holdings are few, and there is little

incentive to the planting of fruit trees or to the growing of gardens.

Most of the inhabitants, indeed, have no land for such a purpose,

and no time to cultivate it if they had, and they depend for their

supplies upon the local commissaries.

At Lancetilla Experiment Station there is planted the largest

variety of foreign fruit trees to be found anywhere in the American

tropics. Many of the best of these it is hoped will be established in

the region and ultimately distributed over Central America. The

plantations at Lancetilla are still young, and few of the trees are

bearing. At one of the farms, Puerto Arturo, near Tela, many fruit

trees were planted long ago, and are now producing, but they are

chiefly the ordinary fruit trees of tropical America — oranges, grape-

fruit, mangoes, star-apples, and the like.

At some of the scattered fincas which still persist in the region,

especially about Progreso, a greater variety of fruits is grown, and

some of the less common ornamental plants are seen. The owners

of small country places in Central America often take a keen delight

in improving their land, and exhibit justifiable pride in some unusual

fruit tree brought from the "interior," pointing to it as the only

individual of its kind for miles about. Such isolated individuals ever

furnish surprises for the botanist. Especially in the case of ornamen-

tal plants, one often is hard pressed to guess how a rare species may

have reached its present growing place. On one occasion in Costa

Rica I was shown by Mr. C. H. Lankester in the mountains on an

abandoned house site a curious iridaceous plant, whose determination

was a matter of much difficulty. It grew there as a large and increas-

ing colony, but the plant had never been noted elsewhere in Costa

Rica. It was an African species, unknown in cultivation in the

United States. How and when had it reached this out-of-the-way

spot?

The ordinary country house or manaca hut of the Honduran

lowlands is an ephemeral structure. It may be occupied for several

years, then be abandoned suddenly, with scant loss, for it represents

a sale value of probably less than twenty-five dollars. Fruit trees

and shrubbery planted about such a place often persist for many

years, and when the sites are overgrown, as they quickly are with

jungle, such plants have the appearance of accidental introductions.

Few of them are able to reproduce themselves, a notable exception

42 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

being the mango, whose seeds, thrown anywhere along the roads

and trails, spring up like weeds, to the later delectation of travelers.

We have very little dependable or credible evidence regarding

the original habitats of the most common fruit trees and vegetables

known to be native in America, nor are we likely ever to obtain much

more than we have at present. The time for gathering illuminative

data passed four centuries ago. The Spaniards must be credited

with having done at least something for the betterment of their

colonies, and they did take an interest in introducing new plants to

improve the resources of their American possessions. If the plan

was not instigated by governmental agencies and the introduction

depended upon individual effort, certainly the collective results were

rather imposing. There is reason to believe that immediately after

the conquest of the tropical regions of North and South America

plants were carried intentionally and more or less systematically

from one region to another. There is today considerable doubt as

to the direction in which some of these plants were transported, and

their history will ever be a matter for speculation rather than demon-

stration. We can only surmise that the pineapple was brought

from Brazil to the Antilles and to Mexico, but we are pretty certain

that the native cherry was carried from Mexico to the Andes.

In the deep and primeval forest covering the steep clay hills above

Lancetilla there grow wild three trees whose presence here is signi-

ficant and offers an interesting subject for speculation. They are

cacao, the hard-skinned avocado, and the sapote. All of these are

plants that are cultivated throughout Central America, northward

into Mexico, and even far southward in South America. Are they

really native here, as they appear to be? If so, might this not indicate

that this part of Honduras was an important center of population or

of culture in early days, whence these plants were dispersed to distant

regions? Certainly it is not easy to find all these plants growing

together elsewhere in Central America with such an appearance of

being in a truly wild state.

The forest of these hills has every evidence of being perfectly

primeval. There are all the marks that are supposed to furnish

reliable criteria upon this subject — giant forest trees in great variety,

an abundance of corozos and other tall palms, and a great profusion

of the more significant small palm species, tree ferns, and many

other plants that never are known to exist in second-growth forest.

But what is primeval forest in Central America? Who knows?

Upon the exposed slopes high up in this forest one sees abundant

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 43

shards, pieces of clay vessels now so soaked by the perennial rains

that they may be crumbled like chalk between the fingers. Did the

aborigines carry these scraps up here on the hills and scatter them

about as part of some childish game? Is it unreasonable to suppose

that hundreds of years ago these hills may have been cleared and

planted with corn, just as they are being cleared today by the descend-

ants of those aborigines? If these transient clearings are surrounded

by virgin forest, will not the native plants at some time, after the

clearings have been occupied by guamil, reseed them with forest

species? Is it not possible that these cacao bushes and sapote and

avocado trees are remnants of plantations of long ago? He is rash

indeed who, remembering the long years that we know Central

America has been inhabited, if we are to trust the almost unanimous

opinion of archaeologists, ventures to state that these hills have never

been planted with corn. There are mountain sides in Costa Rica

which I should dare to maintain without fear of contradiction had

never been tilled, because it is impossible to scale them, but I should

not care to maintain the same thesis against an able cross-examiner

with regard to the easily accessible slopes of these hills of the

Honduran coast land.

Since most of the agricultural land in the Tela region is controlled

by a company engaged in the production of bananas for export, it

follows that other agricultural operations are limited in extent, and

this, in fact, is the case in all the wet lowlands of the Central American

coast. Throughout the Atlantic coast of Central America the area

of land devoted to agriculture is very small, if we exclude banana

plantations, and, if bananas were not grown, almost all the land

would be covered with forest.

The large amount of timber wasted in clearing ground for agricul-

tural purposes is to be deplored. Some of the best of the timber is

utilized by the larger companies, but only a small proportion of the

total. This waste is probably justified by the benefits resulting to

the region from the extensive cultivation of bananas, sugar cane,

cacao, and similar crops.

In the banana country there are occasional small or large tracts

of land under private ownership. Some of the larger landholders

grow bananas, which are sold to the large companies for export.

Upon the smaller tracts there are grown vegetables, corn and rice,

and fruits for the consumption of the owner or for sale locally. The

amount of food thus produced is relatively small, and not nearly

enough for the support of the workmen upon the banana plantations,

44 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

who consume much food imported from the United States. In

Honduras better means of transportation to the interior (they are

practically non-existent at present) would permit the production

within the country of much of the vegetables and grain now imported.

The importation into Central America from the United States of

vegetables (except potatoes) and of fruits savors too much of the

traditional transportation of coals to Newcastle.

Scattered throughout the banana country there are many squat-

ters, mostly men who do not work for the larger companies, who

settled few or many years ago upon the land, and who remain there

until some higher power has reason for ejecting them. They pursue

agricultural occupations in a rather desultory fashion, upon so limited

a scale that one often wonders how they manage to exist. The

amount of food produced upon their Lilliputian clearings is insigni-

ficant, but they grow a little corn, some beans, cassava, onions,

tomatoes, and other products, eking out their livelihood by burning

charcoal or working occasionally for hire.

These squatters practice the same agricultural methods that are

followed in all parts of Central America where there is plenty of

virgin forest. Going perhaps into the very heart of the forest, they

fell with great labor all the tall trees and cut away the bushes and

lianas. It is desirable to choose a slope, or else make a clearing

large enough to permit free exposure to the sun, since, I am told, in

a small clearing completely surrounded by tall trees crops do not

thrive, and are likely to be attacked by all sorts of unforeseen

pests.

As the trees are felled they fall in every direction, forming great

heaps of logs over which one must climb like a monkey. After this

cut vegetation has been allowed to dry as much as possible, it is

fired. The larger trunks are not consumed but are left lying on the

ground. Corn and beans then are planted among them and left to

grow. The ground is not broken up nor are the plants cultivated,

except that care is taken that they may not be altogether choked by

the invading weeds. Upon such a piece of ground crops are planted

only one or two years, then it is abandoned, and new land is cleared

for planting. Such a system is a wasteful one and involves labor out

of all proportion to the results obtained, but it appears to be neces-

sary, since the ground is quickly exhausted.

In the Tela region such of the logs as are suitable for the purpose

often are burned for charcoal, the fuel most used in native kitchens.

Trees are cut, also, for this special purpose, to the further depletion

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 45

of the forest. Logs left upon the ground are attacked by fungi and

by insects, and soon become a crumbling mass that quickly disin-

tegrates. In clearing land for the commercial production of bananas,

likewise, it is not considered necessary to burn the large logs, but

they are left among the banana rows. By the time the first bananas

are ready for cutting, the logs have rotted so much that they do not

obstruct the harvest of the crop.

Disregarding what may have happened centuries ago, the Tela

region has been settled only recently, and the ground but lately

brought under cultivation. The best evidence of this fact is the

small number of introduced weeds. Some of those listed here were

found only about Lancetilla Station, where doubtless they had been

introduced with the many importations of seeds and plants for

cultivation.

Upon examining closely the following list of species, one will

note the omission of several friends of the Central American low-

lands. Oplismenus Burmanni, for instance, one of the common weedy

grasses of banana plantations elsewhere, was not noted here, and there

are other equally conspicuous omissions. More weeds were noted

about Progreso, which is an older settlement than Tela.

VERNACULAR NAMES

The writer always has taken a profound interest in the collection

of vernacular names applied to plants in Central America and has

collected many thousands of them, from a large number of inform-

ants. There is still much to be learned in this branch of botanical

work, and it is to be regretted that an ordinary collecting expedition

does not afford as much time as one would wish for recording native

names. They are of value only when recorded by one who has a

rather thorough knowledge of Spanish and of vernacular names used

in other regions of similar speech and flora. Even the best-informed

person will find that he has made mistakes in recording and inter-

preting plant names, and sometimes quite ridiculous errors are

made thus.

The names of very conspicuous or economically important plants

are rather constant in Central America, not altogether so, by any

means. The Spanish spoken in the various small republics of Central

America varies in a fascinating but often bewildering manner, and

the names of common everyday objects often change completely

from one country to another. It is not surprising, therefore, that

plant names also show great variation, yet in a given locality they

46 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

are ordinarily well fixed. How different is the case in the United

States!

The people of Honduras, those born in the region, who must be

distinguished carefully from the many laborers on the banana planta-

tions who have come from Salvador, Nicaragua, and elsewhere, seem

to know the native plants very well. Different regions of Central

America vary widely in this respect. The best conditions I have

ever found were in Salvador, where every one appears to know a

name for almost every plant; the worst were in Costa Rica, otherwise

the paradise of the botanist, where no one seems to know the name

of any plant except those growing in the gardens. I have remarked,

when thoroughly exasperated by such ignorance upon the part of

people otherwise so far above the average of the Central Americans,

that if nothing else were accomplished by botanical work in Costa

Rica, it was to be hoped that the country people might have been

taught some of the names that belonged to their common native

plants.

In this flora the vernacular names printed immediately after the

formal species entries are ones that I obtained myself from inform-

ants in the Tela region, and for the most part they are believed to

be correct, with the usual allowance for mistakes in the identity of

the plants upon the part of those from whom the names were received.

There are added vernacular names also from other parts of Central

America, with the hope that they may assist sometimes in identifying

species. At any rate, it is of interest to all except closet botanists

to know to what extent the names vary from one country to another.

Most of the Honduran names recorded are Spanish ones, of more

or less obvious application to the plant concerned. A large number

are derived from the Aztec or Nahuatl language, which was spoken

formerly over so large an extent of Central America as well as in

Mexico, and still colors thousands of the place names. Few lan-

guages surpass the Nahuatl in the number of botanical terms, and,

fortunately, these names have been conserved in modern Spanish.

Some of the Honduran names apparently are not Nahuatl, and evi-

dently they are not Spanish. It is suspected that they may be deriva-

tives from some of the non-Nahuatl Indian dialects of Honduras.

Many of the Honduran plant names recall familiarly those used

for the same plants in Salvador. They may find their origin partly

in the influx of Salvadorean laborers, who work on the banana

plantations. It is more probable that they are another manifesta-

tion of the many resemblances existing between Salvador and Hon-

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 47

duras, some of which are based upon more than mere geographic

propinquity. It must be admitted, however, that the resemblances

between Salvador and Honduras in customs, people, or physiography,

are rather subtle and intangible ones, although their existence can

not well be denied.

Because of lack of time and of suitable informants, no attempt

was made to assemble the "English" (so called by themselves alone)

names employed for the plants by the British West Indians who

have migrated into the banana country. In other parts of Central

America these people apply to the local plants Jamaican or Barbadian

names given to the same plants, or to others which, with their custom-

ary display of assurance based upon ignorance, they assume to be

the same.

EXPLORATION OF THE REGION

The present flora is based almost wholly upon the collections

made by the writer in 1927-28, which consisted of more than 3,000

numbers of phanerogams and cryptogams. The collection already

has been the basis of several printed papers, one by Edwin B. Bartram

enumerating the mosses,1 and several by the present writer. In the

Gardeners^ Chronicle2 there was published an illustrated account of

the Lancellla Experiment Station. In the Journal of the Arnold

Arboretum3 there appeared an account of the woody plants observed

about Siguatepeque, in the interior of Honduras. In Tropical Woods*

there was published an enumeration of all the trees known from

the whole republic of Honduras. The new species obtained during the

course of the work have been described in preceding volumes of

the BotanicalSeries of Field Museum, in 1929 and 1930. The numerous

new species of Piperaceae found on the Honduran coast have been

described by Dr. William Trelease in the Journal of the Washington

Academy of Sciences.5

Of the specimens collected during 1927-28 there are complete or

nearly complete sets in the United States National Museum and in

the herbarium of Field Museum. A set of the woody plants is

deposited in the herbarium of Arnold Arboretum. The collections

were determined and the present flora was written at Field Museum.

1 Mosses collected in Honduras by Paul C. Standley. Field Mus. Bot. 4:

349-364. 1929.

2 85: 462-464. 1929.

3 11: 15-46. 1930.

421: 9-41. 1930.

6 19: 327-337. 1929.

48 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Of previous collections from the region the most important is

that obtained by Percy Wilson of the New York Botanical Garden

in 1903 about Tela, then known as Puerto Sierra. This collection

consisted of 708 numbers, and a list of the determinations has been

available to the writer through the courtesy of the collector. Mr.

Wilson obtained several species that I did not find, and these have

been listed here when their determinations could be verified with

some assurance. Many of the numbers are represented by specimens

in Field Museum.

Another collection is that made about Tela in 1926 by Mrs.

Elizabeth R. Mitchell. Her specimens were determined at the Gray

Herbarium by Dr. Ivan M. Johnston, and a partial set is in the

herbarium of Field Museum. Mrs. Mitchell discovered several new

species in the vicinity of Tela.

In 1929 W. D. Hottle of the Tela Railroad Company collected

many trees of the Tela region, chiefly about Progreso. He obtained

several important species not otherwise represented from Honduras.

The most notable was Dicraspidia, a tree which the present writer

would have traveled far to see had he suspected that it occurred so

far away from Costa Rica, whence it was described originally.

In the same year W. N. Bangham and F. M. Salvozac graduate

students of Harvard University, spent a short time collecting here

for the Arnold Arboretum. A nearly complete set of Mr. Bangham's

numbers is in the herbarium of Field Museum, to which it was sent

through the courtesy of Dr. Alfred Rehder.

Dr. Holger Johansen has collected about La Lima, just outside

the limits of this flora, a number of interesting trees, specimens of

which he has presented to Field Museum. The only other near-by

region of Honduras from which specimens are available is San Pedro

Sula. From that locality a few numbers, collected by Thieme, were

distributed by Captain John Donnell Smith, but San Pedro is so far

from Tela and its flora so different that these collections have not

been taken into consideration in the preparation of this report.

PLAN OF THE FLORA

The plan of the Lancetilla flora is sufficiently obvious to one who

reads the following pages. It is intended to include all the plants of

the region about Lancetilla Valley and the port of Tela (the Tela

Division of the United Fruit Company), both flowering plants and

cryptogams. The latter were collected rather casually, and the list

of them is very incomplete. They can be gathered intelligently only

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 49

by a specialist in the groups concerned, but it has seemed worth while

to list those actually collected, especially since so little — almost

nothing, in fact — has been printed concerning the cryptogamic flora

of Central America.

The descriptions given under the families and genera are intended

to cover the Honduran species alone, and plants of the same groups

found in other parts of Central America may in some instances be

excluded by the descriptions. It has been intended to make the

descriptions of species as simple as possible, although it is probable

that in most cases, because of their brevity, they will be useful only

to a botanist, who, after all, is the only one who can expect to name

all the plants growing in an area of so large a flora. In the case of

critical groups, in which only a botanist can be interested or can make

proper determinations, the descriptive language is more technical.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness, above all,

to Wilson Popenoe, Director of the Lancetilla Experiment Station,

through whose keen interest in the natural history of Honduras there

was undertaken the field work upon which the Flora of the Lancetilla

Valley is based. Never have I worked amid such agreeable sur-

roundings, with so many comforts, and with so many conveniences

for the successful prosecution of field work. Fortunate are those who

have the opportunity of working in such a congenial atmosphere as

prevails at Lancetilla.

Every possible assistance in the conduct of the work was given by

other employes of the Tela Railroad Company, whose resident

manager, R. K. Thomas, showed a sympathetic interest in the project.

The writer is deeply indebted, also, to Alfred F. Butler, of Lancetilla

Station, whose interest in the work and whose uncanny attention to

detail contributed so much toward the success of the season's under-

taking.

On the trip to the interior, performed in connection with the

exploration of the Lancetilla region, although its results are not re-

corded in the present paper, the writer was received everywhere

courteously by the Honduran people with whom he came in contact.

He received from them universally the most sympathetic assistance,

but this occasioned no surprise, since he learned long ago to expect

such a reception from Central American people, and would be

convinced he was elsewhere than in Central America should he fail

to receive it.

50 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

In the work of determining the Honduran collections substantial

and deeply appreciated assistance has been received from a number

of specialists upon various groups of plants. The following persons

have aided in the completion of the Flora of the Lancetilla Valley by

determining material in the groups indicated: Dr. M. A. Howe, New

York Botanical Garden, algae; John A. Stevenson and other members

of the staff of the Office of Mycology and Disease Survey, United

States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., fungi; Edwin

B. Bartram, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, mosses; Dr. Th. Herzog, Jena,

Germany, Hepaticae; Dr. William R. Maxon, United States National

Museum, Washington, D.C., ferns; Professor A. S. Hitchcock and

Mrs. Agnes Chase, United States Department of Agriculture, grasses;

Professor Oakes Ames, Botanical Museum of Harvard University,

orchids; Dr. William Trelease, Urbana, Illinois, Piperaceae; Ells-

worth P. Killip, United States National Museum, Passifloraceae and

Urticaceae; Dr. B. L. Robinson, Gray Herbarium, Cambridge, Massa-

chusetts, Eupatorieae; Dr. S. F. Blake, United States Department

of Agriculture, Compositae.

The fine photographs of Lancetilla plants used as illustrations of

this volume were made by Frederick Coville, of the Lancetilla

Experiment Station, from plants collected by the author. The other

photographs also were supplied by the director of the station.

ANNOTATED LIST OF GENERA AND SPECIES

FUNGI

Unless otherwise indicated, the fungi of the following list were

determined by John A. Stevenson of the United States Department

of Agriculture. The writer is under special obligations to Mr.

Stevenson for his discriminating work, and above all for the neat and

usable report which he furnished upon the collection. Only those

who are accustomed to receiving lists of determinations from special-

ists will know how unusual it is to receive such a well-prepared report.

PHYCOMYCETES

ALBUGINACEAE. White Rusts

Albugo Bliti (Biv.) Kuntze. On an undetermined host. Deter-

mined by Ross Davidson.

Albugo Ipomoeae-panduranae (Schw.) Sw. On Ipomoea sp.

Albugo platensis Swing. On Boerhaavia erecta. Determined by

Davidson.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 51

Albugo Tragopogonis (DC.) S. F. Gray. On Verbesina myrio-

cephala.

ASCOMYCETES

MICROTHYRIACEAE. Black Molds

Asterina Caricarum Rehm. On Carica Papaya.

Asterina coriacella Speg. On Cestrum sp.

Asterina crotonicola Pat. On Croton ciliato-glandulosus.

Asterina diplocarpa Cke. On Sida acuta.

Asterina indecora Syd. On Stigmaphyllon Lindenianum.

Asterina vagans Speg. On Solanum sp.

PERISPORIACEAE. Black Mildews

Irene larviformis (Henn.) Stevens. On Acalypha diversifolia

and Acalypha sp.

Irene sororcula (Speg.) Stevens. On Eupatorium morifolium

and Eupatorium sp.

Irenina Anguriae Stevens. On Gurania Makoyana.

Irenina Bonplandii (Speg.) Stevens. On Cupania glabra.

Irenina glabroides Stevens. On Piper sp. and Piper tuber-

culatum.

Irenina hyptidicola Stevens. On Hyptis verticillata.

Irenina Lagunculariae (Earle) Stevens. On Laguncularia

racemosa.

Irenina obscura Stevens. On Saurauia sp.

Irenina Perseae Stevens. On Persea americana.

Irenina Tremae (Speg.) Stevens. On Myriocarpa yzabalensis.

Irenopsis coronata (Speg.) Stevens var. Triumfettae Stevens.

On Luehea Seemannii and Heliocarpus sp.

Irenopsis Molleriana (Wint.) Stevens. On Pavonia rosea, a

new host for the species.

Irenopsis tortuosa (Wint.) Stevens. On Piper auritum.

Meliola bicornis Wint. On Chamissoa altissima, Gliricidia

sepium, and Lonchocarpus sp.

52 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Meliola bignoniacearum Stevens. On Bignoniaceae.

Meliola connariae Yates. On Connarus Popenoei.

Meliola Crescentiae Stevens. On Crescentia Cujete.

Meliola hispida Stevens. On Calathea sp.

Meliola longistipitata Stevens. On Costus sp.

Meliola malacotricha Speg. On Ipomoea sp.

Meliola marantacearum Stevens. On Calathea sp.

Meliola Merrillii Syd. On Cissiis sicyoides.

Meliola Panici Earle. OnLasiacis ruscifolia.

Meliola Paulliniae Stevens. On Paullinia sp.

Meliola Pazschkeana Gaill. QnBauhinia sp.

Meliola Psidii FT. On Psidium Guajava.

Meliola Psychotriae 'Earle. On Hamelia erecta.

Meliola Smilacis Stevens. On Smilax mollis.

Meliola strychnicola Gaill. On Strychnos panamensis.

Meliola Tabernaemontanae Speg. On Tabernaemontana sp.

Meliola Weigeltii Kunze. On Astronium graveolens.

Meliola Zetekii Stevens. On Piper sp.

Parodiella perisporioides (B. & C.) Speg. On Vigna repens.

Perisporina truncata (Stev.) Arn. On Inga sp.

TRIGHOTHYRIACEAE

Trichothyrium dubiosum (Bom. & Br.) Theiss. On Irenina

Anguriae Stevens onGurania Makoyana; on Irenina glabroides Stevens

on Piper sp.; on Irenina hyptidicola Stevens on Hyptis verticillata;

on Irenina Tremae (Speg.) Stevens on Myriocarpa yzabalensis; on

Irenopsis coronata (Speg.) Stevens var. Triumfettae Stevens on

Heliocarpus sp.; on Irenopsis Molleriana (Wint.) Stevens on Pavonia

rosea; on Meliola bicornis Wint. on Chamissoa altissima.

NEGTRIACEAE

Paranectria meliolicola Stevens. On Irene sororcula (Speg.)

Stevens onEupatorium sp.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 53

HYPOCREACEAE

Balansia trinitensis Cke. & Mass. On an undetermined host.

Determined by W. W. Diehl.

Hypocrella sp. On Aspidiotus cyanophylla on Cestrum sp. Deter-

mined by Miss V. K. Charles.

Torrubiella rubra Pat. & Lagh. On Anisosorus hirsutus. Deter-

mined by Miss Charles.

Ustilaginoidea Setariae Bres. On an undetermined host.

Determined by Diehl.

DOTHIDEACEAE

Scoleccoidea costaricensis Stevens. On Miconia sp.

PHYLLACHORAGEAE

Phyllachora Tragiae (B. & C.) Sacc. On Croton teucrioides.

SPHAERIACEAE

Wallrothiella sp. On dead stems of Piper sp. Determined by

C. L. Shear.

MYCOSPHAERELLACEAE

Mycosphaerella Cassiae Stevens. On Cassia sp. Determined

by Davidson.

VALSACEAE

Eutypa heteracantha Sacc. On dead stems of Piper sp. Deter-

mined by Shear.

XYLARIACEAE

Camillea globosa Lev. On dead wood. Determined by Shear.

Camillea Sagraeana (M.) B. & C. On dead wood. Determined

by Diehl.

Daldinia concentrica (Bolt.) Ces. & De N. On dead wood.

Determined by Shear and Diehl.

Hypoxylon placentiforme B. & C. On dead wood. Determined

by Diehl.

Xylaria anisopleura Mont. On dead wood. Determined by

Shear and Diehl.

54 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Xylaria cubensis (M.) B. & C. On dead wood. Determined by

Diehl.

Xylaria dichotoma Mont. On dead wood. Determined by

Shear and Diehl.

Xylaria guianensis Mont. On dead wood. Determined by

Diehl.

Xylaria Schweinitzii B. & C. On dead wood. Determined by

Diehl.

Xylaria scopiformis Kze. On dead wood. Determined by

Shear and Diehl.

Xylaria tabacina Kx. On dead wood. Determined by Diehl.

PEZIZACEAE

Cookeina sulcipes (Berk.) Kuntze. On dead wood. Deter-

mined by Miss Edith Cash.

Cookeina tricholoma (Mont.) Kuntze. On dead wood.

Determined by Miss Cash.

BULGARIACEAE

Calloriopsis gelatinosa (Ell. & Mart.) Syd. (Belonidium leucor-

rhodinum [Mont.] Sacc.). On Irenina glabroides Stevens on Piper sp.

Determined by Miss Cash.

STICTIDACEAE

Tryblidiella rufula (Spreng.) Sacc. On dead sticks. Deter-

mined by Miss Cash.

HEMIBASIDIOMYCETES

The fungi of this group, to the end of the Pucciniaceae, were

determined by Ross Davidson.

USTILAGINACEAE

Mycosyrinx Cissi (DC.) G. Beck. On Cissus sicyoides. This

fungus very commonly attacks the inflorescences of the various species

of Cissus, deforming them almost beyond recognition. Such a de-

formed inflorescence was once described from Mexico as the type of a

new genus of flowering plants!

Ustilago Holwayana P. Henn. On Paspalum conjugatum.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 55

TILLETIACEAE

Entyloma australe Speg. On Physalis pubescens.

COLEOSPORIACEAE

Coleosporiurn Elephantopodis (Schw.) Thtim. On Elephan-

topus mollis.

Coleosporium Ipornoeae (Schw.) Burr. On Ipomoea reptans

and Ipomoea sp.

MELAMPSORACEAE

Alveolaria Cordiae Lagerh. On Cordia sp.

Endophylloides portoricensis W. & 0. On Mikania micrantha.

Endophyllum circumscriptum (Schw.) W. & O. On Cissus

sicyoides.

Pucciniosira pallidula (Speg.) Lagerh. On Triumfetta sp.

PUGCINIAGEAE

Puccinia antioquiensis Mayor. On Cyperus diffusus.

Puccinia Asteris Duby. On Aster exilis.

Puccinia Cannae (Wint.) P. Henn. On Canna sp.

Puccinia circinata (Schw.) Arth. On Stigmaphyllon ellipticum.

Puccinia Lantanae Farl. On Priva lappulacea.

Puccinia Leptochloae Arth. & Fromme. On Leptochloa virgata.

Puccinia liberta Kern. OnEleocharis sp.

Puccinia Melampodii Diet. & Holw. On Eleutheranthera rude-

ralis.

Puccinia paupercula Arth. On Pseudelephantopus spicatus.

Puccinia Scleriae (Paz.) Arth. On Sderia melaleuca.

Puccinia tubulosa Arth. On Solanum sp.

Puccinia Urbaniana P. Henn. On Cornutia grandifolia and

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis.

Uredo Dichromenae Arth. On Dichromena ciliata.

Uromyces Gommelinae Cke. On Zebrina pendula.

Uromyces Neurocarpi Diet. On an undetermined host.

Uromyces proeminens (DC.) Pass. On Euphorbia thymifolia.

56 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

EUBASIDIOMYCETES

AURICULARIACEAE

Auricularia auricula-judae (Bull.) Schroet. On dead wood.

Auricularia delicata (Fr.) P. Henn. On dead wood.

Auricularia mesenterica (Bull.) Fr. On dead wood.

Hirneola polytricha (Mont.) Fr. On dead wood.

THELEPHORACEAE

Cladoderris dendritica Pers. On dead wood.

Hymenochaete damaecornis (Link) Lev. On dead wood.

Hypolyssus Montagnei Berk. On dead twigs.

Lachnocladium brasiliense Lev. On rotten wood.

Lachnocladium sp. On rotten wood.

Stereum aurantiacum (Pers.) Lloyd. On dead wood.

Stereum lobatum Schw. On dead wood.

Stereum papyrinum Fr. On dead wood.

Stereum sp. On dead wood and on soil.

Thelephora sp. On soil.

POLYPORACEAE. Pore Fungi

Daedalea amanitoides Beauv. Common on dead wood; varying

from daedaloid to poroid.

Favolus brasiliensis Fr. On dead wood.

Fomes marmoratus (B. & C.) Cke. On dead wood.

Fomes pseudo-senex Murr. On dead wood. Determined by

L. 0. Overholts.

Hexagona tenuis (Hook.) Fr. On dead wood.

Lenzites striata (Sw.) Fr. On dead wood.

Polyporus caperatus Berk. On dead wood.

Polyporus conchoides (Mont.) Lloyd. On dead wood.

Polyporus dichrous Fr. On dead wood.

Polyporus licnoides Mont. On dead wood.

Polyporus lignosus Kl. On dead wood.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 57

Polyporus lucidus (Curt.) FT. On dead wood.

Polyporus modestus FT. On dead wood. Determined by Over-

holts.

Polyporus omphalodes Berk. On dead wood.

Polyporus tricholoma Mont. On dead wood.

Polyporus zonalis Berk. On dead wood.

Polystictus crocatus Fr. On dead wood.

Polystictus maximus Mont. On dead wood.

Polystictus membranaceus (Sw.) Berk. On dead wood.

Polystictus occidentalis (Kl.) Fr. On dead wood.

Polystictus pavonius (Hook.) Fr. On dead wood. Determined

by Overholts.

Polystictus pinsiteus Fr. On dead wood.

Polystictus sanguineus (L.) Fr. On dead wood.

Polystictus sector (Ehrb.) Fr. On dead wood.

Polystictus versatilis Berk. On dead wood.

Trametes cirrifera (B. & C.) Bres. On dead wood.

Trametes corrugata (Pers.) Bres. On dead wood.

Trametes hydnoides (Sw.) Fr. On dead wood.

Trametes rigida Berk. & Mont. On dead wood.

AGARICACEAE. Mushrooms

Determined by Miss V. K. Charles.

Flammula sp.

Lentinus crinitus (L.) Fr. On dead wood.

Lentinus strigellus B. & C. On dead wood.

Lentinus villosus Kl. On dead wood.

Lentinus sp. On dead wood.

Marasmius graminum (Lib.) B. & B. On dead plant remains.

Marasmius sp. On dead leaves.

Panus rudis Fr. On dead wood.

Pleurotus commiscibilis B. & C.

Schizophyllum commune Fr. On dead wood.

58 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

NIDULARIACEAE. Bird's-nest Fungi

Cyathus Montagnei Tul. On dead wood.

Cyathus pallidus B. & C. On dead wood.

LYCOPERDACEAE. Puffballs

Bovista sp. On soil.

Geaster sp. On soil.

Lycogalopsis Solmsii Ed. Fisch. On rotten wood.

FUNGI IMPERFECTI

PHYLLOSTICTACEAE

Asterostomella indecora Syd. On Stigmaphyllon sp.

Asterostomella Tremae Speg. On Trema micrantha.

MUCEDINACEAE

Acremonium Meliola Stevens. On Meliola Paulliniae Stevens

on Pauttinia sp.

DERMATIACEAE

Cercospora Canavaliae Syd. On Canavalia sp.

Haplographium portoricense Stevens. On Canna sp.

Helminthosporium sp. On Irenina glabroides Stevens on Piper

sp.; on Irene sororcula (Speg.) Stevens on Eupatorium morifolium;

on Meliola Paulliniae Stevens on Paullinia sp.

TUBERGULARIACEAE

Pucciniopsis Caricae (Speg.) Earle. On Carica Papaya.

FUNGI OF UNKNOWN AFFINITY

Scenomyces perplexans Stevens. On Connarus Popenoei.

ALGAE

The following seaweeds were found cast up on the beach at Tela.

The specimens have been determined by Dr. M. A. Howe.

Sargassum polyceratium Mont.

Sargassum vulgare Ag.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 59

Turbinaria turbinata (L.) Kuntze.

The following leaf-inhabiting alga was determined by John A.

Stevenson:

Cephaleuros virescens Ktze. On leaves of Aleurites.

MUSCI. Mosses

The mosses listed here were determined by Edwin B. Bartram,

who has published an annotated account of them (Field Mus. Bot.

4: 349-364. pi. 17-19. 1929).

FISSIDENTAGEAE

Fissidens Kegelianus C. M. A widely distributed species of

tropical America, but apparently not collected previously in Central

America.

DICRANACEAE

Dicranella Herminieri Besch.

Holomitrium arboreum Mitt.

Leucoloma serrulatum Brid.

Leucoloma tortellum (Mitt.) Jaeg.

Trematodon reflexus C. M.

LEUCOBRYACEAE

Octoblepharum albidum (L.) Hedw.

Octoblepharum pulvinatum (Dox. & Molkb.) Mitt.

GALYMPERAGEAE

Calymperes emersum C. M. Known otherwise only from Guate-

mala (the type locality) and southern Florida.

Syrrhopodon incompletus Schwaegr.

POTTIACEAE

Hyophila Tortula (Schwaegr.) Hamp.

FUNARIAGEAE

Funaria calvescens Schwaegr.

SPLACHNACEAE

Splachnobryum Bernoulli! C. M.

60 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

BRYACEAE

Bryum andicola Hook.

Bryum bursiforme Bartram. Known only from the type, col-

lected in wet sandy soil, Lancetilla Valley.

Bryum coronatum Schwaegr.

Bryum Crugeri Hamp.

Bryum microbalanum Card.

Bryum Standleyi Bartram. Known only from the Tela region,

the type collected on a log near Tela.

RHIZOGONIACEAE

Rhizogonium spiniforme (L.) Bruch.

BARTRAMIACEAE

Philonotis sphaericarpa (Sw.) Brid.

Philonotis tenella (C. M.) Besch.

ORTHOTRICHACEAE

Schlotheimia Sartorii C. M.

HELICOPHYLLACEAE

Helicophyllum torquatum (Hook.) Brid.

RHACOPILACEAE

Rhacopilum tomentosum (Sw.) Brid.

PTEROBRYACEAE

Orthostichopsis tetragona (Sw.) Broth.

METEORIACEAE

Meteoriopsis pa tula (Sw.) Broth.

Papillaria appressa (Hsch.) Jaeg.

Papillaria nigrescens (Sw.) Jaeg.

Pilotrichella rigida (C. M.) Besch.

NECKERACEAE

Homalia glabella (Sw.) Mitt.

Neckeropsis undulata (Palis.) Broth.

Porotrichum plicatulum Mitt.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 61

HOOKERIACEAE

Callicostella ciliata (Schp.) Jaeg.

Callico stella cruceana (Dub.) Jaeg.

Callicostella pallida (Hsch.) Jaeg.

Crossomitrium Herminieri (Schp.) Jaeg. A species known

previously only from the island of Guadeloupe.

Cyclodictyon albicans (Sw.) Broth.

Lepidopilum polytrichoides (Hedw.) Brid.

Rhynchostegiopsis flexuosa (Sull.) C. M.

THUIDIACEAE

Thuidium involvens (Hedw.) Mitt.

Thuidium miradoricutn Jaeg.

BRACHYTHECIACEAE

Brachythecium stereopoma (Spruce) Jaeg.

Rhynchostegium patulurn Bartram. Known only from this

region, the type having been collected on a wet rock in the Lancetilla

Valley.

SEMATOPHYLLACEAE

Sematophyllum galipense (C. M.) Mitt.

Sematophyllum Kegelianum (C. M.) Mitt.

Sematophyllum loxense (Hook.) Mitt.

Taxithelium planum (Brid.) Mitt.

Trichosteleum microcarpum (Sw.) Broth.

HYPNACEAE

Isopterygium diminutivum Bartram.

Microthamnium scalpellifolium C. M.

Vesicularia amphibola (Spruce) Broth.

HEPATICAE

The Hepaticae of the following list have been determined by Dr.

Th. Herzog of Jena. Special thanks are due to him because of the

difficulties and the large amount of work involved in making deter-

62 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

initiations in this complicated group of plants. For some of the

Hepaticae of certain groups which were not submitted to Dr. Herzog

it has been impossible to obtain determinations up to the present time.

Aphanolejeunea sicaefolia (G.) Ev.

Archilejeunea viridissima (Ldbg.), f. multiflora.

Brachiolejeunea mamillata St.

Bryopteris brevis St.

Bryopteris tenuicaulis Tayl.

Bryopteris tenuicaulis Tayl. var. flagellifera Herzog.

Colura ceratophora (Nees).

Cyclolejeunea convexistipa (G.).

Cyclolejeunea peruviana (L. & L.).

Diplasiolejeunea pellucida (Meissn.).

Leptocolea cardiocarpa Ev.

Leptocolea scabriflora (G.).

Leptocolea Standleyi Herzog, sp. nov.

Leptolejeunea elliptica Spr.

Leptolejeunea stenophylla (L. & G.).

Lophocolea Liebmanniana (G.)

Lophocolea Liebmanniana (G.) var. bisbifida Herzog.

Lophocolea Liebmanniana (G.) var. Martiana Nees.

Lopholejeunea Sagraeana (Mont.).

Mastigolejeunea lobulata Herzog, sp. nov.

Odontolejeunea lunulata (Web.).

Physocolea microloba Herzog, sp. nov.

Plagiochila aliena G., f. rupicola.

Plagiochila hondurensis Herzog, sp. nov.

Ptychocoleus subfalcatus Herzog, sp. nov.

Radula pallens (Sw.).

Rectolejeunea flagelliformis Ev.

Symbiezidium barbiflorum St.

Symbiezidium setosum St.?

Symbiezidium transversale Trevis.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 63

MARATTIACEAE. Marattia Family

DANAEA J. E. Sm.

Danaea nodosa (L.) J. E. Sm. A large coarse fern with a stout

creeping rhizome; sterile fronds about a meter long, once pinnate,

the pinnae 7-15 pairs, linear or oblong-linear, 3-5 cm. wide, abruptly

long-acuminate; fertile fronds similar, but the pinnae much shorter

and only 1.5-2.5 cm. broad. — Common in wet forest; widely distrib-

uted in tropical America.

SCHIZAEACEAE. Climbing Fern Family

LYGODIUM Sw.

Plants climbing, of indefinite growth; fronds pinnately or palm-

ately divided; sporangia large and conspicuous, arranged in a row on

each side of the midvein of the contracted segments, dorsal and soli-

tary upon the simple veinlets.

Lygodium heterodoxum Kunze. Plants glabrous or nearly

so. — Common in wet thickets; ranging from southern Mexico to

Venezuela.

Lygodium polymorphism (Cav.) HBK. Plants densely hairy.

— Growing in thickets about Tela and at La Fragua, but not common

in this region ; widely dispersed in tropical America. This is a common

species of the drier regions of Central America, especially of the

Pacific slope. In Salvador the names "palmera" and "crespillo"

sometimes are applied to it.

GLEICHENIACEAE. Gleichenia Family

DICRANOPTERIS Bernh.

Dicranopteris pectinata (Willd.) Underw. Plants large and

climbing, the rachises hard and tough, the branching dichotomous;

pinnae deeply pinnatifid into linear segments, very glaucous beneath;

sori small, rounded, borne upon the veinlets. — In wet thickets near

Tela; apparently rare in this region; widely distributed in tropical

America.

CYATHEACEAE. Tree Fern Family

To this family belong the tree ferns so characteristic of tropical

American vegetation, although seldom forming a very conspicuous

part of it. Not all ferns belonging to this family are treelike in their

growth, however.

64 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

ALSOPHILA R. Br.

In this genus the sori have no indusium, but they are indusiate

in the other genera listed here.

Alsophila blechnoides (Rich.) Hook. Plants acaulescent;

leaves 1.5-2 meters long, simply pinnate, the numerous pinnae

linear, entire or nearly so, with very long, slender, tapering tips. —

In wet forest on the hills above Lancetilla; widely distributed in

tropical America.

Alsophila microdonta Desv. Plants large, the trunk often 1-4

meters high, slender; fronds few, about 2 meters long, tripinnate, the

pinnules pinnatifid into linear-oblong segments; stipes with numerous

distant sharp spines, glabrate. — Collected only in a wet thicket near

Tela; widely distributed in tropical America. The plants seen at

Tela were young and acaulescent.

Alsophila Schiedeana Presl. Trunk slender, 2 meters high,

covered with short spines; fronds tripinnate; stipes bearing numerous

short thick spines, also furnished with abundant dark brown scales. —

In forest and wet thickets about Lancetilla, but infrequent; extending

to southern Mexico. Tree ferns of this and other species are quite

rare about Lancetilla, and but few isolated individuals are found

there. They are more plentiful in the higher mountains of Central

America.

CYATHEA Sm.

Cyathea princeps (Linden) Mayer. Trunk sometimes very tall;

fronds forming a large crown, reaching a length of 4 meters, tripin-

nate; stipes unarmed, clothed with narrow pale scales. — Only small

sterile plants were collected, growing in wet forest above Lancetilla;

ranging to southern Mexico.

HEMITELIA R. Br.

Hemitelia multiflora (J. E. Sm.) R. Br. Trunk about a meter

high, or sometimes much taller, slightly spiny; fronds deeply tripin-

natifid, the divisions of the pinnules rather coarsely toothed; stipes

very spiny. — Occasional in wet forest about Lancetilla; ranging from

Guatemala to Panama.

POLYPODIACEAE. Polypody Family

This family includes by far the greater number of the ferns.

These plants are abundant in Central America, and there is a good

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 65

representation of them in the Tela region, a much larger number,

doubtless, than is listed here. However, ferns are much more numer-

ous in the mountains of Central America than in the lowlands.

ACROSTICHUM L.

Acrostichum aureum L. Plants very large and coarse, 1-2

meters high; leaves pinnate, the pinnae few, alternate, 15-30 cm.

long, linear-oblong, very thick and leathery or fleshy, rounded at

the tip, only the uppermost pinnae, if any, fertile. — Common in

open swamps and marshes; widely distributed in the tropics of both

hemispheres.

ADIANTUM L. Maidenhair Ferns

Terrestrial ferns with scaly rhizomes; leaves with dark and usually

lustrous stipes; blades 1-5-pinnate or decompound; veins free in

most species; sori appearing marginal, the sporangia borne on the

under side of the sharply reflexed, membranous margin or lobes of

the pinnules.

Adiantum latifolium Lam. Rhizome short-creeping; fronds

ovate or transversely oblong, bipinnate, the stipe purplish black,

polished, the pinnules numerous, 2-4 cm. long, inequilateral, green,

acute or acuminate. — Common in wet forest and thickets; widely

distributed in tropical America.

Adiantum obliquum Willd. Rhizome creeping, cordlike ; fronds

25-60 cm. long, the stipes dark, polished; blades simply pinnate,

the pinnae 8-13 pairs, alternate, lustrous on both sides, lanceolate or

narrowly triangular, attenuate to the tip. — Occasional in wet forest

and thickets; ranging from Guatemala to Brazil.

Adiantum petiolatum Desv. Rhizome short-creeping; fronds

erect, the slender stipes black, polished, glabrous; blades 15-25 cm.

long, once pinnate, the pinnae 4-12 pairs, glabrous, very glaucous

beneath, inequilateral, lance-deltoid, obtuse to long-attenuate. —

Occasional in wet forest and thickets; widely distributed in tropical

America.

Adiantum pulverulentum L. Rhizome short-creeping; fronds

suberect, the stipes polished, dark purple, scurfy; blades 25-60 cm.

long and equally broad, 2-pinnate, the pinnules numerous, close

together or imbricated, bright glossy green, dimidiate, the fertile

ones narrowly oblong, 8-15 mm. long. — Common in wet forest and

thickets; generally distributed in tropical America.

66 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Adiantum tetraphyllum H. & B. Rhizome creeping, thick;

fronds suberect, the stipe dark purple, polished, rusty-scurfy; blades

broadly deltoid to rounded, 15-40 cm. long and broad, 2-pinnate, the

numerous pinnules dark green, glossy above, slightly oblique, dimid-

iate, the fertile ones oblong to narrowly triangular-oblong, 1.5-2.5

cm. long. — Frequent in wet mountain forest; generally distributed in

tropical America.

ANANTHACORUS Underw. & Maxon

Ananthacorus angustifolius (Sw.) C. Chr. Plants small,

epiphytic, with a short creeping rhizome densely covered with scales;

fronds broadly linear, 15-40 cm. long, 8-18 mm. wide, long-tapering

to each end; sori linear, borne in a continuous line close to the margin.

— On trees in wet forest on the hills above Lancetilla; widely dispersed

in tropical America.

ANETIUM Splitg.

Anetium citrifolium (L.) Splitg. An epiphytic fern with fleshy

creeping scaly rhizomes and brown feltlike roots; fronds pendent and

flabby, oblanceolate, 10-30 cm. long, acuminate, entire; sporangia

borne in groups within the areoles and upon the veins. — Frequent in

wet forest, creeping on tree trunks or branches or on logs; ranging

from Guatemala to Brazil.

ANISOSORUS Trev.

Anisosorus hirsutus (L.) Underw. & Maxon. A coarse terres-

trial plant with thick short-creeping rhizome; fronds few, ascending,

succulent, sometimes 1.5 meters long, the stipe with septate hairs;

blades bipinnate-pinnatifid, the pinnules mostly 6-12 cm. long and

2-3 cm. wide, semiadnate, acuminate, coarsely pinnatifid, the veins

free; sori 2 to each segment, marginal, oblong to linear. — Occasional

in wet forest; ranging from Mexico to Bolivia.

ASPLENIUM L.

Small or large ferns, terrestrial or epiphytic, the fronds very

variable; sori oval to linear, nearly straight, borne upon the free,

usually oblique ultimate veins, usually below their tips; indusia

present, lateral, as long as the sori, commonly membranous. One of

the largest genera of ferns.

Asplenium auritum Sw. Epiphytic or terrestrial, the rhizome

erect or decumbent, with soft thick scales; fronds few, the stipes

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 67

greenish and glabrous; blades pinnate, 12-30 cm. long, the numerous

pinnae opposite or alternate, subsessile, linear to oblong, auricled at

the base, often more or less serrate. — On trees in forest, or growing on

mossy rocks; generally dispersed in tropical America.

Asplenium cuneatum Lam. Rhizome erect or decumbent;

fronds numerous, the stipes fuscous, chaffy below; blades 20-40 cm.

long, usually tripinnate near the base and bipinnate above, the pinnae

numerous, subopposite, stalked, elongate-deltoid, 4-13 cm. long,

the pinnules oblique, often broadly wedge-shaped, toothed near the

apex; sori very oblique, narrowly linear. — On wet mossy rocks in

forest; occurring in the West Indies and extending to Venezuela.

Asplenium falcinellum Maxon. Epiphytic, the rhizome sub-

erect, with yellowish brown scales; fronds few, the stipes dull brown-

ish; blades pinnate, the pinnae few pairs, lanceolate, long-attenuate,

stalked, mostly 10-15 cm. long, subopposite or alternate. — On tree

trunks in wet forest; sometimes growing on the trunks of tree ferns;

ranging to southern Mexico.

Asplenium formosum Willd. Plants terrestrial, the rhizome

very short; fronds numerous, 12-35 cm. long, erect, the stipes very

short, dark purple; blades pinnate, the pinnae 25-50 pairs, sub-

opposite or alternate, sessile, 10-18 mm. long, serrately incised. — On

wet mossy rocks near streams in mountain forest, often growing at

the edge of water; generally distributed in tropical America, and in

Asia and Africa.

Asplenium laetum Sw. Terrestrial, the rhizome short-creeping;

fronds few, ascending, 20-50 cm. long, the stipes half as long as the

blade or longer, brown; blades linear-oblong, 4-8 cm. wide, pinnate,

the pinnae 18-28 pairs, the lower ones opposite, the upper alternate,

trapeziform-oblong, 2-4 cm. long, crenate-serrate. — On wet mossy

rocks or on shaded banks in forest, frequent; ranging from Mexico

to Brazil.

Asplenium otites Link. Terrestrial, with a short rhizome;

fronds few, clustered, 7-15 cm. long, the stipes greenish; blades

pinnate, the pinnae 12-18 pairs, 12-20 mm. long, blunt, bright green,

sparsely toothed. — On moist shaded bank in forest; widely dis-

tributed in tropical America.

Asplenium pseuderectum Hieron. Epiphytic, the rhizome

suberect; fronds few, spreading or ascending, 25-50 cm. long, the

stipe very short, greenish, narrowly winged; blades linear, 4-8 cm.

wide, pinnate, the pinnae 25-40 pairs, mostly alternate, sessile,

68 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

trapeziform-oblong, obtuse or acute, crenate-lobed. — On trees in wet

forest; occurring in the West Indies and perhaps in Guatemala.

Asplenium radicans L. Rhizome erect, thick, densely covered

with dark scales; fronds numerous, clustered, 25-60 cm. long, ascend-

ing and recurved, the stipes rather short, chestnut or purplish brown;

blades pinnate, the tip of the rachis prolonged and naked, the pinnae

oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 2-7 cm. long, the lowest opposite, the

others alternate, obtuse to acuminate, cuneate at the base, sinuate or

crenate-serrate. — Growing on logs in wet forest; widely distributed

in tropical America.

Asplenium sanguinolentum Kunze. Rhizome erect, succu-

lent, thick, the apex clothed with brown scales; fronds few or numer-

ous, 45-80 cm. long, the stipe half as long as the blade, dark greenish

brown, chaffy; blades pinnate, the pinnae 6-14 pairs, short-stalked,

oblong-lanceolate, 5-9 cm. long, long-attenuate, crenate-serrate or

biserrate. — On trees in wet forest; widely distributed in tropical

America.

Asplenium serratum L. Epiphytic, the rhizome thick, erect,

covered with brownish tomentose roots, the apex clothed with linear,

dark brown scales; fronds often numerous, 50-100 cm. long, simple,

the stipe nearly obsolete, the blade acuminate, attenuate to the base,

7-14 cm. wide. — On trees in wet forest; generally distributed in

tropical America.

BLECHNUM L.

Terrestrial ferns with chaffy rhizomes; fronds small or large, the

blades once pinnate, the pinnae nearly uniform, the fertile sometimes

narrower than the sterile, the veins forked, the branches in sterile

pinnae free, parallel, excurrent; sori elongate-linear, usually continu-

ous, borne near or against the costa; indusia narrowly linear, con-

tinuous, facing the costa and at first usually meeting it.

Blechnum fraxineum Willd. Rhizome slender, creeping; fronds

erect, with long greenish stipes; pinnae 6-8 on each side, linear or

oblong-linear. — Growing on stream banks or in wet forest, but

uncommon here; widely distributed in tropical America.

Blechnum Occident ale L. Rhizome erect or curved-ascending,

thick, scaly; fronds suberect, 30-60 cm. long, the stipe laxly chaffy,

pale; pinnae numerous, linear. — On brushy banks near Tela; generally

distributed in tropical America.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 69

Blechnum serrulatum Rich. Rhizome stout, ascending; fronds

erect, the long stipe smooth and nearly naked; blades 30-60 cm. long,

the pinnae 12-24 pairs, linear-oblong, closely set, somewhat narrowed

at the base. — Common in wooded swamps near the coast; widely

dispersed in the tropics of both hemispheres.

CYCLOPELTIS J. Sm.

Cyclopeltis semicordata (Sw.) J. Sm. A large coarse terrestrial

fern, the rhizome thick, erect or decumbent, scaly; fronds numerous,

suberect, the stipe short, pale brown, scaly; blades pinnate, the

pinnae very numerous, spreading, alternate, closely set, linear-

attenuate to oblong-linear, 6-16 cm. long, nearly entire; sori round,

dorsal or terminal on the vein branches; indusia orbicular, centrally

peltate, deciduous. — Common in wet forests; generally distributed

in tropical America. This is one of the most abundant ferns of the

lowlands of Central America.

DENNSTAEDTIA Bernh.

Usually large terrestrial ferns, the rhizomes slender, creeping,

densely hairy; fronds long-stipitate, without scales, the blades large,

mostly elongate-deltoid, 2-4-pinnate, the ultimate segments incised

or sinuate-lobed, the veins free, simple or pinnately branched; sori

numerous, marginal, terminal, solitary, usually distant; indusium

extrorse, convex, adnate to the lateral margins of a subequal, concave,

usually recurved leaf lobule, the pouch thus formed shallowly or

deeply cyathiform.

Dennstaedtia adiantoides (H. & B.) Moore. Stipes bright

brown, shining, somewhat brown-hirsute at the base; blades broadly

ovate, 1-1.4 meters long, 3-pinnate, the pinnae few, stalked; pinnules

numerous, alternate, obliquely oblong or deltoid-oblong, roundish

at the apex, mostly 1-2.5 cm. long, with 3 or 4 pairs of lobes. —

Frequent in wet mountain forest; ranging from Guatemala to Bolivia.

Dennstaedtia ordinata (Kaulf .) Moore. Stipes brownish ; blades

deltoid, 1-1.5 meters long, the pinnae opposite, subsessile, the pinnules

trapezoid-oblong, 5-9 mm. wide, incised-dentate to pinnatifid. —

Frequent in wet forest; ranging to the West Indies and northern

South America.

DICTYOXIPHIUM Hook.

Dictyoxiphium panamense Hook. A coarse terrestrial fern

with a thick rhizome; fronds erect, short-stipitate, the stipe brown,

70 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

chaffy; blades dimorphous, the sterile ones linear, thin, entire, 4-7

cm. wide, long-tapering to each end, the fertile blades somewhat

narrower, with continuous linear marginal sori. — In wet clay soil in

dense forest on the hills above Lancetilla; ranging from Guatemala

to Colombia.

DIPLAZIUM Sw.

Large or medium-sized ferns, terrestrial, the rhizomes creeping to

erect, scaly at the apex; fronds stalked, the blades simple to 4-pinnate,

the veins free; sori elliptic to elongate-linear, laterally attached,

partly or wholly double; indusia mostly membranous, attached

laterally, opening outward.

Diplazium arboreum (Willd.) Presl. Rhizome erect or curved-

ascending; fronds several, the stipes nearly as long as the blades,

stramineous; blades elongate-deltoid or subovate, 30-45 cm. long,

the pinnae few, spreading, subopposite, short-stalked, mostly lanceo-

late and 10-20 cm. long, coarsely crenate-lobate or pinnatifid near

the base. — In wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Diplazium delitescens Maxon. Rhizome creeping, thick; fronds

few, long-stalked, the stipe greenish; blades pinnate, the pinnae few,

sessile, linear-lanceolate, long-tapering, serrate.- — Frequent in wet

forest; a common plant of the lowlands of Central America.

Diplazium Donnell-Smithii Christ. Fronds long-stipitate, the

slender stipe greenish; blades deltoid-ovate, 40 cm. long or larger,

nearly tripinnatifid, the pinnae short-stalked; pinnules lance-rhombic

or trapeziform, serrate. — Growing on a wet mossy rock in forest; the

species was based upon material collected in the region of San Pedro

Sula, Honduras.

Diplazium grandifolium Sw. Rhizome thick, erect; fronds

few, up to 1 meter long, the stipe blackish brown; blades pinnate,

the pinnae 10-15 pairs, mostly alternate, oblong, long-acuminate,

8-15 cm. long, the lower ones stalked. — Frequent in wet forest;

ranging to the West Indies and northern South America.

Diplazium plantaginifolium (L.) Urban. Rhizome erect or

curved-ascending; fronds few, long-stipitate, the stipes grayish;

blades simple, oblong-lanceolate to lance-linear, 15-30 cm. long,

3.5-7 cm. wide, long-acuminate, often rounded at the base. — Fre-

quent in wet mountain forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Diplazium striatum (L.) Presl. Rhizome thick, erect or ascend-

ing; fronds several, 1-2 meters long, the stipes yellowish brown;

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 71

blades narrowly to broadly oblong, 70-140 cm. long, pinnate-pinnati-

fid or at the base nearly 2-pinnate, the pinnae 13-25 cm. long;

pinnules 6-12 mm. wide, oblong, distantly serrulate. — In wet forest

on the hills; ranging from Mexico to northern South America.

DRYOPTERIS Adans.

Small or large terrestrial ferns, the fronds mostly erect or nearly so;

rhizomes slender and wide-creeping or thick and erect, naked or

scaly; blades uniform, 1-3-pinnate or decompound, rarely simple,

the veins free, connivent, or regularly areolate; sori mostly roundish,

dorsal, with or without an indusium, the indusium usually roundish-

reniform and fixed at its sinus.

Dryopteris dentata (Forsk.) C. Chr. Rhizome erect or decum-

bent, the apex clothed with brownish scales; fronds ascending, 30-120

cm. long, the stipes shorter than the blades, dark stramineous; blades

lanceolate to oblong-ovate, usually narrowed at the base, 25-80 cm.

long, pinnate, the rachis tomentose; pinnae sessile, pinnatifid about

three-fourths the distance to the costa, the segments oblong, 4-9 mm.

long, 3-4 mm. wide, rounded-obtuse or acutish, entire to crenulate,

short-pilosulous. — Growing in wet thickets; widely dispersed in

tropical America.

Dryopteris effusa (Sw.) Urban var. divergens (Willd.) Hieron.

Rhizomes short-creeping, thick, bearing few large, reddish brown

scales; fronds 0.5-2 meters long, the stipes dark stramineous, scaly

at the base; blades deltoid, 30-100 cm. long and nearly as broad,

3-4-pinnate and pinnatifid, the basal pinnae much the largest,

deltoid, stalked, the ultimate segments chiefly oblong or ovate-oblong,

serrate to serrate-pinnatifid, decurrent, lustrous above, beneath bear-

ing many minute appressed reddish glandlike hairs. — Frequent in

wet forest; widely dispersed in tropical America.

Dryopteris equestris (Kuntze) C. Chr. Plants large and coarse,

the long stipe covered at the base with long, soft, pale brownish,

hairlike scales; blades oblong, tripinnate-pinnatifid, the pinnae

stalked, the ultimate divisions falcate-oblong, acute, serrulate, ciliate,

hirtous above along the veins, glandular beneath. — In wet forest;

extending to Mexico.

Dryopteris Ghiesbreghtii (Linden) C. Chr. Fronds few, sub-

erect, the stipe villous; blades rather large, once pinnate, the pinnae

7-17, oblong, mostly 15-45 cm. long, long-acuminate, crenate, densely

72 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

soft-hairy. — Frequent in wet forest and thickets; ranging to Mexico

and common in the lowlands of Central America.

Dryopteris glandulosa (Blume) Kuntze, var. brachyodus

(Kunze) C. Chr. Plants coarse, the stipe naked; blades 60-90 cm.

long, once pinnate, the pinnae 15-20 cm. long, oblong-linear, attenu-

ate, lobed from one-third to one-half the distance to the costa into

oblong, slightly falcate lobes, these coriaceous, naked; lower pinnae

nearly as large as the others. — Common in wet forest; widely

distributed in tropical America and in Malaysia.

Dryopteris gongylodes (Schkuhr) Kuntze. Rhizome wide-

creeping, slender; fronds distant, erect, 0.5-2 meters long, the long

stipes usually light brown from a darker base, polished, naked; blades

linear to oblong, up to 1 meter long and 45 cm. wide but commonly

much smaller, pinnate, the pinnae numerous, distant, linear-attenu-

ate, mostly 5-15 mm. wide, stalked, deeply crenate-dentate or lobed

halfway to the costa, glabrous above, glabrous or pilosulous beneath

and capitate-glandular on the costae and costules. — Growing in

wooded swamps near Tela; widely distributed in tropical America.

Dryopteris inter jecta C. Chr. Plants large, with a thick rhi-

zome, the long stipe covered at the base with long, hairlike, pale

brown scales; blades large, bipinnate, the ultimate segments nar-

rowly oblong, decurrent, deeply crenate, deep green above, somewhat

paler and naked beneath. — Common in wet forest and thickets; also

in Guatemala.

Dryopteris Mercurii (A. Br.) Hieron. Plants large, the stipes

pale, sparsely chaffy; blades up to 1 meter long, pinnate, the numer-

ous pinnae pinnatifid nearly to the costa, the segments narrowly

oblong, obtuse, entire or nearly so, almost naked, the lowest pinnae

much shorter and smaller than the upper ones. — Frequent in wet

thickets; extending to Colombia.

Dryopteris nicaraguensis (Fourn.) C. Chr. Plants coarse, with

thick rhizomes, the fronds few, the elongate stipe nearly naked,

brownish; blades pinnate, the pinnae rather numerous, nearly equal,

oblong-linear, long-attenuate, sessile or nearly so, naked. — Frequent

in wet forest and thickets; widely distributed in Central America.

Dryopteris obliterata (Sw.) Urban. Fronds few, suberect, the

stipe brownish, almost naked; blades pinnate, the pinnae few or

numerous, subequal or the lowest somewhat smaller, linear or oblong-

linear, long-tapering, short-stalked, alternate, lobed about one-third

the distance to the costa, the lobes somewhat falcate, acutish, naked,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 73

the leaf tissue somewhat lustrous. — Frequent in wet thickets; occur-

ring in the West Indies and Mexico.

Dryopteris panamensis (Presl) C. Chr. Fronds erect, the stipes

short, straw-colored; blades long and narrow, pinnate, the pinnae

very numerous, the lowest much reduced, all pinnatifid nearly to

the costa, the segments oblong, somewhat falcate, obtuse, nearly

naked. — Growing along the edge of the river near Lancetilla; one of

the common ferns of Central America.

Dryopteris serrata (Cav.) C. Chr. Plants large and coarse,

the rhizome thick, short-creeping; fronds erect, 1-2 meters long, the

stipes straw-colored, glabrate; blades broadly oblong to deltoid-

lanceolate, 50-90 cm. long, 20-45 cm. wide, pinnate, the pinnae

mostly short-stalked, linear-attenuate, sharply serrate. — Frequent in

wooded swamps near the coast; generally dispersed in tropical

America.

Dryopteris subtetragona (Link) Maxon. Plants coarse, the

rhizome thick, short-creeping; fronds several, close, erect, up to

1 meter high, the stipes straw-colored, stellate-pubescent ; blades ovate-

oblong to deltoid-oblong, mostly 30-45 cm. long, 12-25 cm. wide,

pinnate, the pinnae 6-12 pairs, distant, short-stalked, linear-attenu-

ate, pinnatifid two-thirds or halfway to the costa, the segments

oblique, obtuse, entire. — In wet thickets; widely distributed in tropi-

cal America.

Dryopteris sp. An unnamed species, represented by Standley

53507, collected in a wet thicket in the Lancetilla Valley. The blades

are pinnate, the few large pinnae broad and shallowly crenate.

Dryopteris sp. Another plant of which it has been impossible

to obtain the specific name. A low plant with graceful fronds, the

blades pinnate, the pinnae deeply lobed. Represented by several

numbers, and common on the forested hills about Lancetilla.

ELAPHOGLOSSUM Schott

Epiphytic ferns with usually creeping and very chaffy rhizomes;

fronds erect or pendent, commonly stipitate, dimorphous, the blades

simple and entire, the sterile ones sparsely or densely scaly, their

veins simple or mostly forked; fertile blades often different in form

from the sterile, the whole under surface densely covered with

sporangia.

Elaphoglossum apodum (Kaulf.) Schott. Stipes only 1-3 cm.

long, or wanting; sterile blades linear-oblanceolate, 2.5-5 cm. wide,

74 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

long-acuminate, covered on both surfaces with long rigid brown hair-

like scales. — On trees in wet forest above Lancetilla; ranging from

Guatemala to the West Indies and northern South America.

Elaphoglossum firmum (Mett.) Underw. Sterile fronds long-

stipitate, the blades linear-oblanceolate, 18-40 cm. long, 2-4.5 cm.

wide, long-acuminate, long-attenuate to the base, coriaceous, bearing

only a few minute depressed scales and appearing glabrous. — On

trees in wet forest on the hills above Lancetilla; also in the Greater

Antilles.

Elaphoglossum Herminieri (Bory & Fe"e) Moore. Sterile

fronds exstipitate or nearly so, linear, 30-95 cm. long, 1.5-4 cm. wide,

attenuate to the apex and base, very thick, with few obscure depressed

scales on both sides but appearing glabrous. — On a tree in wet forest

on the hills above Lancetilla; widely distributed in tropical America.

ESCHATOGRAMME Trev.

Eschatogramme panamensis C. Chr. A rather small epiphytic

fern, the rhizome short-creeping, densely tomentose; fronds 15-45

cm. long, pinnatifid into long narrow tapering entire segments, the

under surface thinly clothed with minute scales, the veins anastomos-

ing; sori submarginal, continuous or interrupted. — Growing on small

trees in wet forest, frequent; ranging to Panama.

HEMIDIGTYUM Presl

Hemidictyum marginatum (L.) Presl. A large and rather

coarse fern, the rhizome stout, erect, densely scaly, the scales brown-

ish; fronds stipitate, the blades glabrous, pinnate, the pinnae opposite,

sessile, linear-oblong, 25-55 cm. long and 6-12 cm. wide, nearly entire,

the veins spreading, parallel, mostly once forked near the base; sori

linear, confined to the main branches of the veins, simple, the indusia

lateral, membranous.— In wet forest; ranging from Mexico to Brazil.

HEMIONITIS L.

Hemionitis palmata L. Estrella. Plate VI. Plants small, the

rhizomes short, suberect; fronds few, erect, the stipes elongate, dark

brown, villous; blades 5-angled, 5-15 cm. long, soft, 3-parted, villous-

hirsute beneath, the veins anastomosing; sporangia in copious super-

ficial lines following the course of the veins. — Frequent in wet forest

and thickets, often in second growth; widely dispersed in tropical

America.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 75

LEPTOCHILUS Kaulf.

Plants terrestrial or epiphytic, the rhizomes rather slender, creep-

ing or scandent, chaffy; fronds dimorphous, the blades simple and

entire to pinnate and pinnatifid, the fertile ones narrow or with

narrow divisions, the veins anastomosing; sporangia covering the

under side of the fertile blades, without indusia.

Leptochilus alienus (Sw.) C. Chr. Terrestrial, the rhizome

creeping; sterile fronds 35-65 cm. long, the long stipes bearing a few

deciduous scales; blades deltoid, 15-30 cm. long, pinnate below, the

pinnae linear, attenuate, crenate-lobed ; areoles with numerous

included veinlets. — Frequent in wet forest; ranging to the West

Indies and Bolivia.

Leptochilus cladorrhizans (Spreng.) Maxon. Terrestrial, the

rhizome creeping, appressed-scaly; sterile fronds 35-65 cm. long, the

long stipes stramineous to pale brown, bearing a few deciduous scales,

pinnate below, pinnatifid above, the narrow segments crenate or

shallowly lobed; areoles without included veinlets. — Common in wet

forest; sometimes growing on mossy rocks along streams; ranging

from Mexico to Colombia.

Leptochilus Donnell-Smithii (Christ) C. Chr. Epiphytic, the

rhizomes scandent on tree trunks; fronds large, pinnate, the stipe

covered with long, dark brown scales at the base; pinnae numerous,

distinct, linear-attenuate, very shallowly crenate; segments of the

fertile blades very short, distant, and narrowly linear. — On trees in

wet forest; also in Guatemala.

Leptochilus nicotianifolius (Sw.) C. Chr. Epiphytic or terres-

trial, the rhizome wide-creeping or scandent; sterile fronds up to

1 meter long; blades pinnate, the pinnae 1-4 pairs, narrowly oblong or

lance-oblong, 15-25 cm. long and 5-9 cm. wide, acuminate, mostly

short-stalked; pinnae of the fertile fronds mostly 1-2 cm. wide. — In

wet forest, sometimes creeping on shrubs; occurring in Central

America and the West Indies.

Leptochilus pergamentaceus Maxon. Terrestrial, the rhizome

creeping, slender; sterile fronds up to 1 meter long; pinnae 2-5 pairs,

alternate, oblique, ovate to broadly oblong, sessile, entire or nearly so.

—In wet mountain forest; ranging from Guatemala to Venezuela, and

in the West Indies.

LINDSAEA Dryand.

Lindsaea lancea (L.) Bedd. Rhizome thick, creeping, densely

scaly; fronds several, close together, erect, 40-80 cm. long, the stipes

76 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

long, straw-colored; blades mostly 2-pinnate, 20-40 cm. long, with

1-5 pairs of spreading pinnae, the segments numerous, close, spread-

ing, dimidiate-oblong, entire, the upper margin strongly curved ; son

continuous and linear. — In wet forest on the hills above Lancetilla,

infrequent; widely distributed in tropical America.

NEPHROLEPIS Schott

Epiphytic ferns (the species here listed), the rhizomes scandent,

chaffy; fronds pendent, narrow, stipitate; blades simply pinnate, the

pinnae very numerous, spreading, usually auricled at the upper base;

veins free, 1-4-forked; sori terminal upon the vein branches, the

indusia lunate or orbicular, attached at the sinus.

The common Boston fern, seen so generally in cultivation, is a

member of this genus.

Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott. Fronds 1-5 meters long;

blades 15-40 cm. wide, the pinnae linear-attenuate, 1-2.5 cm. wide.—

Frequent in forest, often growing on palm trunks; widely distributed

in the tropics of both hemispheres.

Nephrolepis pendula (Raddi) J. Sm. Fronds very long and

narrow, pendent, mostly 4-5 cm. wide, the pinnae oblong, very

obtuse. — Frequent in wet forest or in open places, growing commonly

on palm trunks; ranging to South America.

PALTONIUM Presl

Paltonium lanceolatum (L.) Presl. An epiphytic fern, the

rhizomes short-creeping, chaffy; fronds numerous, 20-40 cm. long,

the short stipe light brown; blades leathery, lance-linear, 1.5-4 cm.

wide, long-attenuate to each end, entire; veins deeply immersed,

anastomosing; sori linear, intramarginal, without indusia. — Growing

on trees in wet mountain forest; also in the West Indies and Florida.

When fresh, the very thick fronds are brittle.

PITYROGRAMMA Link

Pityrogramma calomelaena (L.) Link. Silver fern. Terres-

trial, the rhizome thick, erect or decumbent, scaly at the apex; fronds

clustered, erect, up to 1 meter high but usually smaller, the long stipes

dark purple, lustrous; blades lanceolate to deltoid-ovate, 20-60 cm.

long, bipinnate; pinnules subdistant, oblique, serrate or pinnatifid,

densely covered beneath by a white powder; sori following the course

of the veins, usually confluent at maturity, without indusia. —

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 77

Common in wet thickets, sometimes even a weed in gardens; one of

the most abundant, weedy ferns of tropical America; occurring also

in tropical Africa.

POLYBOTRYA H. & B.

Terrestrial or epiphytic ferns, rather coarse, the rhizome creeping

or scandent, dense chaffy; fronds large, long-stipitate; blades simply

pinnate to pinnately decompound, dimorphous; veins pinnately

branched or once forked, united at their apices by a transverse apical

vein; fertile blades contracted, scarcely leaflike, their ultimate divi-

sions covered beneath with sporangia; indusia none.

Polybotrya aucuparia Christ. Terrestrial, with a long creeping

rhizome covered with narrow brown scales; blades pinnate or above

merely pinnatifid, the pinnae mostly serrate or only shallowly lobed.

—Common in wet forest; ranging to Costa Rica.

Polybotrya villosula Christ. Epiphytic, the rhizomes creeping

on tree trunks; blades bipinnate, the segments lobed or toothed,

conspicuously pilose. — Common in wet forest; extending to Costa

Rica.

POLYPODIUM L.

Small or large ferns, terrestrial or epiphytic, the rhizomes chaffy,

usually slender and creeping; fronds mostly uniform, pendent to

erect; blades simple to 3-pinnate, the veins free or areolate; sori round

to elliptic, large, dorsal upon the veinlets or rarely terminal, without

indusia.

Polypodium astrolepis Liebm. Epiphytic, the rhizome cord-

like, wide-creeping, black; fronds distant, 8-20 cm. long, the stipes

dark, greenish-margined; blades linear to oblanceolate, 7-18 mm.

wide, obtuse to long-acuminate, entire; leaf surface sparsely lepidote;

sori elliptic to linear, 2-10 mm. long. — Frequent on trunks or limbs

of trees in wet forest; generally distributed in tropical America.

Polypodium ciliatum Willd. Epiphytic, the rhizomes very

long and slender, covered with slender scales; sterile fronds short-

stipitate, elliptic-oblong, entire, mostly 3-5 cm. long, obtuse or acute,

nearly naked or sparsely scaly; fertile blades much narrower, the

large round sori projecting beyond the edge. — Common on trees in

wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Polypodium crassifolium L. Epiphytic, the rhizome woody,

thick, short-creeping, densely chaffy; fronds few, erect, 40-130 cm.

long, short-stipitate; blades linear-oblong to ligulate, 4-14 cm. wide,

78 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

coriaceous, opaque, entire; son mammiform, round or oval, 3-5 mm.

broad. — On trees in wet forest; generally dispersed in tropical

America.

Polypodium decumanum Willd. Epiphytic, the rhizome

creeping, densely soft-scaly; fronds few, 1-2 meters long, the stipes

glossy brown; blades pinnatisect below, pinnatifid above, the seg-

ments few, obliquely spreading, 15-40 cm. long, 3-7 cm. wide,

acuminate, usually constricted near the base. — Growing on logs or

trees in wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Polypodium duale Maxon. Epiphytic, the plants forming

small dense colonies, the rhizomes filiform; fronds 2-10 cm. long,

short-stipitate; blades linear, 1-3 mm. wide, deeply serrate, the lobes

acute; fertile fronds longer than the sterile, only the apical portion

fertile. — On trees in wet forest; widely dispersed in tropical America

and in Africa. One of the smallest of Central American ferns.

Polypodium f allax Cham. & Schlecht. Epiphytic, the rhizomes

very slender and wide-creeping; blades stipitate, 1-3.5 cm. long, the

pinnae few and distinct, the lowest deeply pinnatifid, with linear

lobes, the lower surface with minute scattered scales; sori large and

prominent, often only one to a pinna. — On trees in wet forest; rang-

ing from Mexico to Costa Rica.

Polypodium latum (Moore) Sodiro. Rhizome thick and short-

creeping; fronds several, erect, 30-130 cm. long, glabrous, the stipes

5-15 cm. long, green to light brown; blades mostly oblanceolate,

abruptly acute or acutish, 5-13 cm. wide, long-attenuate to the

base, entire, leathery, somewhat lustrous; sori large, borne in 2-4

rows between the main lateral veins. — On mossy rocks in wet forest;

widely distributed in tropical America.

Polypodium lycopodioides L. Epiphytic, the rhizome cordlike,

widely creeping, slender, densely chaffy; fronds distant, exstipitate

or nearly so, 5-20 cm. long, entire, the sterile blades mostly linear-

lanceolate, 5-15 mm. wide; sori large, impressed, in a single series.—

Creeping on trees in wet forest, common; widely dispersed in tropical

regions.

Polypodium Palmeri Maxon. Epiphytic, similar to P. lycopo-

dioides, the rhizomes much stouter, densely chaffy; fronds nearly

exstipitate; sterile blades mostly oblong or lance-oblong, entire,

chiefly 10-15 cm. long, 2-4 cm. wide; fertile blades narrower; sori

large, in a single series. — Noted only near the coast about Tela,

creeping on stumps and tree trunks; ranging from Mexico to Panama.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 79

Polypodium percussum Cav. Epiphytic, the rhizome wiry,

wide-creeping, brown-chaffy; fronds stipitate, scattered, erect, the

blades 15-30 cm. long, linear-lanceolate, long-tapering to each end,

thick, rigid, with fine scattered scales on the lower surface; sori

round, deeply immersed, in a single series. — On trees in wet forest;

extending to South America.

Polypodium polypodioides (L.) Watt. Epiphytic, the rhizomes

slender, wide-creeping, densely scaly; fronds distant, erect, 5-25 cm.

long, the stipes shorter than the blades, peltate-scaly; blades linear-

oblong to deltoid-oblong, 4-15 cm. long, pinnatisect, the segments

linear to oblong, 2.5-5 mm. wide, densely scaly on both surfaces;

leaf tissue thick and opaque. — Occasional on trees in wet forest;

widely distributed in tropical America, and ranging northward to

Virginia. Sometimes called resurrection fern in the United States

because of the fact that the fronds become inrolled in dry weather,

and resume their normal form when moistened by rain.

Polypodium rhachipterygium Liebm. Epiphytic, the rhizome

stout, scaly; fronds stipitate, the stipes glossy; blades large, subdel-

toid, simply pinnate, the divisions alternate, rather distant, linear,

entire or nearly so; sori in a single series on each side of the costa.—

On trees in wet forest; in Mexico and Central America.

Polypodium serpentinum Christ. Epiphytic, the rhizome

cordlike, creeping; fronds short-stipitate, 25-35 cm. long, 2.5-4.5

cm. wide, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, long- tapering to the base,

entire or nearly so, thin; sori round, usually 2 in each areola.—

Creeping on shrubs in wet forest; ranging to Costa Rica.

POLYTAENIUM Desv.

Polytaenium Feei (Schaffn.) Maxon. A pendent epiphytic fern,

the rhizomes short, with brown feltlike roots; fronds numerous,

linear, entire, 20-50 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, attenuate to each end,

somewhat fleshy; venation reticulate; sori indefinite, borne dorsally

in lines on some or all the veins. — On trees in wet forest; extending

from Mexico to northern South America.

PTERIS L.

Coarse terrestrial ferns, the rhizomes usually stout, creeping to

erect, scaly; fronds erect or ascending, clustered, with chiefly green

or straw-colored stipes; blades 1-4-pinnate; sori linear, the sporangia

borne in continuous rows along the margins of the segments,

indusiate.

80 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Pteris Kunzeana Agardh. Stipes often a meter long; blades

3-pinnate, the ultimate divisions pinnatifid into numerous sharp-

pointed falcate lobes, these sometimes serrate. — Common in wet

forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Pteris pungens Willd. Rhizome short, ascending, thick; fronds

sometimes 1 meter long and more, the stipe equaling or longer than

the blade, sparsely aculeolate; blades 30-60 cm. long, pinnate, the

pinnae pinnately parted into linear, slightly falcate, obtuse or acutish

lobes. — In wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

RHIPIDOPTERIS Schott

Rhipidopteris peltata (Sw.) Schott. A small epiphytic fern,

the rhizomes filiform, interlacing and forming loose colonies; sterile

fronds 3-15 cm. long, the blades reniform, 2.5-5 cm. wide, 4-6 times

dichotomously divided into linear radiating segments; blades of

fertile fronds suborbicular, long-stipitate, 5-20 mm. long. — On trees

in wet forest; ranging from Mexico to northern South America.

STENOCHLAENA J. Sm.

Epiphytic ferns, the rhizomes woody and scandent, scaly, some-

times aculeate; fronds distant, usually dimorphous, the sterile ones

once pinnate or simple; fertile fronds contracted; veins simple or

forked; fertile pinnae covered beneath with sporangia; indusium none.

Stenochlaena marginata (Schrad.) C. Chr. Sterile fronds

simple, the blades oblanceolate, stipitate, narrowly acuminate.—

Growing on rocks in wet forest; widely dispersed in tropical America

and in Africa.

Stenochlaena recurvata (Fe*e) Liebm. Rhizome stout, densely

scaly; sterile fronds pinnate, the pinnae 10-15 cm. long, cuneate at

the base; sterile pinnae about 2 mm. wide. — Common; climbing on

trees in wet forest; also in the West Indies.

Stenochlaena vestita (Fourn.) Underw. Sterile fronds pinnate,

the pinnae 4-7 cm. long, truncate at the base, with long narrow

tapering tips. — Creeping on trees in wet forest, common; widely

distributed in Central America.

TECTARIA Cav.

Usually large and coarse, terrestrial ferns, the rhizomes woody,

stout, creeping to erect, chaffy; fronds few, suberect; blades simple

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 81

or 1-2-pinnatifid; veins mostly anastomosing; sori numerous, irregu-

larly disposed or borne in rows near the ultimate costae; indusia

persistent or caducous.

Tectaria euryloba (Christ) Maxon. Blades lax and thin, deeply

pinnatifid, the lobes few, oblong, acute or acuminate, contracted

toward the base; sori very numerous, minute. — Frequent on wet

clay slopes in shaded ravines; extending to Costa Rica.

Tectaria heracleifolia (Willd.) Underw. Rhizome erect or

curved-ascending; fronds few, clustered, 50-85 cm. long, long-stipi-

tate; blades deltoid-ovate, 20-40 cm. long, pinnately 3-foliolate,

with 2-3 pairs of lateral pinnae; basal pinnae usually deeply 3-lobed,

the others oblong-lanceolate, long-attenuate; sori large, the indusia

orbicular, centrally peltate. — Common in wet forest; ranging from

Florida and Mexico to Venezuela.

Tectaria martinicensis (Spreng.) Copel. Rhizome erect, very

thick; fronds numerous, suberect, 0.5-1.5 meters long, the stipes

about equaling the blades, pale or yellowish brown; blades 30-75

cm. long, the pinnae commonly 3-8 pairs, those of the basal pair

stalked and deeply 2-lobate; indusia reniform, attached at the sinus.

— Frequent in wet thickets; generally distributed in tropical America.

Tectaria plantaginea (Jacq.) Maxon. Rhizome creeping;

fronds 20-60 cm. long, the stipe much shorter than the blade; blades

simple, oblong to oblanceolate, 4-11 cm. wide, entire. — Occasional

in wet forest; ranging southward to the Guianas.

TRISMERIA Fee

Trismeria trifoliata (L.) Diels. A coarse fern with stout erect

rhizomes; fronds numerous, clustered, commonly 1 meter long or

less; stipes dark purple or chestnut-colored; blades mostly 40-100

cm. long, pinnate, the pinnae simple or trifoliolate, stalked, linear,

glabrous; veins free, repeatedly dichotomous; sori following the

course of the veins, without indusia. — Collected here only at

Quebrada Seca, growing along a ditch; widely distributed in tropical

. America.

VITTARIA J. E. Sm.

Epiphytic ferns with erect or short-creeping rhizomes; leaves

pendent, often very numerous, narrowly linear and grasslike, simple

and entire; venation reticulate; sporangia borne in a continuous line

upon the intramarginal vein.

82 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Vittaria filif olia Fe"e. Rhizome scales yellowish brown to casta-

neous, attenuate, pluricostate almost to the tip; fronds 10-40 cm.

long, 1-3 mm. wide. — Pendent on logs in wet forest; widely dis-

tributed in tropical America.

Vittaria lineata (L.) J. E. Sm. Rhizome scales dark brown,

the long filiform tips unicostate; fronds 30-100 cm. long, 2-3 mm.

wide. — Pendent from palm trunks; generally dispersed in tropical

America.

HYMENOPHYLLACEAE. Filmy Fern Family

The ferns composing this family are chiefly delicate epiphytic

plants with slender wide-creeping rhizomes, the blades ranging from

roundish and entire to 4-pinnate. The leaf tissue is usually mem-

branous and pellucid. The sori are marginal, the indusia being

tubular to salverform and immersed or short-stalked.

HYMENOPHYLLUM J. E. Sm.

Hymenophyllum sp. A single species of this genus was col-

lected, growing on a tree in wet forest high on the hills above Lance-

tilla. Dr. Maxon reports the plant without specific determination.

TRICHOMANES L.

Trichomanes diversifrons (Bory) Mett. Plants terrestrial,

erect; sterile fronds pinnatifid into numerous narrow segments;

fertile fronds long-stalked, long and linear. — Frequent in wet forest,

growing on clay banks; widely dispersed in tropical America. This

is the only local species of the genus which is terrestrial in habitat.

Trichomanes Godmani Hook. Plants very slender, often

forming loose mats, the small fronds about 1 cm. long, simple, rounded

or obovate. — Occasional on tree trunks in wet forest; ranging from

Guatemala to Panama.

Trichomanes Krausii Hook. & Grev. Plants slender, forming

loose mats or colonies; fronds 2-6 cm. long, divided into numerous

linear pinnae. — Frequent on logs, branches, or tree trunks in wet

forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Trichomanes Martinezii Rovirosa. Plants slender but large

and creeping along tree trunks; fronds mostly 20-30 cm. long,

bipinnatifid. — Common on small trees in wet forest, often creeping

for several meters; extending to southern Mexico.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 83

Trichomanes polypodioides L. Rhizomes filiform; fronds

distant, pendent, 10-25 cm. long, delicate, linear to linear-lanceolate,

coarsely sinuate-lobate. — Growing on a tree fern trunk in wet forest;

widely distributed in tropical America.

Trichomanes sphenoides Kunze. Plants forming dense colo-

nies; sterile fronds roundish, 5-10 mm. broad, entire; fertile fronds

1-2 cm. long, broadly oblong-obovate. — On tree trunks in wet

mountain forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

SALVINIACEAE. Salvinia Family

The group consists of small aquatic plants, floating upon the

surface of water. They have roots or rootlike leaves, and opposite

or alternate, apparently 2-ranked leaves.

AZOLLA Lam.

Azolla caroliniana Willd. Plants very small, usually 1-2 cm.

broad, fernlike, alternately branched, finely hairy, the minute leaves

imbricated, 2-lobed. — Occasional on quiet water about Tela; widely

dispersed in tropical America.

SALVINIA Schreb.

Salvinia auriculata A. Br. Fronds about 15 mm. long, oval or

oblong, folded at first, auricled at the base, entire, pubescent beneath

and strigose above.— Floating on quiet water; common in the river

at Tela and abundant in the Toloa Swamp; widely distributed in

tropical America.

LYCOPODIACEAE. Clubmoss Family

LYCOPODIUM L.

Lycopodium cernuum L. Plants terrestrial, erect or arching

branched; leaves spirally arranged in many ranks, subulate-attenuate,

about 4 mm. long; strobiles numerous, recurved, mostly 1-2 cm.

long. — On brushy slopes near Puerto Arturo; widely distributed in

tropical regions.

Lycopodium linif olium L. A pendent flaccid epiphyte, dichoto-

mously branched, the branches very slender; leaves spreading,

linear-lanceolate, 12-25 mm. long. — Growing on trees in wet forest

on the hills high above Lancetilla; widely distributed in tropical

America.

84 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

SELAGINELLACEAE. Selaginella Family

SELAGINELLA Beauv.

Slender terrestrial plants with slender, prostrate to erect stems,

producing elongated wiry rootlike rhizophores at some or all of the

joints; leaves minute, 1-nerved, apparently alternate, all nearly

alike or of two kinds.

Selaginella costaricensis Hieron. A slender erect plant, 30-60

cm. high; leaves of two sorts. — In wet forest near Lancetilla; extend-

ing to Costa Rica.

Selaginella flabellata (L.) Spring. Plants erect, rooting at the

base, about 30 cm. high, bright green. — Common in wet forest

above Lancetilla; widely distributed in tropical America.

Selaginella Poeppigiana (Hook. & Grev.) Spring. Plants low,

ascending, forming loose colonies, pale yellowish green, with copious

long rhizophores. — Frequent in wet forest or in thickets; widely

distributed in tropical America.

Selaginella umbrosa Lam. Plants erect, frondlike, the slender

stems bright red ; leaves very short and crowded, beautifully ciliate. —

Common in wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

PSILOTACEAE. Psilotum Family

PSILOTUM Sw.

Psilotum nuduni (L.) Griseb. A small epiphytic plant, simple

below, dichotomous above, the stems slender, compressed, 3-sided;

leaves minute, 1 mm. long or less; sporangia uniform, depressed-

globose, dehiscing by 3 vertical valves.— On tree trunks, appar-

ently infrequent here; widely distributed in the tropics of both

hemispheres.

CYCADAGEAE. Cycad Family

ZAMIA L.

Several species of these palmlike plants grow in the forests of

Central America. They have short and thick trunks or are stemless;

their leaves are pinnate, with thick rigid segments which are jointed

at the base. The flowers and fruits are arranged in large cones, the

two sexes upon separate plants.

Zamia furfuracea L. f. Camotillo. Plants stemless, small, the

long leaves with numerous narrow leaflets, these linear or nearly so,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 85

seldom more than 2 cm. wide, with small spiny teeth at least toward

the tip; petioles prickly. — Occasional in brushy places; extending

northward to southern Mexico. This plant is widely known in

Central America, at least by reputation. There is a common report

that the thick starchy roots are used for criminal poisoning, a report

which probably is true. It is stated, further, that if the roots have

been out of the ground three days before being administered, they

cause death in three days; if dug ten days, they kill in ten days, and

so on. The accuracy of this belief is open to question, to say the

least. The poisonous properties of Zamia roots have long been known.

The poisonous principle, however, is destroyed by heat, at least in

some species, and the roots formerly were an important food among

the aborigines of the Florida Peninsula, to whom they were known by

a name which usually is reported as "coontie."

Zamia Tuerckheimii Bonn. Smith. Plants large, with a short

thick trunk; petioles bearing few short sharp prickles; leaflets few,

obovate or oblanceolate, as much as 9 cm. wide, acuminate, entire. —

Seen in this region only on the tops of the hills above Tela, where it

seemed to be rare; occurring also in Guatemala.

TYPHACEAE. Cat-tail Family

TYPHA L.

Typha angustifolia L. Enea. Cat-tail. A coarse perennial herb

with long narrow leaves; flowers minute, forming dense stout brown-

ish spikes. — Abundant in marshes; widely distributed in tropical

regions. The leaves are used in Honduras for making mats and other

articles. The fluff from the fruiting spikes is employed for stuffing

pillows and cushions.

POTAMOGETONACEAE. Pondweed Family

These plants are glabrous aquatic herbs with branched stems and

alternate thin entire leaves. The flowers are small and green, with a

perianth of 4-6 small segments or with none. The stamens are 1-6,

and the ovaries are 1-6 and distinct, the fruits being small, dry, and

indehiscent.

RUPPIA L.

Ruppia maritima L. Ditch-grass. Plants much branched;

leaves linear-filiform, less than 1 mm. wide; fruits ovoid, pointed,

scarcely 2 mm. long, on slender stalks. — Growing submerged in salt

86 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

water along the coast; widely distributed in salt or brackish water

over the greater part of the earth.

ZOSTERA L.

Zostera marina L. Eel-grass. Leaves very long, 6-10 mm.

wide; fruit an utricle which bursts irregularly; sterile flowers with a

single stamen, the anther containing a tuft of threads in place of

ordinary pollen. — Common in the sea along the coast; widely dis-

tributed in tropical and temperate regions.— So far as I know, this

plant has not been reported previously from Central America, but it

must grow all along both coasts. The leaves often are cast upon the

beach by the waves.

ALISMACEAE. Water-plantain Family

These plants are scapose herbs, glabrous or nearly so, the large

leaves all basal, long-stalked, entire, and several-nerved. The white

flowers are arranged in panicles or racemes and have 3 petals

which are very thin and soon wither. The fruit is a dense head of

numerous small achenes.

ECHINODORUS L. Rich.

Echinodorus macrophyllus (Kunth) Micheli. A coarse herb

sometimes 1.5 meters high; leaves very large, shallowly cordate at

the base, usually rough-hairy beneath along the nerves; flowers in

large panicles; fruit heads scarcely 1 cm. in diameter. — Abundant in

marshes; widely dispersed in tropical America.

SAGITTARIA L.

Sagittaria latifolia Willd. Arrowhead. A coarse glabrous herb

about a meter high; leaves arrow-shaped, the basal lobes long and

tapering; fruit heads more than 1 cm. in diameter. — Frequent in

shallow water in open places; ranging northward through most of the

United States.

TRIURIDACEAE. Triuris Family

SCIAPHILA Blume

Sciaphila picta Miers. A slender glabrous saprophytic herb,

without chlorophyll, 25 cm. high or less, the stem simple, flexuous,

the whole plant dark red; leaves represented by small bracts; flowers

forming a long slender raceme, minute, the pedicels recurved ; perianth

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 87

6-parted, the segments reflexed, villous at the tip; flowers of separate

sexes on the same plant; anthers sessile; fruit a globose cluster of

numerous minute globose carpels. — Frequent on decaying leaves in

deep cohune palm forests; known also from Panama and Colombia.

The genus has not been reported previously north of Panama. The

family is represented in Guatemala by a single species of the genus

Triuris. The plants are hard to find, until one is familiar with them,

but the present species may be found almost anywhere in the darker

forest on the hills above Lancetilla.

GRAMINEAE. Grass Family

The group is one of the largest families of Central American plants,

being represented, according to a recent enumeration,1 by no fewer

than 115 genera and 460 species. In the tropical lowlands grasses

form a far less important part of the vegetation than in temperate

regions, nor is the number of species so great as in cooler climates.

ANDROPOGON L.

These are erect perennials, often growing in clumps, with narrow

leaves. The spikelets are arranged in racemes, inserted in pairs at

each node of a jointed rachis, one of the spikelets being sessile and

perfect, the other pediceled. The fertile lemma usually bears an awn

at its apex.

Andropogon bicornis L. Cola de venado. Plants large and

coarse, forming dense clumps a meter high or more; leaves 2-5 mm.

wide; inflorescence feathery with long soft hairs. — Occasional in

fields and on brushy slopes; widely distributed in tropical America.

Called "rabo de venado" in Panama.

Andropogon nodosus (Willem.) Nash has been grown in experi-

mental plots at Lancetilla. It is an Old World plant, and there is no

reason for including it in the Central American flora as has been done

by Hitchcock in the paper cited above. The only specimens known

from Central America are those obtained by the writer, the label

of which plainly states that the specimens are from cultivated plants.

Andropogon semiberbis (Nees) Kunth. Plants tall and slender,

growing in small dense clumps; leaves flat, 2-4 mm. wide; inflo-

rescence with short and inconspicuous hairs. — Frequent in sandy

thickets near the seashore; widely distributed in the tropics of both

hemispheres.

XA. S. Hitchcock, The grasses of Central America. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.

24, part 9. 1930.

88 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

ANTHEPHORA Schreb.

Anthephora hermaphrodita (L.) Kuntze. Cabeza de negro.

Plants annual, erect or ascending, glabrous; blades flat, 5-10 mm.

wide; inflorescence of dense spikes 5-10 cm. long, the spikelets in

clusters of 4, the first glumes much thickened and hardened, the

glumes rigid, short-awned. — Frequent in sand near the seashore;

widely dispersed in tropical America.

AXONOPUS Beauv.

Axonopus compressus (Sw.) Beauv. Carpet grass. A nearly

glabrous, low perennial, sometimes producing long stolons; leaves

8-10 mm. wide, short, obtuse; spikelets minute, arranged in long

linear spikelike racemes, which are arranged in clusters of 2-5. —

Common in open fields; widely distributed in tropical America.

Called "grama" in Salvador.

Several species of bamboos (Bambusa) are in cultivation at

Lancetilla. The common bamboo, B. vulgaris Schrad., is grown

commonly in many parts of Central America, its large stems being

used for a wide variety of purposes.

CENCHRUS L. Sandbur

These grasses are easily recognized by their hard spiny spikelets,

resembling burs, which adhere tightly to any object with which they

come in contact. They are pernicious weeds, are all too widely and

unfavorably known in many parts of the United States.

Cenchrus echinatus L. Cabeza de negro. A coarse, erect or

decumbent annual; leaves 3-8 mm. wide; burs with a ring of slender

bristles at the base. — Common in fields or in coastal thickets; widely

distributed in tropical America. Called "mozote" in Salvador, and

in Panama "cadillo" and "pega-pega."

Cenchrus pauciflorus Benth. Cabeza de negro. Burs covered

with coarse stout spines, without a ring of bristles at the base. —

Common in sandy places near the beach ; widely distributed in tropi-

cal America. Sometimes known in Salvador by the name "abrojo."

CHLORIS Sw.

Plants annual or perennial, with flat blades; spikelets with only

one perfect floret, sessile in 2 rows along one side of a rachis, the

spikes clustered at the summit of the culm.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 89

Chloris inflata Link. Plants annual, tufted, 30-60 cm. high;

spikes about 10, purplish; awns 5-8 mm. long. — Occasional in open

places; widely distributed in tropical America.

Chloris petraea Sw. Perennial, glabrous and glaucous; leaves

obtuse; spikes few, the fertile lemma not awned; leaf sheaths con-

spicuously compressed and keeled. — Growing in sand near the beach;

ranging from Panama to the United States.

Chloris radiata (L.) Sw. An annual, erect or spreading; blades

scabrous or pubescent; spikes numerous, dense, pale green; awn of the

fertile lemma 5-10 mm. long. — Occasional in open grassy places;

generally distributed in the American tropics.

COIX L.

Coix Lachryma-jobi L. Lagrimas de San Pedro. Job's tears.

A tall coarse grass, often 1.5 meters high, forming dense clumps;

leaves 2-3 cm. wide; fruits large, oval, white or grayish, smooth and

shining.— Occasional in open swampy places; a native of the Old

World, but now naturalized extensively in tropical America. Some-

times called "zacate de perla" in Salvador. Easily recognized by the

beadlike fruits or "seeds," which are used for making bracelets,

necklaces, and other articles.

CYMBOPOGON Spreng.

Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf. Zacate limdn, Zacate de

te. Lemon grass. A coarse perennial, forming dense clumps; leaves

glabrous, 5-15 mm. wide, pale beneath. — Cultivated commonly, and

often escaping; native of the Old World tropics, but naturalized in

many parts of the American tropics. Sometimes called "hierba de

limon." This grass, which seems never to flower in Central America,

may be recognized by its strong lemon odor. Tea made from the

leaves is administered frequently to produce perspiration. In India

the plant is grown as the source of the aromatic lemon oil, which is an

article of commerce.

CYNODON Pers.

Cynodon Dactylon (L.) Pers. Bermuda grass. A creeping

perennial, forming a dense sod; leaves short and narrow; spikelets

minute, 1-flowered, awnless, sessile in 2 rows along one side of a

slender rachis, the spikes clustered at the top of the culm. — Common

in open places; native of the Old World, but now established nearly

90 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

everywhere in tropical America. Known in Salvador by the names

"zacate de conejo," "zacate agujilla," and "grama de gallina."

Bermuda grass is often planted for lawns in tropical America, and is

very satisfactory for the purpose, but in cultivated ground it becomes

an indomitable pest.

DACTYLOCTENIUM Willd.

Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd. Crowfoot grass. An

annual, more or less hairy, often producing stolons; leaves flat, 5 mm.

wide; spikelets 3-5-flowered, sessile in 2 rows along one side of

the short rachis, the 2-4 short thick spikes clustered at the top of

the culm. — In thickets or open places along the seashore, infrequent

here, but widely naturalized in America; native of the Old World.

/

DIGITARIA Heist. Crabgrass

Plants slender, annual or perennial; spikelets solitary or in 2's

or 3's in 2 rows along one side of the slender rachis, the slender

spikelike racemes clustered at the end of the culm.

Digitaria horizontalis Willd. An erect or procumbent annual;

rachis of the raceme bearing scattered long pale delicate hairs;

spikelets 2 mm. long. — Frequent in thickets or open places, some-

times a weed in cultivated ground; distributed through the tropics of

both hemispheres.

Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop. Rachis of the raceme without

long hairs; spikelets 3 mm. long. — Common in thickets and fields;

widely distributed in both hemispheres; a common weed of the

United States.

ECHINOCHLOA Beauv.

Echinochloa colonum (L.) Link. A tall or low annual; leaves

3-10 mm. wide, often with cross bands of purple; spikelets in short

racemes, these arranged in small dense panicles; awn reduced to a

short point. — Occasional in wet soil, often growing in shallow water;

ranging through the tropics of both hemispheres.

ELEUSINE Gaertn.

Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. Yard grass. An erect or spreading

annual, the culms flattened; leaves flat; spikelets few-flowered, sessile

in 2 rows along one side of a broad rachis; spikes several, 5-10 cm.

long, clustered at the top of the culm. — A frequent weed in fields and

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 91

cultivated ground; native of the Old World, but widely naturalized

in the Americas. Called "cola de gallo" and "cola de burro" in

Salvador.

ERAGROSTIS Host

Plants annual or perennial; spikelets few- to many-flowered,

the florets closely imbricated; inflorescence an open or contracted

panicle.

Eragrostis amabilis (L.) Wight. & Arn. A small, erect or

spreading, very slender annual; spikelets 2 mm. long, pediceled,

arranged in broad open panicles 5-15 cm. long. — A weed in gardens

and waste ground; introduced from the Old World into many parts

of the American tropics.

Eragrostis ciliaris (L.) Link. A slender erect annual; leaves

1-3 mm. wide; spikelets nearly sessile, 2 mm. long, 6-8-flowered,

forming dense spikelike panicles 5-15 cm. long. — Frequent in thickets

and waste ground; widely distributed in the tropics of the world; one

of the common weeds of tropical America. Called "ilusion" in

Salvador.

Eragrostis mexicana (Lag.) Link. An erect or spreading annual,

sometimes up to 1 meter tall; panicles 15-20 cm. long, sometimes

drooping, the lower axils pilose; spikelets linear-oblong, 5-7 mm.

long, 8-12-flowered. — A common weed in gardens and waste places;

widely distributed in tropical America.

Eragrostis tephrosanthos Schult. An erect or spreading an-

nual; panicles oblong, open, often half the height of the whole

plant; spikelets 6-12-flowered, 4-6 mm. long. — Frequent in open

fields; widely dispersed in tropical America.

GUADUA Kunth

Guadua aculeata Rupr. Tarro. A very large plant, resembling

in its habit of growth and general aspect the common bamboo; culms

sometimes 15 meters high and 15 cm. or more in diameter; young

branches armed with short stout recurved spines. — Abundant in

swamps at low elevations, and often forming extensive groves;

ranging from Guatemala to Panama. This is a very fine and hand-

some grass, notable for its graceful habit. It is one of the conspicuous

features of the landscape in the coastal regions of Guatemala and

Honduras. The young shoots are very large and thick when they issue

from the ground, and they grow with astounding rapidity. At first

92 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

they are naked poles, but when they have attained their full height,

they send out many slender feathery lateral branches full of leaves.

This bamboo often forms dense thickets, which are almost impene-

trable because of the spiny stems. The larger stems are used like

those of bamboo for the walls and rafters of huts, and for many other

purposes. Sections of them are used at Lancetilla as flower pots. In

the region I saw one hut whose sides were made of the stems of this

bamboo which had been flattened out, and were nailed down like

boards. Such a type of construction is very rare in Central America,

although well known in some regions of South America, whence this

particular hut perhaps had received its inspiration.

GYNERIUM Willd.

Gynerium sagittatum (Aubl.) Beauv. Cana brava. A tall

coarse grass, often 7 meters high and sometimes as much as 10 meters;

blades as much as 2 meters long and 4-6 cm. wide; panicles pale,

plumelike, 1 meter long or more. — Common in swamps and along

streams, often forming dense thickets; widely dispersed in tropical

America. The plant is an important one in Central America because

it is used very extensively for the construction of huts in the lowlands.

It is transported in large quantities also into the interior, where it is

employed as a substitute for laths in the construction of houses of the

better type.

ICHNANTHUS Beauv.

Plants low, the culms usually rooting at the nodes; leaves short

and broad, flat; spikelets panicled; fruit acute or acutish; plants

similar to some of the species of Panicum.

Ichnanthus axillaris (Nees) Hitchc. & Chase. Leaves cordate-

clasping at the base, oval to ovate-lanceolate, frequently scabrous

on the upper surface and pubescent beneath; spikelets often sparsely

pilose. — Frequent in wet thickets, the plants often forming dense

patches; widely distributed in tropical America.

Ichnanthus pal lens (Sw.) Munro. Stems decumbent or creep-

ing and sometimes 1.5 meters long; leaves lanceolate, glabrous or

nearly so, 1-2 cm. wide; panicles 5-10 cm. long; spikelets 3-3.5 mm.

long. — Common in wet forest and thickets; widely distributed in

tropical America. The stems often clamber over shrubs or other

plants.

IXOPHORUS Schlecht.

Ixophorus unisetus (Presl) Schlecht. Zacate dulce. A coarse

annual about a meter high; leaves 2-4 cm. wide; spikelets long-awned,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 93

in very numerous spikelike racemes, these arranged along a long

rachis and forming a panicle-like inflorescence. — Frequent in open

places; distributed from Mexico to Colombia. Known in Salvador

by the names "zacate hondureno," "zacate de Honduras," "mes-

meto," and "zacate de conejo."

LASIAGIS (Griseb.) Hitchc.

Grasses of this genus are very common in Central America, espe-

cially in the lowlands. They are large, often somewhat shrubby

plants, usually with much-branched and climbing or clambering,

slender stems, the leaves short and flat, commonly lanceolate, and

narrowed into a petiole. The subglobose spikelets, similar to those

of the genus Panicum (with which Lasiacis formerly was united) are

arranged in small or large panicles.

Lasiacis divaricata (L.) Hitchc. Carrizo. A slender vine some-

times 3 meters long, glabrous almost throughout; leaves 5-12 cm.

long and 5-15 mm. wide; ligule inconspicuous; panicles few-flowered,

5-10 cm. long; spikelets ovoid, 4 mm. long. — Common in wet thickets;

widely dispersed in tropical America.

Lasiacis Grisebachii (Nash) Hitchc. Main stems creeping,

rooting at the joints, the fertile branches erect or ascending, 20-40

cm. tall, pubescent or glabrate; leaves 8-12 cm. long, 1-1.5 cm.

wide; ligule 3-5 mm. long; panicles 5-6 cm. long; spikelets ovoid,

4 mm. long. — Occasional in thickets; also in Mexico and Cuba; not

collected elsewhere in Central America.

Lasiacis oaxacensis (Steud.) Hitchc. Plants subscandent, 1-2

meters long, glabrous or nearly so; ligule 2-5 mm. long; leaves 10-25

cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, scabrous; panicles open, sometimes 30 cm.

long and nearly as wide; spikelets elliptic, 4 mm. long. — In wet

thickets; ranging from Mexico to Ecuador.

Lasiacis ruscifolia (HBK.) Hitchc. & Chase. Carrizo. Plants

subscandent, often 2 meters long; ligule inconspicuous; leaves 10-15

cm. long, 3-6 cm. wide, glabrous or puberulent; panicles 5-20 cm.

long, usually narrow and compact; spikelets globose, 3-4 mm. long.—

Common in wet thickets and forest; widely distributed in tropical

America.

LEERSIA Sw.

Leersia hexandra Sw. An erect perennial, about a meter high

or sometimes taller, rough; leaves about 8 mm. wide; spikelets 1-

94 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

flowered, laterally compressed, arranged in many-flowered panicles.

— Growing in shallow water at the edge of streams; widely dispersed

in tropical America, and extending to the United States.

LEPTOCHLOA Beauv.

Plants annual or perennial, with long narrow flat leaves; spikelets

2-several-flowered, sessile or short-pediceled, arranged along one side

of a slender rachis, the racemes forming a long or short panicle.

Leptochloa filiformis (Lam.) Beauv. Plants annual, mostly 60

cm. high or less, slender; leaves thin and flat, the sheaths pilose.—

Common in fields and thickets; widely distributed in tropical America.

Called "cola de buey" in Salvador.

Leptochloa virgata (L.) Beauv. Perennial, tall, slender, the

leaves 1 cm. wide, glabrous like the sheaths; racemes about 10 cm.

long, very slender, numerous, forming a large panicle. — A frequent

weed in waste ground; generally distributed in tropical America.

Known in Salvador by the name "cola de buey."

LITHACHNE Beauv.

Lithachne pauciflora (Sw.) Beauv. A perennial, usually about

30 cm. high, forming isolated dense clumps, the culms hard and wiry;

leaves flat, lanceolate, about 6 cm. long and 2 cm. wide, glabrous or

nearly so; spikelets in very small, axillary panicles produced from

the upper sheaths; fruits 4-5 mm. long, white. — Frequent in wet

thickets; extending from Mexico to Argentina. Easily recognized by

the large hard white fruits and distinctive habit.

Melinis minutiflora Beauv. is in cultivation at Lancetilla, and

may become established in the region, as it is in some other parts of

Central America. It is sometimes called molasses grass, and in

Salvador it is known by the name "zacate gordura." Its general

dispersal in Central America would be of a certain advantage to the

region, since it is claimed that ticks never exist where this grass grows.

OLYRA L.

Olyra latifolia L. Carrizo. A coarse perennial, the rather slender

culms often 3 meters long, frequently clambering; leaves large and

broad, 4-8 cm. wide and 15-30 cm. long; spikelets 1-flowered, in

terminal panicles 10-15 cm. long; second glume and sterile lemma

long-pointed; fruit 5-6 mm. long, white or gray, smooth and shining

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 95

like porcelain. — Common in wet forest; generally distributed in

tropical America. Called "carricillo" in Panama, and "carrizo

months" in Salvador.

OPLISMENUS Beauv.

Oplismenus hirtellus (L.) Beauv. A slender perennial grass

with much-branched and widely creeping culms; sheaths glabrous

or hairy, the blades 5-10 cm. long and 1-2 cm. wide; spikelets long-

awned, arranged in 3-7 short racemes which are scattered along a

long slender rachis, the awns often purplish. — Common in wet

thickets; occurring in most regions of tropical America.

Oplismenus Burmannii (Retz.) Beauv., one of the most abundant

weeds of Central America, strangely enough was not observed by

the writer in the Tela region.

ORTHOCLADA Beauv.

Orthoclada laxa (L. Rich.) Beauv. A large perennial, about a

meter high, producing stolons; leaves lanceolate, 12-15 cm. long,

2.5 cm. wide; spikelets 1-flowered, 6-7 mm. long, the lemmas acumi-

nate or short-awned, arranged in large diffuse panicles. — Occasional

in wet forest; ranging from Mexico to Peru.

ORYZA L.

Tall coarse grasses with broad flat leaves; spikelets 1-flowered,

laterally compressed, arranged in large open panicles.

Oryza latifolia Desv. Perennial, sometimes 2 meters high;

leaves 4-5 cm. wide; spikelets 5 mm. long, long-awned. — In wet

thickets or in shallow water along streams; generally distributed in

tropical America.

Oryza sativa L. Arroz. Rice. This important cereal is grown

in many parts of Central America upon a large scale, the upland

varieties, which grow in well-drained soil under ordinary methods of

cultivation, being planted. Rice is one of the three chief food staples

of the region. In the Tela region it is grown only on a small scale.

PANICUM L.

One of the largest genera of grasses, the plants very diverse in

habit; spikelets 1-flowered, arranged in panicles or rarely in racemes.

Panicum barbinode Trin. Para, Zacate Para. Para grass.

A coarse perennial with very long, creeping stolons, these sometimes

96 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

2-6 meters long or more; nodes densely villous, like the sheaths, the

blades 10-15 mm. wide, glabrous; panicles 12-20 cm. long, with

several distant short racemes. — Common in wet places; abundant in

the tropics of both hemispheres. This is one of the two most impor-

tant forage grasses of Central America, and is encouraged everywhere

on that account. The grass often is cut and fed as fodder to stock.

Frequently it forms extensive and much tangled, almost impenetrable

thickets. Sometimes called "zacate corredor" in Salvador.

Panicum fasciculatum Sw. Zacate de milpa. An erect or

spreading annual, less than a meter high; sheaths glabrous or hairy,

the blades 6-20 mm. wide, flat, glabrous or hairy; panicles 10-20 cm.

long, composed of several slender racemes 5-10 cm. long; spikelets

2-2.5 mm. long, purplish, brown, or yellow. — Common in fields, and

often in cultivated ground; generally distributed in tropical America.

Called "espigadilla" and "granadilla" in Panama.

Panicum grande Hitchc. & Chase. A coarse perennial, some-

times 2 meters high, producing large, creeping or floating stolons, the

nodes densely hairy; blades flat, very long, up to 6 cm. wide, glabrous;

panicles lax and open, often 60 cm. long; spikelets 2.5 mm. long,

pointed, glabrous. — Growing in shallow water along streams and in

marshes, frequently forming large and conspicuous colonies; ranging

southward to Brazil, but not known north of Honduras.

Panicum hirsutum Sw. A coarse annual, erect, sometimes 1.5

meters high; sheaths hirsute, the blades flat, glabrous or nearly so,

2-3.5 cm. wide; panicles large, open, 20-35 cm. long; spikelets 2 mm.

long, acute, glabrous. — Growing in thickets and marshes, or as a weed

in gardens; generally distributed in tropical America.

Panicum laxum Sw. Plants annual, very slender, erect or

spreading; leaves 5-15 mm. wide; panicles 5-30 cm. long, composed

of numerous slender spreading racemes; spikelets 1-1.5 mm. long,

acutish. — Frequent in wet fields or in cultivated ground; generally

distributed in tropical America.

Panicum maximum Jacq. Guinea, Zacate Guinea. Guinea grass.

An erect perennial, commonly 1-1.5 meters high, forming dense

clumps, the nodes hirsute; blades 1-3.5 cm. wide, glabrous or hairy;

panicles open, large, up to 50 cm. long, the spikelets oblong, glabrous,

3 mm. long. — Common in open places; widely distributed in the

tropics of both hemispheres, and often cultivated. Known in Salvador

by the names "zacate barqueno," "zacate de barco," and "zacate de

la India." Guinea grass is the most important pasture grass of

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 97

Central America, large areas being devoted to it at low and middle

elevations. It is a rank-growing plant, sometimes as tall as the cattle

which feed on it. A well-grown field is so dense that it is difficult to

force one's way through it, something that one feels less inclined to

do because of the knowledge that ticks are almost certain to be found

in great abundance inhabiting the leaves and stems.

Panicum pilosum Sw. A rather low perennial, the culms often

rooting at the nodes; nodes usually villous; blades 4-20 cm. long and

7-15 mm. wide, broad at the base; panicles 5-15 cm. long, composed

of 10-20 short spikelike racemes; spikelets 1.5 mm. long, glabrous. —

A weed in gardens; generally dispersed in tropical America.

Panicum polygonatum Schrad. A slender perennial, the culms

spreading or creeping, sometimes as much as a meter long, the nodes

densely pubescent; blades 3-13 cm. long and 8-15 mm. wide, cordate

at the base; panicles 7-20 cm. long, composed of few secund spikelike

racemes; spikelets 1.5 mm. long, pointed, glabrous. — Common in

wet thickets or in marshy fields; ranging from Mexico to Paraguay.

Panicum stagnatile Hitchc. & Chase. A coarse perennial, the

stems erect or reclining, 1-1.5 meters long, glabrous or with the

lower nodes appressed-pubescent, the sheaths glabrous; blades 1.5-3

cm. wide, glabrous; panicles open and much branched, 20-40 cm.

long, the spikelets glabrous, acute, 1.8 mm. long. — Growing in wooded

swamps near the coast; extending from Panama to Mexico.

Panicum stoloniferum Poir. A slender decumbent branched

perennial; blades small, flat, 1-5 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide; panicles

1-5 cm. long, composed of few very short racemes; spikelets 2.5 mm.

long, glabrous. — In wooded swamps; distributed from Guatemala to

South America.

Panicum trichanthum Nees. A slender perennial, the strag-

gling culms branched; blades 10-15 cm. long, 1-1.5 cm. wide, cordate

at the base; panicles open and many-flowered, 10-30 cm. long, the

spikelets elliptic, acute, 1.5 mm. long. — Common in fields and

thickets; generally distributed in tropical America. A rather weedy

plant, the stems sometimes as much as 1.5 meters long, and

clambering over other plants.

Panicum trichoides Sw. An annual with much-branched stems,

erect or spreading, the sheaths hirsute; blades short and broad, 2-6

cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, cordate at the base, glabrous or hairy;

panicles open, many-flowered, 5-10 cm. long, with capillary branches;

spikelets ellipsoid, 1.3 mm. long, pubescent. — A common weed in

98 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

thickets, fields, and cultivated ground ; occurring throughout tropical

America, and one of the most abundant weeds of Central America.

PASPALUM L.

This is another of the largest groups of American grasses, being

represented in Central America by 67 species. The plants are annuals

or perennials, the spikelets plano-convex, 1-flowered, usually obtuse,

subsessile, solitary or in pairs, and arranged in two rows along

one side of a narrow or dilated rachis. The racemes are solitary

or paired at the summit of the culm, or arranged racemosely along

its upper portion.

Paspalum ciliatifolium Michx. A slender perennial, forming

tufts, the culms glabrous; blades flat, 10-20 cm. long, 7-12 mm.

wide; racemes 1-3, mostly 7-10 cm. long; spikelets in pairs, 2 mm.

long, glabrous or minutely pubescent. — On sandy beaches hear Tela;

occurring also in the West Indies and the southern United States,

but not known elsewhere in Central America.

Paspalum con juga turn Berg. A widely creeping perennial,

often forming large colonies; blades flat, 5-15 mm. wide, glabrous or

occasionally pubescent; racemes 2, widely spreading, 8-14 cm.

long; spikelets solitary, ovate, pale yellow, 1.4-1.8 mm. long, glabrous

except for the ciliate margin. — A common weed in open places;

widely dispersed in the tropics of both hemispheres. One of the

common weedy grasses of the lowlands of Central America.

Paspalum fasciculatum Willd. Gamalote, Camalote. A very

large and coarse perennial, the stems sometimes several meters long,

often forming dense thickets, the flowering culms 2 meters high or

even taller; blades 1.5-3 cm. wide; panicles composed of 12-20

racemes 10-15 cm. long, aggregated on a short axis; spikelets solitary,

4-4.5 mm. long, elliptic, silky on the margin. — Abundant in marshy

or swampy places, especially toward the Ulua River; widely distrib-

uted in tropical America. Called "camalote" and "camalote negro"

in Salvador. This grass is plentiful in many parts of the Tela region,

forming pure stands of great extent. Its growth is so dense that it

is hard to push one's way through the tangles, in which the heat

is almost overpowering.

Paspalum Langei (Fourn.) Nash. A slender, usually rather low

perennial; leaves flat, thin, 10-40 cm. long, 6-15 mm. wide; racemes

2-5, slender, 5-10 cm. long; spikelets olive-green, turning brown,

2.5 mm. long. — Collected in thickets at La Ceiba, and doubtless

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 99

occurring in the Tela region; extending to Venezuela and the United

States.

Paspalum microstachyum Presl. A very slender, branching

annual, erect or ascending; blades flat, 6-20 mm. wide, glabrous or

hairy; racemes 6-35, scattered distantly along the rachis, 3-8 cm.

long; spikelets in pairs, elliptic, pubescent, 1.5 mm. long. — Common

in fields and thickets; ranging from Guatemala to South America.

Paspalum millegrana Schrad. A coarse erect perennial, gla-

brous, 1-2 meters tall; leaves 1.5 cm. wide; panicles composed of

12-25 stout ascending racemes 6-15 cm. long; spikelets glabrous,

2-2.4 mm. long. — In marshes; ranging to Brazil.

Paspalum notatum Fliigge. A low perennial, 50 cm. high or

less, forming small dense clumps; leaves 3-10 mm. wide; racemes 2,

mostly 4-7 cm. long; spikelets solitary, glabrous, 2.5-3.5 mm. long.—

In pastures and open places; generally distributed in tropical America.

Paspalum orbiculatum Poir. A small creeping perennial, often

forming dense mats; leaves flat, 1-6 cm. long, 2-7 mm. wide; racemes

3-4, short, only 1-2 cm. long; spikelets solitary, depressed-hemi-

spheric, commonly glabrous, 1 mm. long. — In wet fields and thickets;

widely distributed in tropical America.

Paspalum paniculatum L. A coarse tall perennial, often a

meter high, forming dense clumps; leaves flat, 1-2 cm. wide, stiff-

hairy; panicles large, composed of numerous fascicled racemes 5-10

cm. long; spikelets densely crowded, pubescent, 1.3 mm. long.—

Common in fields; widely dispersed in the tropics of both hemispheres.

Called "camalote" in Salvador. One of the common grasses of

Central America. The stiff hairs penetrate the skin easily and

painfully.

Paspalum propinquum Nash. Closely related to P. ciliati-

folium, the blades rarely more than 8 mm. wide; spikelets elliptic-

obovate, slightly pointed, 1.8 mm. long. — In sand near the beach

about Tela; ranging from Panama to Florida.

PHARUS L.

Perennial grasses, the blades broad and flat, with fine transverse

veins between the nerves; spikelets 1-flowered, in pairs along the

branches of the open panicles; lemma with a minute bent beak,

the back covered with small hooked hairs.

100 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— BOTANY, VOL. X

Pharus glaber HBK. Mozote. An erect glabrous perennial about

50 cm. high; leaves oblanceolate, long-pointed, 15-25 cm. long, 3-7

cm. wide; spikelets brownish, 1 cm. long; fruit densely covered with

hooked hairs. — Common in wet mountain forest; generally dispersed

in tropical America. The fruiting panicles break up easily, and the

spikelets adhere closely to clothing and other objects with which

they come in contact. This species is called "pegapega" in Panama.

Pharus parvifolius Nash. Similar, but the base of the plant

creeping and rooting; blades commonly somewhat narrower. — In

wet forest or thickets; extending to Costa Rica, Mexico, and the

West Indies.

PHRAGMITES Adans.

Phragmites communis Trin. Carrizo. Reed. A coarse grass,

often 3 meters high, with broad leaves; panicles very large, dense

and feathery; spikelets several-flowered, the rachilla covered with

long silky hairs. — Common along the larger streams and in marshes,

especially near the coast, often forming dense thickets; widely

distributed in both hemispheres, in tropical and temperate regions.

The large thick canelike stems are used locally for many purposes.

Hollow sections of them are employed in making the rockets which

form so important a part of all Central American holiday celebrations.

PSEUDECHINOLAENA Stapf

Pseudechinolaena polystachya (HBK.) Stapf. A slender

annual, the culms creeping and rooting; leaves broad, lanceolate,

3-6 cm. long, thin; racemes 4-8, along an elongate rachis, 2-3 cm.

long, the spikelets loosely arranged, 3-4 mm. long; second glume

covered with slender hooked spines. — Common in wet thickets;

widely distributed in tropical America and in Africa.

RADDIA Bertol.

Raddia strictiflora (Fourn.) Chase. A slender perennial, 40

cm. tall or less, the nodes puberulent; blades 4-7 cm. long, 1-2 cm.

wide, glabrous; panicles narrow and small, the staminate and pistil-

late spikelets in different panicles; pistillate spikelets 1 cm. long.—

In wet forest, scarce; occurring in Mexico, but not known otherwise

from Central America.

SACCHARUM L.

Saccharum officinarum L. Cana de azucar. Sugar cane. Sugar

cane is not grown on a large scale in the region of Tela, although it

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 101

is an important crop in other parts of the Honduran coast, as at

La Ceiba. The plant is a native of the Old World tropics, but is

grown extensively in most parts of tropical America.

SETARIA Beauv. Foxtail

Annual or perennial grasses, the panicles often dense and spike-

like, rarely loose and open; spikelets 1-flowered, subtended by one

to several bristles, awnless.

Setaria geniculata (Lam.) Beauv. A rather low perennial;

leaves flat, often hairy, 4-8 mm. wide; panicles spikelike, 2-10 cm.

long, the bristles yellowish or brownish; spikelets 2-3 mm. long. — A

common weed in waste and cultivated ground; generally dispersed in

tropical America. One of the most abundant weeds of nearly all

parts of Central America. Known in Salvador by the names "gusano"

and "gusanito," given in allusion to the caterpillarlike form of the

panicles.

Setaria paniculifera (Steud.) Fourn. Zacate macho. A coarse

perennial, often 2 meters high or more, the sheaths hairy; leaves

strongly nerved, up to 10 cm. wide; panicles large and loosely

branched. — Frequent in wet thickets; ranging from Mexico to

Colombia.

SORGHUM Moench

Sorghum vulgare Pers. Sorghum. This well-known grain was

observed under cultivation at only one place in the Tela region, but

it is grown more commonly in some other parts of Central America,

where usually it is called "maicillo." Its chief use is for fodder for

cattle and horses. In some parts of the interior of Honduras the seeds

are popped like popcorn, for which they are an excellent substitute.

SPOROBOLUS R. Br.

Sporobolus littoralis (Lam.) Kunth. Plants low, erect from

long-creeping hard scaly rootstocks; leaves slender, stiff, spreading,

sharp-pointed; spikelets 1-flowered, arranged in spikelike panicles

10-15 cm. long.— Common in wet sandy flats along the seashore,

often forming large stands; widely distributed in tropical America.

STENOTAPHRUM Trin.

Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze. St. Augustine

grass. A creeping glabrous perennial with long stolons, the sheaths

compressed and equitant, the blades short and obtuse; spikelets

102 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

imbedded in one side of a corky rachis, this breaking into joints at

maturity; racemes 5-10 cm. long. — Growing in thickets along the

beach; generally distributed in tropical America.

STREPTOCHAETA Schrad.

Streptochaeta Sodiroana Hack. Hitchcock grass. Plants peren-

nial, coarse, about a meter high; leaves large and broad, commonly

6-8 cm. wide, unequal at the base; spikelets large, 1-flowered, 14

mm. long, long-awned, arranged in long and very dense spikes; awns

twisted together and remaining attached at the apex of the spike.—

Common in wet mountain forest; ranging southward to Ecuador.

TRICHACHNE Nees

Trichachne insularis (L.) Nees. Talqualtuste. Plants erect, a

meter high or less, slender, perennial, forming small dense clumps;

spikelets in slender racemes, these forming a very dense and feathery

panicle. — Abundant in open places; generally dispersed in tropical

America. Called "zacate amargo" and "cola de buey" in Salvador.

The handsome silky inflorescences often are used as decorations in

houses and churches. In the Lancetilla region this is perhaps the

most common weedy grass, especially in gardens and cut-over land.

TRIPSACUM L.

Tripsacum laxum Nash. Plants coarse and tall, sometimes

5 meters high, the sheaths glabrous; blades up to 9 cm. wide; glabrous

or hairy; inflorescences terminal and axillary, the flowers in spike-

like racemes, the spikelets of separate sexes. — Frequent in open

swamps toward the Ulua River, often forming large dense stands;

extending from Mexico to Colombia. The plant has somewhat the

aspect of Indian corn.

ZEAL.

Zea Mays L. Maiz. Maize, Indian corn. This is the most im-

portant food crop of the region, as it is throughout Central America.

CYPERACEAE. Sedge Family

The sedges are grasslike plants of little economic value and of

little interest to any except systematic botanists. A few of them are

eaten by stock when better forage is lacking. The stems are chiefly

triangular and solid, the leaves, when present, 3-ranked, their sheaths

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 103

not split; in the grasses the stems are cylindric or flattened and usually

hollow, the leaves 2-ranked, their sheaths usually split.

CYPERUS L.

In this genus the scales of the several- or many-flowered spikelets

are 2-ranked, and the spikelets contain usually several perfect flowers.

Cyperus articulatus L. A tall coarse perennial; leaves all

reduced to short bladeless sheaths at the base of the plant; culms

terete and spongy, with cross partitions. — Growing in sand near the

beach; widely distributed in tropical America, and also in the Old

World. Called "sontul" in Salvador. Easily recognized by the

terete spongy leafless stems.

Cyperus caracasanus Kunth. Plants perennial, low; leaves 1-3

mm. wide; spikes forming simple umbels, the spikelets linear, green,

3-8-flowered, 7-10 mm. long. — Frequent in wet fields or on open

banks; widely scattered in tropical America. Known in Salvador

by the name "coyolillo."

Cyperus compressus L. Plants annual, usually less than 30

cm. high, the leaves 2-3 mm. wide; spikelets few, arranged in short

spikes, strongly compressed, green, 1-2.5 cm. long, 3-5 mm. wide,

4-40-flowered. — Common in open places or in thickets; widely dis-

tributed in the tropics of the world. A common weedy species of

Central America.

Cyperus cyperoides (L.) Kuntze. A tall perennial, the leaves

3-6 mm. wide; spikes simply umbellate, very dense, sometimes sessile,

the spikelets 1-3-flowered, green or yellowish. — Growing in sand or

in wet soil; a widely distributed, tropical plant.

Cyperus diffusus Vahl. A low perennial; leaves 4-12 mm. wide,

bright green; umbels usually compound, the spikelets few or numer-

ous, 1-2 cm. long, 10-24-flowered, green, the scales mucronate. —

Common in wet thickets; widely distributed in tropical regions.

Called "junquillo" in Panama.

Cyperus ferax L. Rich. A coarse perennial, rarely more than

80 cm. high, the leaves 5-7 mm. wide; umbels compound, the spike-

lets loosely spicate, linear, sub terete, 10-15 mm. long, 1.5 mm. thick,

yellow or brown, breaking up into joints at maturity. — Common in

fields and in open places, often in cultivated ground; generally dis-

persed in tropical regions. Known in Panama by the name "junco,"

and in Salvador as "coyolillo" and "zacate de corona." This is one

104 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

of the most abundant weeds of Central America. The plants exhibit

great variation in the size, color, and form of the spikelets.

Cyperus giganteus Vahl. Plants coarse, perennial, 1-2 meters

tall; leaves reduced to basal sheaths; umbels very large and leafy, the

spikes long and lax, the spikelets linear, 1 cm. long or less, 8-14-

flowered, straw-colored. — Frequent in marshes, and especially along

the borders of streams, usually growing in shallow water; widely dis-

tributed in tropical America. In habit and general appearance the

plant is much like the famous papyrus of the Nile, to which it is

closely related.

Cyperus haspan L. A slender perennial with rhizomes, bright

green; leaves mostly short or reduced to bladeless sheaths; umbels

compound, lax, the spikelets numerous, 5-15 mm. long, green or

reddish, compressed, 10-40-flowered. — Frequent in marshes or wet

fields; growing in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. Called

"junco" in Panama.

Cyperus ligularis L. A coarse stout perennial, very pale, often

forming dense clumps, frequently a meter high; leaves 5-10 mm.

wide, thick; spikes arranged in compound umbels, very dense, short,

the spikelets 5 mm. long or less, reddish brown. — Frequent, especially

along the borders of streams; generally distributed in tropical

America, and in Africa. Called "cortadera" in Panama, in allusion

to the rough-edged leaves.

Cyperus Luzulae (L.) Retz. A perennial with short hard

rhizomes; leaves 3-7 mm. wide; umbels chiefly simple, very dense,

the spikelets densely capitate, 3^4 mm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, whitish,

6-10-flowered, strongly compressed, the scales obtuse. — Common in

wet fields; generally distributed in tropical America. Known as

"junco" in Panama.

Cyperus ochraceus Vahl. Plants perennial, low or tall and

rather stout, the blades narrow; umbel with numerous long rays, the

spikelets densely capitate at the ends of the rays, oblong, pale green,

many-flowered. — In wet thickets or open fields; widely distributed

in tropical America.

Cyperus oxycarioides Britton. Plants coarse, perennial; leaves

3-8 mm. wide; spikes very dense and congested, forming a headlike

inflorescence, the spikelets linear, subterete, 6-10 mm. long, 8-12-

flowered, the scales obtuse. — In weedy fields; occurring also in Guate-

mala and in Texas.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 105

Cyperus paniculatus Rottb. Plants annual, very slender,

tufted, 20 cm. high or less, the leaves 1-3 mm. wide; spikes in umbels,

short, lax, the spikelets linear, compressed, 5-12 mm. long, the scales

obtuse, green or yellowish; style 2-cleft. — In wet fields or in wet sand

near the beach, often in salt flats, frequent; widely distributed in the

tropics.

Cyperus rotundus L. A low perennial with long rhizomes, the

culms bulbous-thickened at the base; leaves 3-6 mm. wide; spikes

lax, in umbels, the spikelets few, linear, 1-2 cm. long, 20-30-flowered,

dark brown, the scales obtuse, closely appressed. — On sandy open

banks, scarce; widely dispersed in the tropics of both hemispheres.

Cyperus surinamensis Rottb. Plants perennial, sometimes 60

cm. high; leaves 2-3 mm. wide; umbels simple or compound, the

spikelets numerous, green, 4-11 mm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, 30-40-

flowered, crowded in small dense heads.— Frequent in wet fields;

generally distributed in tropical America.

DICHROMENA Michx.

Dichromena radicans Schlecht. & Cham. A low slender tufted

perennial about 30 cm. high; leaves numerous, rather broad, glabrous

or pubescent; spikelets few, 1 cm. long or less, pointed, slightly com-

pressed, whitish, few-flowered, crowded in a dense head which is

surrounded by large leaflike bracts; achene lenticular, capped by the

persistent style base. — Frequent in open fields or in thickets; generally

distributed in tropical America. Two other species are known from

Central America, and both are to be expected in this region.

ELEOCHARIS R. Br. Spike rush

The species are easily recognized by their leafless stems and

solitary terminal spikelets. All the leaves are reduced to sheaths,

which are in evidence near the base of the usually terete culm. The

style base is persistent as a tubercle on the apex of the achene.

Eleocharis caribaea (Rottb.) Blake. Plants annual; culms very

slender and filiform but stiff, 5-30 cm. high; spikelet obtuse, 3-5 mm.

long, the scales pale or dark brown, scarious-margined ; achene

obovate, black, smooth and shining, the tubercle minute, depressed.

— In marshy fields, sometimes forming dense colonies; general in

tropical regions.

Eleocharis geniculata (L.) R. Br. Plants perennial, tall,

coarse, sometimes a meter high, the culms 3-8 mm. thick, with trans-

106 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— BOTANY, VOL. X

verse partitions, soft and spongy; spikelet 1-3 cm. long, 5-9 mm.

thick, the scales thin, brown; achene trigonous, smooth or granular,

yellow-brown, the tubercle conic. — Frequent in marshes and along

streams, often growing in shallow water; widely dispersed in both

hemispheres. Called "junco" in Costa Rica, and "tul" or "tule" in

Salvador. The pliable soft culms of this and similar species are much

used in some parts of Central America for plaiting mats, which are

used as mattresses on beds, and for other purposes.

Eleocharis retroflexa (Poir.) Urban. Rhizomes filiform or none;

culms capillary, 2-20 cm. long, very weak and often lying upon the

ground; spikelet 3-4 mm. long, containing 1-4 achenes, green or

purplish; achene triquetrous, obovoid, white, coarsely cancellate, the

tubercle pyramidal. — Frequent in marshes and along the borders of

streams, often forming large matted carpets; occurring in the tropics

of both hemispheres.

FIMBRISTYLIS Vahl

Annuals or perennials, the culms leafy near the base; spikelets

usually in heads or umbels, terete, involucrate, the scales spirally

imbricated, all fertile; perianth none; style 2-3-cleft, deciduous;

achene lens-shaped or 3-angled.

Fimbristylis diphylla (Retz.) Vahl. Plants annual or peren-

nial, glabrous, sometimes with short rhizomes, the culms slender,

ordinarily 20-60 cm. high, the leaves shorter than the culms, 1.5-3

mm. wide; spikelets few or numerous, solitary in the umbels, brown

or chestnut, obtuse, 5-10 mm. long; achenes biconvex, white or straw-

colored, 5-11-costate on each surface. — Frequent in wet fields; gen-

erally distributed in tropical America; one of the common weedy

plants of Central America. Perhaps not distinct from F. annua

(All.) R. & S., of the Old World. Depauperate plants sometimes

have a single spikelet at the top of the culm.

Fimbristylis miliacea (L.) Vahl. Plants annual, glabrous, very

slender, commonly 20-30 cm. high; leaves usually shorter than the

culms, 1-2 mm. wide; spikelets numerous, pediceled, subglobose, very

obtuse, brown, 2-4 mm. long; achene transversely lineate, straw-

colored or pale brown. — In sand along stream beds, sometimes form-

ing dense tufts; generally dispersed in tropical regions.

Fimbristylis spadicea (L.) Vahl. Plants perennial, glabrous,

coarse and stout; leaves erect, narrow and stiff, their bases thick and

hard, chestnut-colored; spikelets few or numerous, 1-1.5 cm. long,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 107

the scales obtuse, chestnut-colored; achene orbicular, somewhat

reticulated, dark brown.— Growing in marshes or on sandy flats near

the beach, sometimes forming dense clumps; common in such

situations; extending to South America.

Fimbristylis spathacea Roth. Plants glabrous or nearly so,

with short thick rhizomes, often forming dense clumps, the culms

stout, 10-40 cm. high; leaves narrow, stiff; spikelets numerous,

crowded in a dense, almost headlike inflorescence, 3-6 mm. long,

obtuse, brownish; achenes obovoid, minute, nearly black, granulate.

— Frequent on wet sand flats along the beach, forming large dense

patches; occurring in the tropics of both hemispheres.

FUIRENA Rottb.

Fuirena umbellata Rottb. A coarse perennial with creeping

rhizomes, often 1.5 meters high, more or less pubescent; leaves 8-15

mm. wide, with several conspicuous nerves, rough; spikelets numer-

ous, in dense, terminal and axillary clusters, terete, the scales spirally

imbricated, awned, pubescent, 1 cm. long; achene pale brown, 3-

angled. — Frequent in marshes; native of the tropical regions of both

hemispheres.

HEMICARPHA Nees & Am.

Hemicarpha micrantha (Vahl) Pax. Plants annual, delicate,

often only 1-3 cm. high; leaves setaceous, mostly shorter than the

culms; spikelets ovoid, 2 mm. long, many-flowered, terete, in clusters

of 2-4, brown, the scales spirally imbricate; achene obovate, slightly

compressed, pale brown.— Growing in moist sandy thickets near the

beach; widely distributed in tropical America, and in western Africa.

KYLLINGA Rottb.

Annuals or perennials, glabrous or nearly so, leafy near the base,

or the leaves often reduced to sheaths; spikelets congested in a few

dense heads, these usually subtended by an involucre of leaflike

bracts; spikelets compressed, of 3-4 scales, only the middle one fertile,

the scales 2-ranked and keeled; style bifid, the achene lenticular.

Kyllinga brevifolia Rottb. A slender perennial with long

slender rhizomes; leaves long-attenuate, nearly equaling the culms,

2-4 mm. wide; heads 7-12 mm. long, green, the scales usually

scabrous along the keel. — Frequent in wet fields; growing in the

warmer regions of both hemispheres.

108 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Kyllinga peruviana Lam. Plants perennial, with thick scaly

rhizomes; leaves all reduced to loose sheaths; culms stout, 20-50 cm.

high; bracts usually shorter than the head; head one, globose, 1 cm.

in diameter. — In wet sand flats along the beach, frequently forming

large and dense colonies; widely distributed in tropical America.

Kyllinga pumila Michx. A slender tufted annual, 5-40 cm.

high; leaves 2-3 mm. wide; heads 1-3, ovoid or cylindric, 5-10 mm.

long. — Frequent in open fields, sometimes in boggy places, occasion-

ally a weed in cultivated ground; generally distributed in the warmer

parts of the Americas, and in Africa.

Kyllinga pungens Link. A perennial with thick rootstocks;

lower leaves reduced to loose sheaths, the upper ones with short

blades 4 mm. wide; bracts 1-6 cm. long; head one, globose, 6-9 mm.

thick. — Common in marshes near the beach; widely dispersed in the

tropics.

REMIREA Aubl.

Remirea maritima Aubl. A glabrous perennial with long

slender rhizomes; culms 5-25 cm. high, densely leafy, the leaves erect

or spreading, 8 cm. long or less, stiff, with very sharp tips; spikelets

1-flowered, arranged in a dense sessile ovoid head 1-2 cm. long, straw-

colored or dark brown; achene smooth. — Common in sand along the

beach; a characteristic strand plant of the tropics of both hemispheres.

SCIRPUS L.

Scirpus cubensis Kunth. A stout glabrous perennial with long

stolons, the culms often decumbent and weak; leaves basal, 5-9 mm.

wide; inflorescence of a few umbellate heads, the umbels simple, with

long leaflike bracts, the heads globose, 1-1.5 cm. thick, composed of

very numerous spikelets, these 4-8 mm. long; achene narrowly obo-

void, pale. — Growing in shallow open water near Tela; widely dis-

persed in tropical America, also in Africa. In Central America found

only along the Atlantic coast.

SCLERIA Berg

Annuals or perennials with leafy culms; spikelets small, clustered,

spicate, or paniculate; flowers monoecious, the staminate and pistil-

late in the same or different clusters; pistillate spikelets 1-flowered;

perianth none; style 3-cleft; achene globose or ovoid, hard and bone-

like, usually subtended at the base by a disk.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 109

Scleria melaleuca Schlecht. & Cham. Navajuela. Plants

coarse, perennial, 30-80 cm. high, with rhizomes, glabrous or nearly

so; leaves 1 cm. wide or less, conspicuously nerved, with very rough

margins; panicles small, axillary; achenes smooth, subglobose, 1.5-2

mm. long, dark purple or blackish, shining. — Common in wet

thickets, open swamps, or cultivated ground; one of the common

weedy sedges of Central America and Mexico.

Scleria microcarpa Nees. Plants stout or slender, about a

meter high, with horizontal rhizomes; leaves 8-11 mm. wide, the

sheaths narrowly 3-winged; panicles narrow and spikelike; achenes

1-2 mm. long, smooth, white; margin of the disk ciliate. — In marshes

near Tela; ranging from Guatemala to the West Indies and South

America. In this, as in most of the other species, the very rough

margins of the leaves cut the flesh painfully and deeply if the plants

are handled carelessly.

Scleria paludosa Kunth. A coarse and stout perennial, 1-2

meters high; leaves 1.5-5 cm. wide, the sheaths 3-winged; panicles

large and much branched; achenes ovoid, white or yellowish, smooth,

5-6 mm. long, the margin of the disk ciliate. — Occasional in ditches

and marshes; extending from Guatemala to Peru, and in Cuba.

PALMACEAE. Palm Family

Palms are abundant in the Lancetilla region as to both species and

individuals, and there are represented here most of the groups which

grow in Central America. The number of species is, of course, not so

great as might be found in an area of similar size farther southward.

Besides the native species, various exotic palms have been planted at

Lancetilla.

ACROCOMIA Mart.

Acrocomia mexicana Karw. Coyol. Wine palm. A large palm

with tall thick trunk densely armed with long slender dark spines;

leaves very large, pinnate, with narrow segments, densely clustered

at the top of the trunk, the old leaves persisting below the living

ones; segments of the leaves as well as the midrib densely spiny;

flower and fruit panicles very large and heavy, pendent, spiny; peri-

anth of the pistillate flowers united only at the base; fruit large,

black, globose, smooth. — I saw this plant in cultivation at Tela, and

it is plentiful beyond the Ulua River about La Lima and elsewhere;

probably it grows also near Progreso, although I did not see it there.

110 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

It ranges northward into Mexico, and forms probably representing

the same species extend to Panama. Sometimes called "palma de

vino" in Panama.

This is one of the common palms of Central America, at least

on the Pacific slope, where it sometimes forms extensive forests. The

fruits are eaten by cattle, and they are reported also to have served

as human food. The sweet sap obtained from the trunk has an

agreeable flavor, and by slight fermentation there is obtained a palm

wine which is much appreciated in the regions where the tree is native.

ASTROCARYUM Mey.

Astrocaryum cohune (Wats.) Standl. Lancetilla. A rather small

palm, the trunk slender, 1.5-4.5 meters high, densely armed with

irregularly spaced spines, these often 5 cm. long or more, linear or

broader, compressed and 2-edged, blackish; leaves large, irregularly

pinnate, with narrow divisions, the petiole and rachis armed with

spines; spathes 20-30 cm. long, white- woolly, covered with slender

needlelike spines; staminate and pistillate flowers on the same

branched spadix, but the staminate branches soon wither and fall;

fruits in a dense spike, numerous, 5 cm. long, obovoid, covered with

short slender spines. — Very common in the forests on the lower hills;

occurring also in Guatemala. In the latter country the same name,

given in reference to the lancelike spines, is applied to the plant, and

Watson reports also the name "warree cohune," probably of Indian

derivation. He states that the fruits (seeds?) are edible, but they

are not eaten on the Honduran coast.

This is one of the abundant and characteristic palms of the Tela

region, and it is from this plant that the Lancetilla Valley derives its

name. The palm is of no economic importance locally, but it is a

great pest in tramping through the forest, where one must ever be

on guard to escape the sharp spines, which penetrate the flesh easily

and painfully.

ATTALEA HBK.

Attalea cohune Mart. Corozo. Manaca or Cohune palm. A

tall palm with very thick trunk covered with the persisting leaf bases,

unarmed; leaves gigantic, sometimes reaching a length of 10 meters

or more, plumelike, pinnate, with numerous long narrow segments,

erect and recurved; flower and fruit panicles very large and heavy,

drooping, 1 meter long or more, containing very numerous fruits,

often 500-800 or an even greater number; fruits ellipsoid, resembling

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 111

a small coconut, about 6 cm. long, beaked, containing usually a

single seed. — Abundant everywhere at lower elevations, growing in

swamps or on hillsides, in the swamps often projecting above the

other trees; ranging to Mexico and probably farther southward in

Central America. In Panama another presumably distinct species

occurs, and it is not known just where in Central America the two

species meet.

This is by far the finest and most imposing of all Central American

palms, its huge leaves greatly exceeding those of every other species.

Notwithstanding their size, they are very graceful, and the corozo

palm is a tree of great beauty. In the Tela region it grows in the

greatest abundance nearly everywhere, and is especially conspicuous

in the pastures, where it is left partly for its shade and partly because

it is hard to cut the trees down. On the hills about Lancetilla the

corozo makes a dense undergrowth in the forest up to a definite

elevation, probably about 200 meters, where it disappears altogether.

Where corozos grow, little other undergrowth is to be found, because

of their dense shade. Reproduction is rapid, and the ground often is

covered with the seedlings.

This palm is of much economic importance. It is the material

utilized in most of the native huts. The heavy midribs often are used

for the framework, and almost always the leaves, laid crosswise, form

the roof thatching. The seeds are rich in oil, and they have been

utilized to some extent, but they are so hard that the extraction of the

oil is difficult, and it has been impossible to devise satisfactory

machinery for crushing them. During the European war the seeds

were used for making charcoal for gas masks. Palm wine is made

from the trunks in some regions, including Honduras, and hats from

the young and tender leaves.

BACTRIS Jacq.

These are small erect palms with usually slender stems, viciously

armed throughout with long slender needlelike spines. The leaves

are clustered at the top of the stem or scattered along its upper part;

they are pinnate, with numerous narrow, often spiny segments. The

spadix is usually small and branched, and subtended by two hard

spiny spathes. The globular fruits are small and smooth, each con-

taining a single seed. Numerous species have been reported from

Central America, but, as is the case in all the other genera, they are

poorly understood, and no one knows how many of them represent

recognizable forms. As a matter of fact, very little attention has

112 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

been paid to the palms of Central America since the days of Oersted,

nearly a hundred years ago. Those who have accumulated informa-

tion concerning them have failed to place their knowledge upon

record, consequently their data are wasted. The account of the

Lancetilla palms here given is far from satisfactory, but there is no

reason for believing that at the present time any one could give a

more satisfactory account of them, or of the palms of any other part

of Central America.

Bactris hondurensis Standl. BiscoyoL Stems very slender,

about 1 meter high, solitary, copiously armed with very slender,

blackish, needlelike spines; leaves small, on slender spiny petioles,

simple, or with only a few narrow pinnae below, deeply parted at the

apex, the segments long-acuminate; fruiting spadices small and

short, the few fruits globular, bright red, 1-1.5 cm. in diameter,

smooth. — In wet forest high on the hills above Lancetilla; known

only from this region.

Bactris major Jacq. BiscoyoL Stems slender, usually 1-3

meters high, forming large dense clumps or colonies, densely armed

with very long and slender spines; leaves short, parted into numerous

linear segments, these armed along their edges with short spines, the

rachis and petiole covered with very long, slender, blackish, woolly

spines; fruits blackish or purplish at maturity, ellipsoid, nearly

smooth, surrounded at the base by a toothed cup; spadix branched;

spathe covered with slender blackish needlelike spines. — Common in

coastal swamps, where it often forms extensive and impenetrable

thickets; extending to South America. Called "lata" and "palma

brava" in Panama. The Honduran name is a variant of the Aztec

"huiscoyol," signifying "spiny palm." The scant acidulous pulp of

the fruits is sometimes eaten, likewise the kernels of the seeds, but

they are not very palatable, and this palm has little excuse for

existence. In the swamps it is a terrible pest, and one must be careful

to avoid its formidable spines, which inflict painful wounds. Horses

often seem to go out of their way to brush their riders against the

plants, which one would suppose would harm the animals quite as

much as their riders.

Bactris sp. A slender low palm, the stems 1.5-3 meters high,

forming small clumps, armed with very slender blackish spines;

leaves long, divided into numerous linear pinnae, these unarmed and

the rachis armed with but few spines.- — Frequent in the forest on the

hills above Lancetilla. Although so common there, the plant was not

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 113

found in either flower or fruit, and it is impossible to guess at its

specific determination.

GHAMAEDOREA Willd.

The Chamaedoreas include some of the smallest palms known,

certain of the Central American species sometimes flowering when

only 30 cm. high. They have slender green unarmed stems. The

leaves are usually pinnate but often simple, and scattered along the

upper part of the stem. The small inflorescences are mostly branched

but sometimes simple, and before anthesis they are enclosed in several

green husklike spathes. The two sexes of flowers are borne on

separate plants. As the fruit ripens the branches of the spadix usually

are colored orange, and the small, globular or oblong fruits are

generally black, and contain a single seed.

These palms are favorites in cultivation because of their reduced

size. When growing in the forest they are very graceful and hand-

some, the most attractive, in many respects, of all the Central

American palms. The leaves are usually colored a vivid green, and

the contrast between them and the brilliantly colored fruiting spadices

is often very pleasing. The Chamaedoreas grow only in deep forest,

where they sometimes form a considerable proportion of the ground

cover. They die as soon as the protecting trees are removed.

The unopened inflorescences with their enveloping spathes re-

semble closely a small ear of corn with its husks. When opened there

is found inside the curled and twisted mass of the branches with their

flowers, suggesting a mass of whitish worms. These young and tender

inflorescences are a favorite vegetable throughout Central America.

When properly prepared for the table, usually by dipping in egg and

frying, they are delicious, having a slightly bitter but altogether

agreeable flavor. The Chamaedoreas growing about Lancetilla have

such small inflorescences that they are almost useless for this purpose.

In some species the flowers are so bitter that they are never eaten.

This is the largest group of Central American palms, and many

species have been described. As in other groups, the species are

much confused, and little dependence can be placed upon the specific

names here used.

Chamaedorea Arenbergiana Wendl.? Pacaya. Stems stout,

1.5-2.5 meters high; leaves parted into numerous narrow long-

acuminate segments; fruiting peduncle very thick and stout, orange-

114 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

red, bearing one or sometimes two very thick spikes; fruits black, 1.5

cm. in diameter, globose. — In wet forest on the hills above Lancetilla.

Chamaedorea geonomaeformis Wendl. Pacaya. Stems very

slender, 0.5-1.5 meters high, smooth, green, leafy; leaves simple,

small, usually about 30 cm. long, slender-petioled, bifid at the apex,

the two lobes acute or acuminate; fruiting spadix simple, long and

slender, the rachis orange or bright red ; fruit globose, scarcely 1 cm.

in diameter, black. — Common in forests on the hills above Lancetilla ;

also in Guatemala and British Honduras.

Chamaedorea graminifolia Wendl. Pacaya. Stems slender,

green, smooth, reedlike, 1.5-4.5 meters high; leaves large, divided

into numerous long linear segments; inflorescences pendent, with

many long slender drooping flexuous branches, the flowers green;

rachis in fruit orange; fruits oblong.— Common in the hillside forests;

widely distributed in Central America.

Chamaedorea pacaya Oerst. Pacaya. Plate VII. Stems

slender, smooth, green, 1.5-3 meters high; leaves small, pinnate, the

few segments broad and sometimes slightly curved, long- tapering;

inflorescence with only a few short branches; fruiting spadix with

only 5-8 or sometimes more numerous short slender orange branches;

fruits globular, black, 1 cm. in diameter. — Common in wet forest;

ranging to Costa Rica.

COCOS L.

Cocos nucifera L. Coco. Coconut. This best-known of all

palms is abundant in the Tela region, growing not only along the

coast but far inland. Formerly it was planted extensively about

Tela for market, but the nuts are not exported at the present time.

Although presumably introduced in Honduras, the plant grows

abundantly everywhere along the coast, and seems to be perfectly

at home. There is probably no clear-cut evidence to prove that the

coconut existed in Central America before the Spanish colonization,

but since that time it has become widely dispersed. In Central

America it is esteemed chiefly for the young fruits, whose sap,

strangely enough called "milk," makes a most satisfying beverage on

a hot day. The meat is used to some extent for preparing sweetmeats.

The trees are picturesque shade trees, and for that reason they are

much planted in parks.

DESMONCUS Mart.

Desmoncus polyacanthos Mart. Balaire. Plate VIII. A

large woody vine, the slender stems armed with slender needlelike

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 115

blackish spines, the spathes also spiny; leaves large, pinnate, the

segments spiny near the base; upper part of the leaf rachis without

leaflets but bearing pairs of very stout, abruptly reflexed spines;

fruits oblong, 1.5 cm. long, arranged in large panicles. — Occasional in

forests; ranging to South America. Called "matamba" in Panama.

The plant is one of the greatest nuisances in the forest, for the leaves

reach far out as if groping to catch any passing object. Unless one is

careful when passing the plants, serious lacerations may be caused

by the spines of the leaves, which are very strong.

GEONOMA Willd.

The Geonomas are small or scarcely medium-sized, unarmed

palms having comparatively small, pinnate or often simple leaves.

The inflorescences are simple or branched, the small flowers being

sunken in pits in the branches. The fruits are small, globose, and

1-seeded.

Geonoma binervia Oerst. Pacuca. Plate IX. Stems stout,

smooth, 1-4.5 meters high, pale; leaves large, pinnate, with numerous

narrow segments, the upper ones confluent; spadices pubescent,

twice branched, with very numerous short and rather stout but

flexible branches; peduncle dull red, the inflorescence pale reddish;

fruits scarcely 1 cm. long. — Common in the hillside forests; extending

to Costa Rica. Called "cano de danto" in Nicaragua. This palm is

an exceptionally handsome one because of the neat clean trunks and

large leaves. The young inflorescences are sometimes cooked and

eaten in Honduras.

Geonoma glauca Oerst.? Pacuquilla. Plate X. The trunk

1 meter high or less, often none, the leaves then arising from the

ground; leaves stalked, stiff, divided below into long linear segments,

the upper segments broader and confluent; spadix unbranched, long

and slender, the rachis dull red; fruit purple, 1 cm. long. — Frequent in

mountain forests; also in Nicaragua. The leaves are used locally for

thatching huts. This species has been referred to the genus Calyp-

trogyne, which is sometimes kept distinct from Geonoma.

Geonoma trifurcata Oerst. Pacuquilla. Stems thick, 1 meter

high or less; leaves few, long-stalked, simple, bifurcate at the apex,

the segments long-tapering, rusty-scurfy beneath; peduncles long,

bearing at the apex usually three or four clustered spikes 8-17 cm.

long; flowers white or pale green. — Frequent in wet mountain forest;

also in Nicaragua, where it is called "suita." The leaves are used in

both Honduras and Nicaragua for thatching.

116 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— BOTANY, VOL. X

GUILIELMA Mart.

Guilielma utilis Oerst. Pejibaye. A large palm with tall

slender trunk, this bearing alternating light and dark bands of long

slender spines; leaves large, pinnate, very spiny, the segments narrow,

not 2-ranked; fruits large, red or yellow at maturity. — Not native in

this region, but an avenue of the trees has been planted in front of the

office at Lancetilla, and the trees will doubtless be planted elsewhere

when young plants are available. Common in Costa Rica and Pan-

ama. This is one of the most valued palms of Central America. The

large fruits are borne in huge bunches, and ripen in midwinter. They

are much prized for food, especially in Costa Rica, where the trees are

very plentiful. When boiled the flesh of the fruit is yellow, soft, sweet,

and very good to eat, somewhat suggesting sweet potato in flavor

and consistency. The very hard wood is utilized in some regions for

making bows, arrows, clubs, and other articles.

IRIARTEA Ruiz & Pav.

Iriartea durissima Oerst.? Palmiche. A large unarmed palm;

trunk very tall, slender, smooth, pale, supported at the base by

numerous prop roots, these slender and interlaced. — On the tops of the

hills above Lancetilla, not growing at lower elevations. The determi-

nation of the palmiche is a pure guess, for it was impossible to obtain

complete material. The trees bore no flowers or fruits when I saw

them.

MALORTIEA Wendl.

Malortiea gracilis Wendl. Stems very slender, 1-2.5 meters

high, green; leaves long-stalked, mostly 30-40 cm. long, with only a

few broad segments, these having numerous elongated perforations

or "windows" along the midrib, irregularly toothed at the apex;

inflorescence long-stalked, with numerous slender branches; fruits

oblong, 1 cm. long. — Common in mountain forests; extending to

Guatemala and Costa Rica. This is one of the handsomest and most

curious palms of Central America, easy to recognize by the perfora-

tions of its leaves. A Costa Rican species of Malortiea is the smallest

palm that I have ever seen in Central America. It has simple oblong

leaves, and blooms when only 30 cm. high.

OREODOXA Willd.

Oreodoxa oleracea Mart. Yagua. Royal palm. A very tall

palm, the trunk smooth, pale, slightly swollen, unarmed; leaves

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 117

clustered at the top of the trunk, long, horizontal, pinnately divided

into numerous narrow segments; inflorescences inserted below the

leaves, large, pendent, twice branched; fruit purplish, obovoid-oblong,

1 cm. long. — Frequent in swamps near the coast; also in the West

Indies, and probably in other parts of Central America. The determi-

nation of this Honduran palm is very uncertain, since specimens could

not be obtained. It has been referred by other writers to this species,

but the determination is open to question. The trees are very

handsome, often rising high above the surrounding forest trees. None

were noticed in the immediate vicinity of Tela, but some grow at

Puerto Arturo, and many others in the swampy land near the Ulua.

GYCLANTHACEAE. Cyclanthus Family

The plants of this family somewhat resemble palms in general

appearance, and, if noticed at all by non-botanists, are likely to be

mistaken for palms. They are stemless or have long climbing stems.

The leaves are variously divided or lobed, the divisions being con-

spicuously nerved like those of palm leaves. The flowers are arranged

in dense spikes.

CARLUDOVIGA R. & P.

This genus is represented in Central America by a rather large

number of species, which are poorly understood. The names of two

of the species listed here are very uncertain. The plants have

2-4-lobed leaves. The flowers are not arranged in rings on the spike

as they are in Cyclanthus.

Carludovica Oerstedii Hemsl. Plate XI. Plants stemless, the

leaves all basal, less than a meter long, long-stalked, 2-cleft, the

divisions narrow, long-tapering; fruiting spikes 2-4.5 cm. long, green;

leaves pale green. — Common in some localities along streams in deep

forest, especially in rocky places; extending to Panama. Called

"tucusb" in Costa Rica.

Carludovica palmata R. & P. Junco. Panama hat palm.

Plants stemless; leaves 4-parted, the segments many-cleft, large and

broad, the slender petioles 1-3 meters high; the spikes, when in

flower, are covered with very long, entangled, whitish filaments.—

Common in wet forest; ranging to Guatemala and southward to Peru.

Called "jipijapa," "Portorrico," "palmita," "atadero," and "guachi-

ban" in Panama; "chidra" in Costa Rica; and "palmilla" in Guate-

mala. The plant is easily recognized by its leaves, whose blades have

118 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

some resemblance to a Maltese cross. It is from the fiber of the

young leaves of this plant that the "Panama" hats are made, most of

them in Ecuador. Hats are made from the leaves also in Honduras,

and in other parts of Central America.

Carludovica utilis (Oerst.) B. & H. A large epiphytic vine with

long coarse tough stems; leaves petioled, deeply 2-lobed, the seg-

ments broad, acuminate. — Frequent on large trees in wet forest;

ranging from Guatemala to Panama. The stems are used in some

parts of Central America for making furniture similar to that made

from willow branches.

CYCLANTHUS Poit.

Cyclanthus bipartitus Poit. Plants large, stemless; leaves

long-stalked, 2-parted, the segments broad, 30-60 cm. long and larger,

long-pointed, glabrous; flower spikes arising on naked scapes from the

base of the plant, the flowers arranged in alternating rings of sterile

and fertile flowers, the mature spike strongly suggestive of a screw. —

Common in wet forest; ranging from Guatemala to Peru. Called

"Portorrico" in Panama and "hoja de lapa" in Costa Rica. The

plant often grows in association with the Panama hat palm.

ARACEAE. Arum Family

The plants of this family form a large and conspicuous part of the

epiphytic vegetation of Central America, although not all of them are

epiphytes. They are coarse glabrous herbs having petioled leaves

which are either entire or variously lobed or parted. The simple

peduncles bear a simple spike of perfect or unisexual flowers, which is

surrounded by a green or colored spathe, the whole being mistaken

by the uninitiated for a single flower. Typical plants of the family

are the common calla (Zantedeschia) and Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema

triphyttum). The fruits are small and often red berries.

The watery sap of these plants, or at least of most of them, con-

tains needlelike crystals, which penetrate the tongue when a piece

of the leaf or root is chewed, causing pain and often much swelling.

The plants are noteworthy for the various forms which their leaves

assume at different stages of growth. The young plants often are

altogether unlike the adult ones, the leaves of the former frequently

being simple and entire, while the mature leaves are lobed or parted.

Little is known regarding the juvenile forms, but they would furnish

an interesting field for study and investigation. It is a waste of time

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 119

in making herbarium specimens to gather the juvenile forms, unless

they can be associated definitely with adult plants.

ANTHURIUM Schott

This is the largest genus of the family, and it is well represented

in Central America. The plants are mostly stemless and epiphytic,

but in some species long climbing stems are developed. The leaves

are either entire or parted. The flowers are all perfect, and they

have a perianth, this being wanting in most of the groups listed here.

The ovary is 1-2-celled.

Anthurium aemulum Schott. A rather small epiphytic vine;

leaves parted into 7-11 digitately arranged, narrow, long-acuminate,

entire segments. — Frequent in wet forest; distributed from Mexico

to Panama.

Anthurium concinnatum Schott. Plants large, terrestrial,

stemless or nearly so; leaves long-petioled, very large, ovate-cordate;

spathe white or greenish white; spadix lavender when young, becom-

ing orange. — Frequent in wet forest, often growing on wet mossy

rocks; ranging from Guatemala to Costa Rica.

Anthurium consobrinum Schott. Plants large, epiphytic,

stemless; leaves long-petioled, lance-oblong, 30-40 cm. long or larger,

8-12 cm. wide, narrowed to the base, abruptly acuminate at the apex,

conspicuously 3-nerved; inflorescence green; berries bright red. —

Frequent on trees in wet forest; also in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Anthurium crassinervium (Jacq.) Schott. A large coarse

stemless epiphyte; leaves numerous, erect, large, obovate, often more

than 60 cm. long, very thick; fruiting spikes very large and heavy,

recurved and pendent, the large berries orange-red. — Occasional on

tall trees; ranging to South America.

Anthurium myosuroides (HBK.) Endl. An epiphytic vine

with long slender stems; leaves slender-petioled, oblong to ovate,

shallowly cordate at the base, thin, acute or acuminate; spathe and

spike green. — Frequent in wet forest, creeping on tree trunks;

ranging to Colombia.

Anthurium scandens (Aubl.) Engl. A small plant with elon-

gated stout stems, growing on tree trunks or branches; leaves short-

petioled, mostly 10-15 cm. long, thick and fleshy, acute at each end;

spadix short and thick; berries white or lavender. — On trees in wet

120 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

forest; widely distributed in tropical America. One of the common

species of Central America.

Anthurium scolopendrinum (Ham.) Kunth. Plate XII. An

epiphyte, stemless or nearly so; leaves comparatively thin, oblanceo-

late, 10-25 cm. long, long-tapering to the base, acute or acuminate,

3-nerved; spadix short and rather slender. — Frequent on trees in

wet forest; extending to South America.

GALADIUM Vent.

Caladium bicolor (Ait.) Vent. Corazdn sangriento. A stemless

terrestrial plant, easily recognized by its peltate leaves, which are

spotted or variegated with red, white, or yellow. — Probably native

of Brazil, but grown commonly for ornament in most parts of Central

America. Often planted in cemeteries. Called "corazon de Jesus"

in Panama and in the interior of Honduras, and "corazon sangriento"

in Guatemala. This plant is the fancy-leaved caladium which is

seen so often in the hothouses of the United States, where it is grown

for its beautiful foliage.

COLOCASIA Schott

Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott. A large stemless plant with

ovate-cordate peltate leaves. — Grown here occasionally for its edible

roots; native of India. Called "malanga" and "yautia" in the West

Indies.

DIEFFENBACHIA Schott. Dumb-cane

Coarse terrestrial plants, usually with well-developed, erect or

ascending stems, the stems often rooting along the lower part, and

lying upon the ground; sap milky, with a strong skunklike odor;

leaves entire, oblong to ovate, obtuse or rounded at the base, petioled ;

spathes produced in the axils of the leaves, closely enclosing the fruit-

ing spikes; berries red when mature. The juice is reported to cause

blisters and inflammation if it comes in contact with the skin, but

I do not believe that it does so invariably, since I never have been

affected by it, in spite of having made many specimens of the plants.

Some of the species of Dieffenbachia are grown for ornament in

the hothouses of the United States, the preferred forms being those

whose leaves are blotched with white. Such forms are found occasion-

ally in the forests of Central America, and I noticed them about

Lancetilla. The name "mother-in-law plant" is sometimes given to

the cultivated Dieffenbachias, because of the fact that when a bit

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 121

of the leaf is chewed it more or less paralyzes the tongue and deadens

sensation in it. The same effect may be obtained by chewing cau-

tiously a piece of leaf of the common cultivated caladium or elephant-

ear plant.

Dieffenbachia Oerstedii Schott. Hoja de puerco. Plants erect,

about 60 cm. high, the leaves rather small and thin; spathe orange;

berries scarlet. — Common in wet forest, especially in alluvial soil;

ranging from Guatemala to Costa Rica. Called "oto de lagarto"

in Panama.

Dieffenbachia seguina (L.) Schott. Hoja de puerco. Plants

larger, often 1.5 meters high, erect, the leaves much larger, thick

and succulent; spathe green. — Occasional in wet forest; extending

to the West Indies and South America. Called "cuyanigua" in

Salvador.

MONSTERA Adans.

Monstera pertusa (L.) de Vriese. Hoja de sereno. Plate XIII.

A large epiphytic vine, climbing high on trees; leaves large, oval or

elliptic, acute, rounded at the base, perforated with few or numerous

large holes, sometimes pinnately lobed; fruiting spadix large and

composed of numerous juicy berries. — Common in wet forest; widely

distributed in tropical America. The plant is easily recognized by

the peculiar form of its leaves, with their large perforations. The

species of Monstera often are grown in northern hothouses for

ornament or as curiosities. The fruiting spadices are sweet and

edible, but care must be exercised to eat only those which are fully

ripe, and even they often cause an unpleasant burning sensation in

the mouth because of the crystals which they contain.

Monstera dilacerata Koch. Campanilla. A large coarse

epiphytic vine; leaves similar in shape, but not perforated, deeply

pinnate-lobed, the lobes broad. — Frequent in deep forest; ranging

to northern South America. The species of Monstera are poorly

denned, and most of them doubtfully distinct, but this one appears

to be sufficiently different from M. pertusa.

MONTRICHARDIA Criiger

Montrichardia arborescens (L.) Schott. A coarse erect simple

plant 1-2 meters high or sometimes even taller; leaves numerous

along the stem, long-petioled, arrow-shaped, the long basal lobes

acute; spaches large, greenish yellow or whitish, enclosing the spadix.

122 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

—Frequent along streams and in swamps near the coast, usually

growing in water; extending to South America. The plant may be

recognized easily by its habit and by the acute basal lobes.

PHILODENDRON Schott

All the species listed here are large epiphytic vines with numerous

scattered petioled leaves which are either entire or lobed or parted.

The flowers are of two sexes on the same spadix, the staminate ones

above, the fertile below. The spadix usually is wrapped closely in

the persistent spathe, which most commonly is green. Many species

of the genus occur in Central America, where they form a con-

spicuous part of the epiphytic vegetation in both the lowlands and

the mountains.

Philodendron guttiferum Kunth. Plate XIV. A large and

rather slender vine, often forming dense masses on trees; petioles

broadly winged, extending nearly to the base of the blade; blades

oval or elliptic, rather small, obtuse or rounded at the base, entire;

inflorescences nearly sessile, the spathe green. — Common in wet

forest; ranging from Guatemala to South America.

Philodendron Hoffmannii Schott. Hoja de sereno. A large

coarse vine; leaves large and rather thick, broadly ovate, acute or

obtuse at the apex, shallowly or deeply cordate at the base, entire.—

In wet mountain forest; ranging from Guatemala to Panama.

Philodendron radiatum Schott. Bejuco de campanilla. Plate

XV. A large and very coarse vine; leaves large, broad, deeply pinnate-

lobed, the numerous lobes narrow, thick and fleshy; spathe green. —

Common on trees in wet forest; generally distributed in Central

America, and occurring also in Mexico. Called "hoja de peche"

in Salvador, and in Panama "azota cabeza" and "chalde"." The

plant is very conspicuous because of the form of its large leaves,

which often are very lustrous.

Philodendron Smithii Engl. Hoja de sereno. A large coarse

vine; leaves thick and fleshy, large, deeply cordate, somewhat

narrow above the base, the basal lobes large and rounded; spathe

green. — In wet forest; also along the coast of Guatemala.

Philodendron tripartitum (Jacq.) Schott. A large epiphytic

vine, often forming dense festoons on trees; leaves rather thin, bright

green, long-stalked, 3-parted, the segments entire, oblong to elliptic,

acute or acuminate. — Common in forest; widely distributed in

tropical America.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 123

PISTIA L.

Pistia Stratiotes L. Water lettuce. A plant quite distinct

in appearance from other members of the family; leaves obovate,

thick and spongy, soft, forming a dense rosette which floats on the

surface of water; flowers minute and seldom noticed. — Common in

pools or quiet streams; widely dispersed in tropical regions. Known

in Salvador by the names "lechuga de agua," "repollo de agua,"

"lechuga de sapo," and "verdolaga de agua." The plants often form

large and dense colonies over the surface of quiet water, in associa-

tion with other aquatic plants.

RHODOSPATHA Poepp.

Rhodospatha Tuerckheimii Engl. A large epiphytic vine;

leaves slender-stalked, elliptic, large, acute or acuminate, obtuse or

rounded at the base, entire, thin, the petioles margined nearly to

the top; inflorescence long-stalked, the peduncle enclosed in the leaf

sheaths; flowers perfect, in a long cylindrical spike, the spike con-

spicuously stalked, pale purplish. — Frequent on trees in wet forest;

occurring also in Guatemala.

SPATHIPHYLLUM Schott

Spathiphyllum Friedrichsthalii Schott. Plants terrestrial,

stemless, the leaves long-petioled; blades thin, large, elliptic, acumi-

nate, acute or obtuse at the base; inflorescence long-stalked, erect,

the spathe large, elliptic, usually 20 cm. long or more, pale green or

greenish yellow, open and flat; spadix long and stout, the fruiting

spikes green or yellowish, appearing tubercled by the projecting

styles. — Frequent in wet forests and thickets; extending from Guate-

mala to Colombia. A related species is called "huisnay" in Salvador.

In that country the young and tender inflorescences are cooked with

eggs and eaten.

SYNGONIUM Schott

Large or small epiphytic vines with large scattered leaves; leaf

blades parted into 3 or more segments; peduncles short, the green

or colored spathe wrapped about the spadix and persisting; flowers

of separate sexes.

Syngonium podophyllum Schott. A large vine, often forming

dense festoons over trees; leaves 3-parted, the divisions narrow, acute

or acuminate, the two lateral segments stalked and usually 2-parted;

124 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

spathes green, or at maturity bright red ; spadix at first cream-colored.

— Common in wet forest; ranging from southern Mexico to Panama.

Called "azota cabeza" in Panama, "pinuela" in Guatemala, and

"pico de guara" in Salvador.

Syngonium Rothschuhianum Engl. A small vine; leaves

larger, 3-parted, the divisions all broad and entire, sessile, dark

green; spathe green. — Growing on a mossy rock in wet forest, and

evidently an essentially epiphytic plant; occurring also in Nicaragua.

XANTHOSOMA Schott

The Xanthosomas are terrestrial plants, often with thickened

tuberlike roots, commonly stemless, but occasionally with well-

developed superficial rootstocks. The fruiting spadices are enclosed

in the large persisting spathes. The flowers are of two sexes, the

pistillate on the lower part of the spadix, the staminate above.

Xanthosoma roseum Schott. Quiscamote. Plate XVI. Plants

usually very large, 2 meters high or more, sometimes with thick stems

which recline on the surface of the ground; leaves huge, often more

than a meter broad, ovate-cordate, pale beneath, thin; spathe 20

cm. long, green or whitish, often pinkish within. — Common on open

stream banks, growing sometimes in shallow water; ranging from

Costa Rica to southern Mexico. This showy plant is common in

many places near Lancetilla and throughout the whole Tela region,

always very conspicuous because of its great size. The leaves make

a very good protection against the sudden showers so prevalent here,

for they may be thrown over the shoulders, like a cape, and they

are large enough to protect a tall man.

Xanthosoma violaceum Schott. Malanga. Plants stemless,

with a thickened tuberlike caudex; leaves large, ovate-sagittate,

slightly tinged with purple; spathe with a broad limb which is

cream-colored and tinged with purple. — Cultivated for its roots,

which are cooked and eaten; widely distributed in tropical America,

at least in cultivation. Called "oto" in Panama, and by the Jamaicans

living there "badu" and "coco." Known in Salvador as "quequesh-

que." The young leaves are cooked and eaten by the Caribs of

Honduras.

LEMNACEAE. Duckweed Family

The plants of this family are the smallest flowering plants known,

some of them being less than a millimeter in length, and of very simple

structure. The plant consists of a small body or thallus which is

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 125

disklike, and floats upon the surface of the water. The minute

flowers, seen only under a microscope, are borne on the upper surface

of the thallus, and consist of a single stamen, or of a single pistil.

LEMNA L. Duckweed

Lemna cyclostasa (Ell.) Chev. Thallus oval, more or less

asymmetrical, scarcely 2 mm. long, bearing a single root on its lower

surface. — Occasional in quiet pools, forming dense masses over the

surface of the water; widely dispersed in tropical America.

SPIRODELA Schleid.

Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleid. Fronds solitary or united

in colonies, rounded-obovate, 2.5-4.5 mm. long, bearing several

rootlets on the lower surface. — Floating in quiet pools; widely distrib-

uted in both hemispheres.

BROMELIAGEAE. Pineapple Family

The plants of this family form a large group which is wholly

confined to the western hemisphere, being probably the largest

family of plants confined to one or the other of the two halves of

the earth. They are mostly epiphytes, with normally large basal

clusters or rosettes of narrow leaves, which often are covered with

small grayish scales. The flowers are regular or nearly so, mostly

in spikes, and have 3 sepals, 3 petals, and 6 stamens. The fruit is

a berry or capsule, in the latter case often filled with seeds having

hairlike appendages, by which they are widely dispersed. The plants

often are confused with orchids by those who are not botanists, and

many of them are quite as handsome and showy as the majority of

the orchids. Very frequently the petals are bright blue or violet.

The inflated leaf bases of many species hold water, in which

mosquitoes and other insects find congenial breeding places. Fre-

quently the plants form very heavy loads on tree branches in wet

forest, sometimes causing the branches to break with their excessive

weight. The seeds germinate wherever they find a lodging place.

Young plants of the Tillandsias frequently are found on roofs, fence

posts, or even on telegraph wires, in the last case suggesting, when

seen from a distance, a row of small birds perched on the wires.

AECHMEA R. & P.

The Aechmeas are mostly rather large plants, rather variable in

appearance, with narrow or broad leaves having very prickly margins.

126 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

The bracts of the inflorescence often are brightly colored and showy.

The ovary is inferior.

Aechmea bracteata (Sw.) Mez. Plate XVII. Leaves long and

narrow, rather soft and flexible, bright green, the margins remotely

prickly; flowers in clustered bracted spikes arranged along a short

axis; bracts bright red, the lowest ones large and somewhat leaflike.—

Frequent in wet forest, growing on trees or on wet mossy rocks;

ranging to Mexico and Nicaragua.

Aechmea Mariae-reginae Wendl. Gallinazgo. A tall coarse

plant with very long, stiff, long-pointed leaves 7 cm. wide or more,

the leaves very numerous, ascending, their margins densely prickly;

inflorescence very long, cylindrical, and spikelike; bracts at the base

of the inflorescence large, rose-pink. — On trees in wet forest; ranging

southward to Costa Rica, where the plant is called "flor de Santa

Maria" and "corpus." The determination of the Honduras material

is uncertain. The Costa Rican plant is one of the most beautiful

ornaments of the Central American forests, because of its gorgeously

colored bracts.

ANANAS Adans.

As represented in Central America, this genus consists of two

species of rather different appearance.

Ananas magdalenae (Andre*) Standl. Pita. A large coarse

terrestrial plant with numerous long narrow basal leaves, these thin

and flexible, their margins armed with rather remote, large, recurved

prickles; inflorescence large and headlike, stalked, 10-15 cm. in

diameter, bright red; fruits juicy, not united as in the pineapple.—

Infrequent here, but sometimes forming dense thickets in deep forest

at middle elevations on the hills; ranging from British Honduras to

Ecuador. Called also "pinuela" in Panama, and "pita floja" in

Salvador. The West Indians living in Panama call the plant

"pingwing," and it is known rather widely under the name "silk-

grass." The very acid fruits are eaten occasionally, either raw or

cooked. I did not find the plants with either flowers or fruits in

Honduras, perhaps because of the season. The leaves of this plant

furnish one of the best fibers known, notable for its fineness, strength,

and length. It has been planted in some regions, or at least suggested

for planting, on this account.

Ananas sativus Schult. Pina. Pineapple. Cultivated occa-

sionally in the region, and a large number of varieties are being

tested at Quebrada Seca and elsewhere in the Tela district. Many

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 127

regions of Central America produce pineapples of superior quality.

The plant is probably a native of Brazil, although it has been under

cultivation in Mexico and Central America for a long time, perhaps

before the conquest. I noted pineapples naturalized in woods or

thickets in a few places about Tela.

CATOPSIS Griseb.

Catopsis brevifolia Mez & Werckle*. Plants small, glabrous,

bright green, unarmed, seldom more than 20 cm. high; leaves broad

and thin, rather succulent, acute or rounded at the tip, about 10

cm. long; staminate and pistillate flowers borne on separate plants,

arranged in simple or panicled spikes, the flowers comparatively

small and inconspicuous; ovary superior; fruit a small capsule con-

taining seeds with hairy appendages. — Common on tree branches

in wet forest; ranging to Costa Rica. The species of this genus are

poorly understood, and the determination of this Honduran one is

very doubtful. It is probable that there have been described from

Central America a good many more species of Catopsis than can be

distinguished definitely.

TILLANDSIA L.

These "air-plants," as they are sometimes called, form the largest

genus of the family. They are mostly stemless epiphytes (T. usneoides

being an exception in having long branched stems) with dense

clusters of basal leaves of various forms, generally covered with

scales which prevent rapid evaporation from the leaf surface. The

flowers are arranged in dense or lax spikes which are variously dis-

posed. The ovary is superior, and the fruit a capsule containing

many seeds with hairy appendages. The inflated leaf bases of some

species are inhabited regularly by savage ants. In various parts of

Central America these plants are called "cogollos," "gallos," "ga-

llitos," "chivitos," or simply "parasites."

Tillandsia bulbosa Hook. Plants small, 20 cm. high or less,

covered with minute, closely appressed, scurfy scales; leaves much

enlarged at the base, broad and inflated, giving the plant a bulblike

base, the blades long and very narrow, often inrolled; inflorescence

a cluster of 2-3 short spikes with closely appressed, green bracts.—

Frequent on trees in wet forest; widely distributed in tropical

America. This is one of the species which commonly is infested by

ants.

128 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY— BOTANY, VOL. X

Tillandsia compressa Bert. Plate XVIII. Plants rather large,

with numerous leaves, these thin, long, narrow, broadened but not

inflated at the base, minutely scurfy; flower spike simple, large,

stalked, strongly compressed, green, 4 cm. wide, the numerous

closely overlapping bracts sharply keeled. — On trees in wet forest;

ranging to Costa Rica, the West Indies, and northern South America.

Tillandsia festucoides Brongn. Plants mostly 30 cm. high or

less, often forming small clumps; leaves very numerous, slightly

widened, thick, and hard at the base, very slender and almost filiform

above; spikes few, little compressed, clustered at the top of the scape,

erect or nearly so, the bracts green or reddish; petals blue. — Common

on trees in wet forest; frequent in Central America, extending to the

West Indies and Florida.

Tillandsia filifolia Cham. & Schlecht. Plants small, 20 cm.

high or less; leaves very numerous, almost filiform, from a broad

hard base, minutely scurfy; flower spikes few, very slender, about 3

mm. thick, with appressed bracts, clustered, erect or ascending.—

Frequent on trees in wet forest; distributed from Mexico to Costa

Rica. The leaves are shorter and much more slender in this than in

any of the other species here listed (except the very different T.

usneoides).

Tillandsia monadelpha Baker. Plants about 30 cm. high;

leaves numerous, thin, green, nearly glabrous, soft, long-tapering to

the tip, flat; flower spike simple, long-stalked, about 3 cm. broad in

flower, the bracts and capsules spreading, not appressed; capsules

large, 4 cm. long; bracts and capsules green. — Common on trees in

wet forest; ranging to the Guianas.

Tillandsia pruinosa Sw. Plants small, less than 20 cm. high,

densely covered with very coarse, loose scales; leaves with short

narrow blades, the bases much enlarged and inflated, giving the plant

a bulblike base; spike sessile or short-stalked, simple, the dull reddish

bracts loosely appressed; flowers violet. — Occasional on trees in wet

forest; occurring in Mexico, the West Indies, and South America,

but apparently new to Central America. This species is easy to

recognize because of the loose coarse scales.

Tillandsia sublaxa Baker. Plants 20-30 cm. high; leaves rather

soft and thin, much broadened at the base, covered with minute

grayish scales; spike simple, long-stalked, somewhat compressed, the

rather few bracts green, often tinged with purple. — Frequent on

trees in wet forest; also in the West Indies.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 129

Tillandsia usneoides L. Pashte. Spanish moss, Grandfather's

beard. Plants very slender, with elongate stems; leaves filiform,

densely grayish-scaly. — Pendent from trees in wet forest; widely

distributed in the tropical and subtropical parts of the Americas.

This is the familiar Spanish moss which festoons the live oaks and

other trees of the southern United States, as far north as Virginia.

It is common in some parts of Central America, but in other regions

which are, apparently, equally suited to its growth, it is absent. The

soft plants are used for stuffing cushions and mattresses. In the

United States the plant is the basis of an industry of some importance,

the cleaned stems being employed for mattress making.

VRIESIA Lindl.

The plants of this genus are epiphytes with broad soft unarmed

leaves. The inflorescence is a simple spike in the species listed here.

The ovary and capsule are superior, the seeds having hairlike

appendages.

Vriesia disticha (L.) Standl. Plants about 20 cm. high; leaves

numerous, rather succulent, 2 cm. wide, glabrous and pale green,

tapering or blunt at the tip; spikes short and broad, 5 cm. thick or

more, with few broad, green or red bracts. — Frequent on trees in wet

forest; distributed from Guatemala to northern South America.

Vriesia guadeloupensis (Baker) Mez. Plants tall, sometimes a

meter high, bright green; leaves 2.5-5 cm. wide; spikes much elongate,

with numerous broad bracts. — On trees in wet forest; also in the West

Indies. The determination of the Honduran specimens is very

doubtful, and they may represent an undescribed species, but the

material available is too incomplete to permit a definite decision.

COMMELINACEAE. Dayflower Family

These plants are annual or perennial, succulent, glabrous or

pubescent herbs, their leaves commonly lanceolate or ovate and acute.

The small or large and showy flowers, in cymes or umbels and usually

subtended by spathelike or leafy bracts, have 3 sepals and 3 petals

which usually are thin and quickly wither into a formless mass.

There are commonly 6 stamens, and a superior 2-3-celled ovary.

The fruit is a capsule, with one or few seeds in each cell.

CALLISIA L.

Gallisia repens L. A small, slender, nearly glabrous plant, the

stems rooting at the nodes; leaves sessile, ovate or ovate-oblong, 1-3

130 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

cm. long, acute or acuminate, commonly cordate at the base, ciliolate;

flowers white, the leaflike bracts which subtend them forming a long

slender interrupted spikelike inflorescence; capsule 6-seeded. — Occa-

sional on open banks, forming dense mats; widely distributed in

tropical America. The stems often are purplish.

CAMPELIA L. Rich.

Large stout erect plants with coarse, simple or branched, very

leafy stems; leaves mostly oblanceolate, long-acuminate; peduncles

long and axillary, the flowers densely clustered, subtended by 2 large

leaflike bracts; sepals in age becoming fleshy and enclosing the 3-

celled capsule, which has 1 or 2 seeds in each cell.

Campelia hirsuta Standl. Plants erect, simple, about 60 cm.

high; leaf sheaths and blades densely hirsute with spreading stiff

tawny hairs; bracts much less acuminate than in C. Zanonia; flowers

white. — In wet forest, infrequent; known only from the vicinity of

Lancetilla. The stems are usually dark red or purplish.

Campelia Zanonia (L.) HBK. A coarse erect herb a meter high

or sometimes taller, nearly glabrous or pubescent with short and

mostly appressed hairs; leaves with very long and narrow tips;

flowers purple or white; fruit dark blue. — Frequent in wet forest;

widely distributed in tropical America. In Salvador, where the plant

is employed as a remedy for venereal diseases, it is called "cana de

Cristo" and "coyontura."

COMMELINA L. Dayflower

Fleshy herbs; flowers subtended by a spathe which is compressed

and flat, its margins distinct or united; ovary 2-3-celled.

Commelina elegans HBK. A much-branched herb, ascending

or spreading or sometimes nearly erect, glabrous or sparsely pubes-

cent; leaves lance-oblong, acuminate; margins of the spathe united

high up; flowers pale blue, open in the morning. — Common in wet

thickets or on open banks; widely distributed in tropical America.

Called "codillo" (little elbow, in reference to the geniculate stems) in

Panama, "coyontura" in Salvador, and "conchita de lazo" in

Nicaragua.

Commelina elegans, var. hirsuta Standl. Leaves, sheaths, and

spathes densely hirsute with stiff spreading hairs. — In wet thickets;

known only from this region, but probably of wider distribution.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 131

Commelina longicaulis Jacq. Plants more slender, decumbent

and rooting; spathe small, with distinct, not united margins; flowers

pale blue. — Common in thickets and open fields, a frequent weed of

banana plantations; widely distributed in tropical America. Some-

times called "verdolaga" in Panama.

DICHORISANDRA Mikan

Dichorisandra hexandra (Aubl.) Standl. An erect herb a meter

high, or sometimes a vine as much as 6 meters long, trailing over

shrubs and trees, nearly glabrous; leaves lance-oblong, sessile, long-

acuminate; flowers purple, in small terminal panicles; ovules 3-5 in

each cell, the seeds arillate. — Common in wet forest; ranging from

Guatemala to South America.

LEPTORRHOEO Clarke

Leptorrhoeo filiformis (Mart. & Gal.) Clarke. Plants small,

very slender, decumbent, nearly glabrous; leaves oblong or linear,

sessile, 1-4 cm. long; flowers white or pale blue, very small, in

3-6-flowered, terminal and axillary umbels; seeds 1 in each cell.—

Growing in sand under coconut palms at Tela; extending from Mexico

to South America.

RHOEO Hance

Rhoeo discolor (L'HeY.) Hance. Senoritas embarcadas. A fleshy,

short-stemmed, low herb, about 20 cm. high; leaves few, oblong-

lanceolate, 20-30 cm. long and 3.5 cm. wide, usually dark purple

beneath; inflorescence bracted, the flowers almost hidden within the

large compressed bracts. — Cultivated occasionally for ornament;

native of tropical America.

TINANTIA Scheidw.

Tinantia leiocalyx Clarke. An erect annual, commonly much

branched, sometimes a meter high ; leaves broadly ovate, acuminate,

6-15 cm. long, finely pubescent beneath, often subcordate at the base;

inflorescence umbel-like, terminal, the flowers pedicellate; sepals

glabrous, 12-14 mm. long; leaves and flowers pale green. — A rather

weedy plant, growing on banks and in open fields; occurring in Central

America and Mexico.

TRADESCANTIA L.

Plants erect or prostrate, the leaves narrow or broad; flowers

usually in umbels, the umbels often subtended by leaflike bracts;

132 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

stamens 6, all fertile; capsule 3-celled, with normally 2 seeds in each

cell. The Central American species are very different in appearance

from most of those inhabiting the United States.

Tradescantia cordifolia Sw. Plants very slender, small, pro-

cumbent; leaves ovate, 2 cm. long, glabrous, acute, rounded or sub-

cordate at the base; umbels small, few-flowered, the sepals 2 mm.

long; petals white; leaves pale green. — Occasional about Progreso in

wet thickets or on shaded banks; widely dispersed in tropical America.

Tradescantia cumanensis Kunth. A rather coarse perennial,

nearly glabrous, the stems decumbent or sometimes clambering and

as much as 1.5 meters long; leaves lanceolate or narrowly oblong-

lanceolate, 5-8 cm. long; peduncles terminal, mostly shorter than the

leaves; petals white.- — Common in wet thickets; ranging from Mexico

to South America. Called "palm-grass" by the Barbadians living in

the Canal Zone.

Tradescantia geniculata Jacq. Stems slender, decumbent,

simple or branched; leaves oblong-lanceolate to ovate, 3-6 cm. long,

acute, densely pilose beneath; flowers white, in very slender terminal

panicles; sepals 2-3 mm. long. — Occasional in wet thickets, sometimes

in cultivated ground; widely distributed in tropical America.

Tradescantia gracillima Standl. Plants very slender, ascend-

ing or procumbent; leaves broadly ovate, acute, 2-3 cm. long, very

unequal at the base, sparsely pilose above, glabrous beneath; flowers

white, in small umbels, the umbel subtended by two leaflike bracts. —

In wet thickets near Tela; known only from this region.

ZEBRINA Schnizl.

Zebrina pendula Schnizl. Plants prostrate or procumbent,

glabrous or abundantly hairy; leaves ovate-oblong or ovate, 3-10

cm. long, acuminate, pubescent or pilose, at least beneath, usually

purplish beneath and striped with green and silver above, or some-

times wholly green; flowers clustered, subtended by 2 large leaflike

bracts; petals rose-purple; capsule 3-celled, with 1 or 2 seeds in each

cell. — Frequent on shaded banks or in wet thickets; occurring in

Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. Called "matali"

and "sangria" in Salvador. This is one of the plants grown commonly

for ornament in the United States under the name of "Wandering

Jew."

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 133

PONTEDERIACEAE. Pickerel-weed Family

The members of this group are herbs, glabrous or nearly so, which

grow in water or mud; the leaves have sheathing, petioled and entire,

usually heart-shaped or kidney-shaped blades. The small or large

and showy flowers, subtended by a green spathe, have a 6-parted

perianth and 3 or 6 stamens which are inserted on the tube of the

perianth. The fruit is a many-seeded capsule or a 1-seeded utricle.

HETERANTHERA R. & P.

Heteranthera reniformis R. & P. A succulent creeping herb;

leaves long-petioled, kidney-shaped, broadly rounded at the apex;

spathe few-flowered, the small flowers white, with 3 stamens. —

Frequent in marshes and in mud about the edges of pools and streams;

widely distributed in tropical America.

PONTEDERIA L.

Pontederia cordata L. Pickerel-weed. A coarse erect herb a

meter high; leaves deeply cordate at the base; flowers pale purple, in

a long dense spike; stamens 6; fruit 1-seeded. — Frequent in marshes

and along streams; widely distributed in tropical America, and

common in many parts of the United States. Called "balsa" in

Salvador, and "lechuga de agua" in Guatemala.

LILIACEAE. Lily Family

ALLIUM L.

Allium Cepa L. Cebolla. Onion. Planted commonly in gardens.

Allium sativum L. Ajo. Garlic. Planted frequently, and used

all too generally as a flavoring for food.

ASPARAGUS L.

Asparagus plumosus Baker. Grown for ornament. Known in

Salvador by the name "vela de novia."

DRACAENA L.

Dracaena americana Bonn. Smith. Izote. A tree 4.5-9 meters

high, with thick trunk and few thick branches, the branchlets densely

leafy; leaves linear, 20-30 cm. long, long- tapering, bright green,

glabrous; flowers very small, creamy white, in large terminal panicles;

fruit yellowish green, 1.5-2.5 cm. in diameter, containing 1 or 2

134 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

large globose seeds. — Frequent in wet forest on the lower slopes;

extending to British Honduras and Costa Rica. The name "parasillo' '

is reported from Honduras, but there is doubt regarding its application

and derivation. The tree is an interesting one because it is the only

American representative of a large genus otherwise restricted to the

Old World. In habit and aspect the trees resemble yuccas.

TAETSIA Medic.

Taetsia fruticosa (L.) Merrill. (Cordyline terminalis Kunth.)

A native of the East Indies, grown here as elsewhere in Central America

for ornament. It is a tall half-woody plant with broad lanceolate

green leaves, and small and inconspicuous whitish flowers.

Taetsia fruticosa (L.) Merrill, var. ferrea (Baker) Standl. A

common form with red or purple leaves.

YUCCA L.

Yucca elephantipes Regel. Izote. Yucca. A tree 3-10 meters

high with few thick branches; leaves very numerous, daggerlike, some-

times a meter long, thick and stiff; flowers creamy white, large, bell-

shaped, in huge erect panicles. — Planted about Tela; perhaps native

of Mexico, but planted generally in Central America. Called

"palmito" in Panama and "itabo" in Costa Rica. The young flowers

are esteemed as an article of food everywhere in Central America.

Usually they are fried with eggs, and when so prepared they are very

palatable.

SMILACACEAE. Sarsaparilla Family

SMILAX L.

The plants are large woody vines, their stems usually armed with

coarse prickles, the leaves leathery, usually entire, and with 3-7

conspicuous longitudinal nerves. The flowers are small and greenish

or brownish, the two sexes separate, arranged in umbels in the leaf

axils, and with 6 stamens. The fruit is a globose, black or red berry

containing 1-6 seeds. Closely related and very similar species grow-

ing in the United States are known by the names "catbrier," "green-

brier," and "horsebrier."

Smilax domingensis Willd. Zarza, Corona de Cristo. A large

coarse glabrous vine, the stems with but few prickles, roundish, not

angled, in cross section; leaves oblong to ovate, very thick, obtuse or

acutish, cordate to acutish at the base; stalks of the umbels shorter

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 135

than the petioles; berries black or dark purple. — Frequent in thickets

about Tela and Progreso; widely distributed in tropical America.

Smilax mollis Willd. Pate. A large unarmed vine, brownish-

pubescent throughout; leaves on very short petioles, oblong to

narrowly ovate, acute or acuminate, cordate at the base; usually 5-

nerved; berries red. — Common in thickets and swamps; widely dis-

tributed in tropical America. The large yamlike roots are used for

poisoning fish. The vernacular name is derived from an Aztec word

signifying "medicine."

Smilax ornata Lem. Zarza, Zarzaparrilla. A very large, woody

vine, glabrous, the thick woody stems sharply 4-angled, armed with

large stout prickles; leaves short-petioled, often very large, oblong to

ovate, acute to rounded at the apex, the larger ones mostly cordate

at the base and often prickly beneath; berries white. — Common in

thickets; occurring also in Guatemala and probably in other Central

American countries. This is one of the few species of Smilax which

are known definitely to yield commercial sarsaparilla. Although that

drug is produced in many parts of tropical America, very little is

known concerning the species from which it is obtained. Most species

of Smilax are worthless for the purpose. Sarsaparilla is obtained from

the roots, which are dried for export. It is employed chiefly for

flavoring beverages, and to a limited extent as a remedy for rheuma-

tism and scrofulous and cutaneous diseases.

Smilax panamensis Morong. A large woody glabrous vine

with few prickles; leaves slender-petioled, oblong to narrowly ovate,

3-5-nerved, acute at the apex, acute to rounded at the base; stalks of

the umbels mostly longer than the petioles, the flowers small, green.—

Occasional in wet thickets; ranging from Guatemala to Panama.

Called "zarza" in Panama.

HAEMODORACEAE. Bloodwort Family

XIPHIDIUM Aubl.

Xiphidium caeruleum Aubl. Plate XIX. A perennial herb;

leaves resembling those of iris, linear, long-tapering, 2-ranked, inserted

with their edges toward the stem, glabrous; flowers small, whitish,

in terminal panicles, with 6 perianth lobes and 3 stamens; fruit a

3-celled, many-seeded, dull red berry. — Frequent in wet forest;

widely distributed in tropical America. Called "palmita" in Panama,

and "palma" and "palma del norte" in Salvador. Small plants some-

times are produced in the inflorescence.

136 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

AMARYLLIDACEAE. Amaryllis Family

The plants have basal leaves which are more or less evidently

parallel-veined, and scapose stems. The perianth is 6-parted, and

the flowers have normally 6 stamens. The ovary is inferior, the fruit

a capsule.

AGAVE L.

Agave sisalana Perrine, f . armata Trel. Mescal. A large coarse

plant with a huge cluster of basal leaves, these long and narrow,

rather thick and fleshy, sharp-pointed, armed along the margins with

short prickles; inflorescence very tall, the flowers greenish yellow.—

Planted in the Tela region, and naturalized in thickets, perhaps about

the sites of former dwellings; native probably of Yucatan. Called

"maguey" in the interior of Honduras. The leaves produce a tough

fiber, which is known in the trade as sisal, sisal fiber, or sisal hemp, its

name being derived from the port of Sisal in Yucatan, from which the

fiber formerly was exported. The fiber of the various Agaves and of

the related genus Furcraea is employed commonly in all parts of

Central America for making twine, rope, hammocks, and other

articles. The manufacture of hammocks is an industry of importance

in certain parts of Honduras.

The genus Agave has but few representatives in Central America,

but in Mexico it is represented by a large number of species. A

handsome native Agave grows abundantly on the dry hills of the

interior of Honduras.

CRINUM L.

Crinum erubescens Soland. Lirio. A succulent scapose gla-

brous herb with bulbs; leaves broad, strap-shaped; flowers few,

clustered at the top of the scape, their slender tube 10-15 cm. long,

the 6 segments lanceolate, scarcely half as long as the tube, white;

stamens purple-red. — Common in marshes near the beach; widely

distributed in tropical America.

It is probable that the related genus Hymenocallis is represented

in the Tela region, but I did not find plants in flower.

DIOSCOREACEAE. Yam Family

DIOSCOREA L.

Slender, herbaceous or rarely somewhat woody vines; leaves

opposite or alternate, commonly ovate-cordate, ribbed and netted-

veined, entire, petioled ; flowers small and commonly greenish, usually

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 137

dioecious; arranged in axillary racemes or spikes, the perianth 6-

parted; stamens 6 or 3; fruit a deeply 3-angled capsule, with 1 or 2

seeds in each of the 3 cells.

Dioscorea alata L. Name, Name bianco. White or water yam.

Stems more or less 4- winged or 4-angled; leaves usually opposite,

broadly cordate, 5-7-nerved, glabrous; flowers minute, in whorled

and frequently panicled spikes; stamens 6; capsule 2.5-3 cm. long.—

Cultivated, and sometimes naturalized in thickets; probably native

of southern Asia. This species is grown commonly in Central America

for its large roots, which usually are eaten boiled. It is probable that

one or more additional species of the genus are in cultivation in

Honduras.

Dioscorea bulbifera L. Papa del aire. Air potato. A large vine

with ovate-heart-shaped leaves, bearing in the axils of the leaves large

compressed fleshy tubers which sometimes weigh several pounds.—

A native of tropical Asia, sometimes cultivated in Honduras for the

edible tubers. Plants were found growing wild in thickets not far

from Lancetilla.

Dioscorea convolvulacea Cham. & Schlecht. A slender vine;

leaves 9-11-nerved, acuminate or cuspidate-acuminate, cordate,

puberulent or pilosulous beneath, at least along the nerves; flowers

pale green, 3-4 mm. long; stamens 3. — In wet thickets near Progreso;

extending to southern Mexico.

Dioscorea esurientium Uline. A large slender vine; leaves

cordate or triangular-cordate, sometimes hastate-lobed at the base,

9-11-nerved, usually sparsely puberulent beneath but sometimes

glabrous; flowers green, 2 mm. long, in very long, slender racemes;

stamens 3. — In wet thickets near Progreso; ranging from Guatemala

to Costa Rica.

Dioscorea macrostachya Benth. A large slender herbaceous

vine; leaves broadly cordate, acute or acuminate, 7-9-nerved, with a

deep or shallow basal sinus; staminate flowers scarcely 2 mm. long,

clustered and forming very long and slender spikes, purplish green or

dark brown-red; stamens 6; capsules 2.5-4 cm. long and broad.—

Frequent in wet forest or thickets; ranging from Panama to Mexico.

Dioscorea sp. Imperfect material was collected in the Lancetilla

Valley of an evidently distinct species which may be undescribed.

The large thick leaves are very densely pubescent beneath.

138 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

IRIDACEAE. Iris Family

MARIGA Ker

Marica gracilis Herb. A tall herb with broad, linear, conspicu-

ously 1-ribbed leaves; scapes broadly winged, the flowers in a cluster

subtended by leaflike spathes; flowers up to 5 cm. broad, the seg-

ments white, veined with yellow; fruit a capsule, the seeds with a

bright red aril. — In mountain forest, rare; ranging to Mexico and

South America.

MUSACEAE. Banana Family

HELICONIA L.

These plants are of considerable interest because of the fact that

they are the only native Central American relatives of the banana.

Numerous species of them occur in Central America, and they form a

conspicuous part of the vegetation of the lowlands, reaching their

greatest abundance, perhaps, in Panama, where some of them form

all but impenetrable thickets. Some of the Heliconia thickets, in

fact, are so dense that I doubt that it is possible to force a way

through them without a machete.

Except in their general habit and in the appearance of their leaves,

the plants do not resemble the banana very closely. Their inflores-

cence is a large, erect or recurved spike, its large colored bracts

arranged in two ranks, the flowers in dense clusters within them at

their base. The fruits are small and berrylike, often blue when

mature. The plants are of no economic importance, except that their

leaves are used for wrapping various objects, when banana leaves are

not at hand, and they may be employed also for roofing temporary

shelters. It is reported that mosquitoes breed in the water held

within the bracts of some species.

It is quite probable that more species occur in the Tela region than

are listed here.

Heliconia Bihai L. Plate XX. A coarse plant about 2 meters

tall, glabrous or nearly so, with large thin green leaves somewhat

resembling those of a canna, but larger; inflorescence erect, very

thick and heavy, the bracts broad, strongly compressed, closely set,

spreading almost at right angles, greenish yellow, spotted and shaded

with red, the edges green; fruit pale yellow, becoming bright blue. —

Frequent in wet thickets; widely distributed in tropical America.

This is, I think, the handsomest of all the Central American Heli-

conias with which I am familiar, because of the rich and beautiful

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 139

coloring of the spikes. Like other species, it usually is called "plata-

nillo" in Central America, and by the West Indians "wild plantain"

or "wild banana."

Heliconia crassa Griggs. Plate XXI. A comparatively small

plant, but sometimes nearly 2 meters high, slender, the stems very

leafy throughout their length; leaves sessile or nearly so, small,

narrowly oblong, bright green; inflorescence small, the few bracts

short, narrow, reddish orange with green tips; flowers cream-colored.

—Frequent in deep mountain forest; occurring also in Guatemala.

Perhaps not different from H. choconiana Wats. This species is

much less conspicuous than the others, but nevertheless a very

attractive plant. It begins to flower in March.

Heliconia latispatha Benth. Plants coarse, often 2 meters

high, with few leaves, the leaves large and broad, green, thin; inflores-

cence erect, the bracts narrow, widely spaced, spreading at right

angles, long and attenuate, orange-yellow.— Common in wet thickets

and in forest; a common species of Central America. Called "plata-

nillo" and "guacamaya" in Panama. In Salvador sometimes called

"cuchillos."

Heliconia librata Griggs. Bijaguillo. Plants 2 meters high

or less, the large leaves thin and green; inflorescence erect, almost

triangular, broadest at the base and rapidly narrowing upward, the

bracts long and narrow, closely set, widely spreading, yellow or

straw-colored; fruits blue. — Occasional in wet mountain forest; grow-

ing also in Guatemala.

Heliconia Mariae Hook. Bijaguillo. Beefsteak heliconia. Plants

very large, usually 3 meters high or more, much like the banana plant

in size and habit, with huge leaves; inflorescence very large and

pendent, often 60 cm. long or more, narrow, composed of numerous

broad, short, closely overlapping bracts, dull deep red. — Frequent in

wooded swamps near the coast; ranging from Guatemala to Panama.

This is the largest of all the Central American Heliconias.

MUSA L.

Musa sapientum L. Guinea. Banana. This species, of Old

World origin, is the most important plant of the northern coast of

Honduras, for upon it depends chiefly the prosperity of the country.

There are extensive plantations all along the coast, and many millions

of stems of the fruit are exported every year to the markets of the

United States and Europe. Without the banana, the lowlands of

140 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

northern Honduras soon would be deserted by most of their human

inhabitants. The variety grown here, as throughout Central America,

is the Gros Michel, the common banana seen in the United States

markets. Several other varieties are planted extensively in various

parts of Central America for local consumption, but they are not

exported, except occasionally those called "red bananas." Very few

varieties appear to be grown in the Tela region, however, even by the

native inhabitants.

Musa paradisiaca L. Platano. Plantain. This plant is little

known outside the tropics, for its fruits are seldom exported. They

are normally larger than the banana, and eaten only after cooking.

The plantain is one of the finest vegetables produced anywhere, and

it is to be regretted that it is not procurable in the United States,

except infrequently and at a high price. It is little grown in the Tela

region.

ZINGIBERACEAE. Ginger Family

Large herbs with usually long and leafy stems, the leaves chiefly

lanceolate or oblanceolate, furnished with large sheaths; inflorescence

variously bracted, the flowers irregular, with only one fertile stamen;

fruit usually more or less fleshy or berrylike.

ALPINIA L.

Alpinia speciosa (Wendl.) Schum. Shell-flower. A tall glabrous

herb about 2 meters high, often forming dense clumps; leaves large,

lanceolate; flowers large, arranged in drooping spikelike racemes, the

bracts white and red, the lip of the corolla yellow, brown-red within.

— Cultivated for ornament, and in Central America frequently

escaping; native of the East Indies. The flowers are showy and

beautiful. In Salvador the plant is called "perlas del Oriente."

COSTUS L.

These plants are tall coarse herbs, their terete stems formed by the

tightly rolled sheaths of the numerous oblanceolate or obovate leaves.

The flowers are arranged in dense terminal spikes which have numer-

ous closely overlapping, thick bracts.

Costus sanguineus Bonn. Smith. Cana de Cristo. Plants 1-3

meters high, hairy or nearly glabrous; leaves abruptly pointed;

flower spikes 8-18 cm. long, the numerous broad bracts bearing a

conspicuous callus on the back, obtuse or rounded at the apex, tightly

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 141

imbricated, even in fruit, red or reddish green; perianth red. —

Common in thickets and forest; ranging almost throughout Central

America, at least at low elevations.

This differs but little, if at all, from the following species. The

members of this genus are poorly understood, and it seems improbable

that all the species proposed are really recognizable.

Costus spicatus (Jacq.) Sw. Cana de Cristo. Plate XXII.

Plants more slender, 1-2 meters high, glabrous or somewhat hairy;

flower spikes mostly shorter, the bracts dull red, in age loose and

somewhat spreading. — Frequent in thickets and forest; widely dis-

tributed in tropical America.

RENEALMIA L. f.

Renealmia aromatica (Aubl.) Griseb. A large coarse plant,

the sterile stems 1-2 meters high, with numerous large acuminate

leaves; inflorescence rising from the base of the plant, panicled, about

30 cm. high, dull red, pubescent, bracted, bearing very numerous

small flowers; fruits fleshy, red or dark blue, with orange pulp.—

Frequent in wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America. The

plant sometimes forms small clumps or colonies.

ZINGIBER Adans.

Zingiber officinale Rose. Gengibre. Ginger. Planted in gardens

for its rhizomes, which furnish the ginger of commerce. Native of

tropical Asia. In Central America the plant seldom if ever blossoms.

GANNACEAE. Canna Family

GANNA L.

The cannas are common and rather weedy plants of Central

America, and they are widely distributed elsewhere in the tropics of

both hemispheres. They all resemble closely the common cultivated

forms, most of which are of hybrid origin. Some of the latter are

grown for ornament in the Tela region, and generally in Central

America.

Canna edulis Ker. Bijao, Platanillo. Plants tall, usually 2

meters high or more, forming dense clumps or thickets; flowers

brick-red or orange-red. — Common in wet thickets and swampy

places, often growing along streams; widely distributed in tropical

America.

142 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Canna indica L. Platanillo. Lower, commonly 1-1.5 meters

high; flowers bright deep red. — Common in thickets or swampy

places, one of the characteristic plants of abandoned banana land;

widely distributed in tropical America. The broad thin leaves of the

cannas often are used for wrapping food and other articles when the

more serviceable banana leaves are not available.

MARANTACEAE. Arrowroot Family

A tropical family, the Central American representatives being

usually coarse herbs, the leaves having sheaths and petioles and large

broad blades. The flowers often are large and showy, chiefly white,

yellow, or purple, and subtended by conspicuous bracts. The

perianth is regular or nearly so, and there is only one fertile stamen,

which is accompanied by one or more staminodia.

CALATHEA Mey.

The Calatheas are abundant plants in the lowlands of Atlantic

Central America. They are large or small herbs, their flowers

arranged in heads or spikes with large, opposite or spirally imbricated

bracts. The ovary is 3-celled and the fruit 3-seeded, the ovary in the

other genera listed here being 1-celled and the fruit 1-seeded.

Calathea altissima (Poepp. & Endl.) Koern. Bijaguillo. Plants

large, 1.5 meters tall or more; leaves oval, very large, on long slender

petioles; scape tall, naked, not bearing leaves as in most of the other

species; flower spike headlike, about 8 cm. long and nearly as broad.—

Occasional in wet forest; ranging from Guatemala to South America.

Calathea insignis Peters. Bijaguillo, Liga. Plate XXIII.

Plants coarse, 1-2 meters tall, glabrous; leaves elliptic or oval, pointed,

glabrous, thin; spikes elongate, 5 cm. wide, compressed, the broad

soft bracts 2-ranked, pale bronze-green; perianth yellow. — Frequent

in dense forest or along streams; ranging from southern Mexico to

Ecuador. Called "bijagua" in some parts of Central America. The

plant is a conspicuous and handsome one.

Calathea lutea (Aubl.) Mey. Bijao. Plate XXIV. Plants

coarse, usually 2-3 meters high; leaves often very large, broad, pale

beneath, rounded at the tip; spikes about 15 cm. long and 2.5 cm.

thick, terete, not compressed, the broad bracts bronze-red; perianth

pale yellow. — Common in wet thickets, in open swamps, or along

streams, often forming large, almost pure stands; ranging through

eastern Central America to South America. Called "hoja blanca"

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 143

in Panama and "hoja de sal" in Salvador. The large thin flexible

leaves often are used like banana leaves for wrapping articles of food,

and they are employed sometimes for temporary thatching. The

plant is very abundant and conspicuous along the Tela River, and

in many other localities of the region, where the huge leaves with their

pale under surfaces always attract attention.

Calathea macrosepala Schum. Bijaguillo. Plate XXV. Plants

smaller, usually 1-1.5 meters high, bright green; leaves short-pointed,

green beneath; scape leafy; flower heads short or elongate, about

6 cm. long, the bracts yellowish-green, spirally imbricated, the

perianth cream-colored or straw-yellow. — Common in wet forest;

occurring through most of the Central American lowlands. Called

"bijao" in Panama, "hoja de sal" in Guatemala, and "chufle" in

Salvador. In the last country the young and tender inflorescences

are cooked and eaten, being sometimes sold in the markets for the

purpose.

Calathea micans (Math.) Koern. Plants small and slender,

scarcely more than 60 cm. high, often forming small dense clumps or

colonies; leaves elliptic-oblong, about 18 cm. long, acute or acuminate,

acute at the base; scapes naked, the heads about 2 cm. long, with

very few bracts; perianth pure white. — Common in wet forest;

especially near the borders of streams; widely distributed in Central

America.

MARANTA L.

Maranta arundinacea L. Yuquilla, Yuquilla de monte (the

wild form). Arrowroot. A slender much-branched herb 1.5 meters

high or less; leaves petioled, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate;

flowers white, in small lax panicles. — Frequent in thickets, also in

cultivation; widely distributed in tropical America. Called "sagu"

in Panama, and "platanillo" and "juquilla silvestre" in Salvador.

Arrowroot starch is prepared from the roots of the plant, in some

regions on a large scale, and the plant is sometimes grown for this

purpose in Honduras. It is seen frequently in small gardens in the

Tela region.

PLEIOSTACHYA Schum.

Pleiostachya pruinosa (Regel) Schum. Bijaguillo. Plate XXVI.

A coarse but slender plant 1-1.5 meters high, glabrous or nearly so;

leaves very large, sometimes purple beneath, pointed, thin; flower

spikes clustered, long and somewhat compressed, the narrow bracts

144 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

2-ranked and closely appressed, green; perianth purple. — Frequent

in wet forest; ranging to South America.

THALIA L.

Thalia geniculata L. A slender glabrous herb 1.5-3 meters

high; leaves very large, lanceolate to ovate, pale beneath, long-

petioled, acute or acuminate, thin; flowers in very large, lax panicles,

the perianth bright purple. — Common in open swamps; often forming

very large and dense, pure stands; widely dispersed in tropical

America. Called "platanillo" in Salvador.

ORCHIDACEAE. Orchid Family

The families of plants most commonly associated with the tropics

are palms and orchids. The latter are plentiful in Central America

and represented by many hundreds of species, especially in Costa

Rica, but a botanist unacquainted with tropical conditions is likely

to be disappointed in his search for the plants. Because search for

them he must; they are not so conspicuous or abundant as to thrust

themselves upon him, except in the case of a few showy species, such

as Cattleya Skinneri, which are plentiful in certain regions.

In Central America orchids are most abundant in the higher

mountains, where the rainfall is heavy and continuous throughout

the year. In the lowlands the species are comparatively few, and

most of the plants grow high on the branches of tall trees, where they

are invisible to one walking beneath. The number of orchids collected

thus far in the Lancetilla region is a small one, and no doubt much less

than the number actually existing there. In addition, nearly all of

them are small and inconspicuous plants, of little interest except to

the botanist. Persons speaking of the abundance of showy orchids

in the Tela region are likely to have in mind other epiphytes, espe-

cially the bromeliads, which very often are assumed wrongly to be

orchids merely because they grow upon trees, and have flowers more

showy than the majority of the orchids.

Most of the Central American orchids are epiphytes, but some are

terrestrial plants. Most of them probably have a rather limited

flowering season, consequently the vast majority of the plants which

one may encounter are sterile, or bear capsules only.

The species of the following list have been determined by Professor

Oakes Ames. He was greatly handicapped in making the determina-

tions by the fact that so many of the specimens lacked flowers.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 145

CAMPYLOCENTRUM Benth.

Campylocentrum micranthum (Lindl.) Rolfe. A rather coarse

epiphyte, the leaves distichous, oblong, obtuse, thick and fleshy;

plants without pseudobulbs, bearing numerous very large, pale,

coarse, aerial roots; flowers very small, inconspicuous, in short

racemes. — On trees in wet forest; ranging from Guatemala southward

through tropical America.

CATASETUM L. Rich.

Catasetum maculatum Kunth. A coarse epiphyte with large

pseudobulbs and broad, conspicuously nerved leaves; flowers large,

with a fleshy saccate lip suggesting that of the Cypripedium species of

the United States; inflorescence arising from the base of the pseudo-

bulb. — On trees near Tela; widely distributed in Central America.

The very sticky sap of the pseudobulbs is used locally for gluing the

wood of guitars.

CRYPTARRHENA R. Br.

Cryptarrhena lunata R. Br. A small epiphyte, without pseudo-

bulbs; leaves linear-oblanceolate, jointed to the sheathing base, 6-14

cm. long, 7-13 mm. wide, leathery, 2-ranked; flowers small, in lax

racemes; lip 4 mm. long, the lateral lobes linear-subulate, curved

backward, the terminal lobe bifid. — On trees in wet forest; widely

distributed in tropical America. Flowers greenish yellow.

DICHAEA Lindl.

The Dichaeas constitute one genus of orchids which may be

recognized readily by habit alone. The plants are epiphytes with

long, mostly pendent stems which are densely leafy, the leaves being

short and broad, often compressed, and with imbricated sheaths.

The small and inconspicuous flowers are solitary in the axils of the

leaves, their lip sessile or clawed and entire.

Dichaea muricata (Sw.) Lindl. Stems long and slender, flexible,

often forming dense pendent masses; leaves 1-2 cm. long, green,

rounded at the tip; pedicels about as long as the leaves, filiform;

petals 5-6.5 mm. long, the lip sessile; capsule densely muricate. —

Frequent on trees in wet forest ; widely distributed in tropical America.

Dichaea panamensis Lindl. Plants small and erect, the leaves

1-4 cm. long, in alternating zones of longer and shorter blades,

glaucous. — On trees in wet forest; extending to Panama.

146 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

ELLEANTHUS Presl

Elleanthus linifolius Presl. Plants epiphytic, forming dense

clumps, the stems simple, slender, 20-30 cm. high, erect, leafy,

without pseudobulbs; leaves linear, up to 12 cm. long, 1.5-3 mm.

wide; flowers arranged in a dense several-flowered spike 1-2 cm. long,

the flowers white, distichous; lip obovate, ciliate-denticulate, 3 mm.

broad. — Frequent on trees in wet forest; widely dispersed in tropical

America. The specific determination of the Honduras specimens is

somewhat uncertain because of the poor condition of the material.

EPIDENDRUM L.

Plants usually epiphytic, very diverse as to habit; stems leafy,

often with pseudobulbs, simple or branched; leaves commonly thick

and fleshy; peduncle terminal on a leafy stem, simple or panicled;

flowers medium-sized or small, racemose; sepals free, equal, commonly

spreading or reflexed, the petals similar or rarely much narrower;

claw of the lip appressed to the column and adnate with it into a tube,

the blade spreading or 3-fid; capsule ovoid or oblong, often promi-

nently ribbed or even winged. This is the largest genus of American

orchids, consisting of about 750 species. The group is well repre-

sented in Central America, and includes some handsome and showy-

flowered species.

Epidendrum anceps Jacq. Stems solitary or few together,

2-edged, up to 60 cm. long, leafy above; leaves oblong or oblong-

lanceolate, 5-12 cm. long, acute; flowers greenish brown, in a short

and commonly dense raceme, the pedicels 3-6 mm. long; sepals

oblong, 8 mm. long; petals linear-spatulate, slightly shorter than the

sepals; lip cordate-reniform, 5 mm. long, 3-lobed, with entire lobes.—

On trees in wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Epidendrum isomerum Schlechter. A pendent epiphyte, the

stems branched, leafy, covered by the leaf sheaths; leaves linear,

acute, 5.5-9 cm. long, 3-4 mm. wide; flowers solitary at the tips of the

branches, sessile; sepals linear, 13 mm. long; petals slightly narrower

than the sepals; lip lanceolate, subacute, 9 mm. long.— On trees in

wet forest; occurring also in Guatemala.

Epidendrum nocturnum Jacq. An epiphyte without pseudo-

bulbs, the stems rather slender, clustered, erect, 30-60 cm. high;

leaves oblong to elliptic or linear-oblong, 7-15 cm. long, acute;

flowers solitary or two together, on a peduncle 2-10 cm. long; sepals

green, linear-attenuate, 3-6 cm. long and 2-4 mm. wide; petals

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 147

yellow, similar to the sepals; lip white, 3-cleft, 3-5 cm. long, the

middle lobe setaceous. — On trees in wet forest; widely distributed in

tropical America. A large-flowered and very handsome plant.

Epidendrum paleaceum (Lindl.) Reichenb. Plants with

pseudobulbs; leaf only one, ensiform, subobtuse, flat; flowers spicate,

pale yellowish, secund, the bracts linear-lanceolate, acuminate, thin

and dry, shorter than the ovary; sepals and petals linear-lanceolate;

lip similar to the petals and of the same length, fleshy, dilated at the

apex. — On trees in wet forest; ranging from Guatemala to Costa Rica.

Epidendrum radiatum Lindl. Plants large, with compressed

pseudobulbs, forming dense clumps; leaves few, long and narrow,

1.5-2.5 cm. wide, acutish; flowers in a dense few-flowered raceme,

greenish white; ovary 3- winged; sepals oblong-lanceolate, the petals

elliptic; lip very broad, 2 cm. long, cochleate, retuse and crenulate,

with dark purple lines. — On trees in wet forest; occurring in Mexico

and Central America. A rather conspicuous plant when in flower.

Epidendrum rigidum Jacq. Plants without pseudobulbs, often

branched, the stems compressed, leafy; leaves oblong, obtuse, 3-8

cm. long; flowers green, in the axils of imbricated spathelike bracts,

forming a dense spike; sepals leathery, oval, 6 mm. long; lip on the

upper side of the flower, slightly longer than the sepals, rounded-

ovate, obtuse, cordate at the base, undivided. — On trees in wet

forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Epidendrum Stamfordianum Batem. Plants with fusiform

pseudobulbs; leaves oblong, obtuse, narrowed at the base; inflores-

cence radical, large and panicled; flowers pale yellowish, with a

purplish spot at the base of the lip; sepals lanceolate, much narrower

than the petals; lip 3-parted, the middle lobe bilobed or emarginate

and fimbriate. — On trees in wet forest; a common species of Central

America.

Epidendrum stenopetalum Hook. Plants without pseudo-

bulbs, the stems flexuous, simple; leaves distichous, linear-lanceolate,

emarginate, 8-10 cm. long; spikes short, terminal, 2-3-flowered;

flowers bright rose-colored, the sepals oblong, acuminate, 18 mm.

long; lip suborbicular, short-acuminate, unguiculate, 12-15 mm.

wide. — On trees in wet forest; reported to range to northern South

America.

Epidendrum strobilif erum Reichenb. f . Plants without pseudo-

bulbs, 15 cm. high or less, the stems branched, leafy; leaves 2-ranked,

fleshy, oblong or linear-lanceolate, obtuse or emarginate; spikes few-

148 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

flowered, 5-8 mm. long; sepals oblong-lanceolate, acute, 4 mm. long;

petals linear; lip on the upper side of the flower, leathery, about as

long as the sepals, ovate-cordate, acute, undivided. — On trees in wet

forest; widely distributed in tropical America. Flowers pale green.

ERYTHRODES Blume

Erythrodes vaginata (Hook.) Ames. Plants terrestrial, 20 cm.

high or less, the stems simple, leafy, erect or ascending, from a cluster

of thick fleshy roots; leaves lanceolate, long-petioled, handsomely

mottled with silver, thin; flowers about 6 mm. long, greenish white,

arranged in a dense terminal spike. — Frequent in wet forest, often

growing on mossy rocks; occurring also in Guatemala. A small but

rather attractive plant, easily recognized by its mottled leaves.

HORMIDIUM Lindl.

Hormidium tripterum (Brongn.) Cogn. Plants epiphytic,

freely rooting, with long creeping stems, the pseudobulbs slender,

terete, 2-4 cm. long; leaves 2, oblong, 2-5 cm. long, acute, fleshy;

flowers terminal, few or solitary, greenish, nearly sessile; sepals

lanceolate, acute, 5 mm. long; lip reniform, white, turning dull

yellow, 3-lobed, the lobes rounded.— Common on trees in forest,

often forming dense mats; widely distributed in tropical America.

ISOCHILUS R. Br.

I sochilus crassiflorus Rich. & Gal. Plants without pseudobulbs,

the stems slender and rather wiry, 20-35 cm. high, clustered, very

leafy; leaves distichous, narrowly lanceolate, acute, thin, sessile;

flowers pink, arranged in a short one-sided spike; lip clawed, oval,

apiculate. — On trees in wet forest; extending to Mexico.

LEOGHILUS Knowles & Westc.

Leochilus scriptus (Scheidw.) Reichenb. f. Plants with com-

pressed pseudobulbs; leaf one, lanceolate, fleshy, mucronate; racemes

axillary, 2-3-flowered, the bracts very short, subulate; flowers green,

the sepals with red spots and lines, oblong-lanceolate, acute; lip

cuneate-obovate, retuse and bilobed. — On trees in wet forest; ranging

to Mexico.

LEPANTHES Sw.

Lepanthes sp. A single species of this genus, as yet not described,

was collected as an epiphyte in wet forest. The genus consists of

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 149

very small and inconspicuous orchids, and is well represented in the

mountains of Central America.

MASDEVALLIA R. & P.

Masdevallia Simula Reichenb. f. A very small epiphyte, with-

out pseudobulbs; stems short, bearing a single linear leaf; peduncle

short, 1-flowered, the flowers very small; lip minute, clawed. — On

trees in wet forest; ranging to Colombia.

MAXILLARIA R. & P.

Plants epiphytic, with short or elongate stems, with or without

pseudobulbs; leaves narrow, fleshy, 2-ranked; scapes or peduncles at

the base of the pseudobulbs or in the axils of the leaves, solitary,

1-flowered; sepals nearly equal, the petals similar or smaller; lip

concave, erect at the apex of the foot of the column, with a very

short, inflexed claw, its lateral lobes erect, the middle one ovate-

oblong, shorter than the sepals. The genus is a rather large one in

Central America.

Maxillaria alba Lindl. Pseudobulbs distant, ellipsoid, com-

pressed, 4-5 cm. long; leaves strap-shaped, emarginate, up to 25

cm. long, 1.5-2 cm. wide; peduncles in the leaf sheaths; sepals oblong-

ligulate, 2 cm. long; lip 10-12 mm. long, elliptic, indistinctly 3-lobed.

— On trees in wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Maxillaria crassifolia (Lindl.) Reichenb. f. Pseudobulbs poorly

developed and inconspicuous; leaves fleshy, strap-shaped, 18-30 cm.

long, 1.5-2.5 cm. wide; peduncles several from the axil of each leaf;

sepals oblong, slightly hooded at the tip, 1.5 cm. long; petals oblanceo-

late, 3 mm. broad; lip 12 mm. long, elliptical, obtuse. — On trees in

wet forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

Maxillaria Friedrichsthalii Reichenb. f. Pseudobulbs oblong,

strongly compressed; leaves 2 at the summit of the pseudobulb,

strap-shaped, 18 cm. long or less, bilobed at the apex; flowers yellow-

green, the sepals oblong, acute, 3 cm. long; lip very narrowly rhombic,

neither lobed nor constricted, obtuse. — On trees in wet forest; rang-

ing from Guatemala to Panama.

Maxillaria Macleei Batem. Plants small, with short stems,

densely leafy, the leaves 3.5 cm. long or less, slender, subulate-

conduplicate; pseudobulbs crowded, with a single leaf at the apex;

150 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

peduncles axillary, solitary; flowers whitish, with brown-red stripes;

lip linear-spatulate. — Frequent on trees in forest; ranging from

Guatemala to Panama.

Maxillaria rufescens Lindl. Plate XXVII. Pseudobulbs

clustered, ovoid-cylindrical, 3-3.5 cm. long, at first covered with 3

or more membranous sheaths; leaves strap-shaped, 14-18 cm. long,

2-3 cm. wide, only one leaf at the top of each pseudobulb; peduncles

several; flowers greenish white or creamy yellow, the sepals oblong,

2 cm. long; lip almost as long as the sepals, orange, purple-spotted,

distinctly 3-lobed. — Frequent on trees in wet forest; ranging from

Central America to Jamaica and South America.

Maxillaria variabilis Batem. Pseudobulbs oval, compressed,

bearing a single leaf; leaves linear-ligulate, obtuse and emarginate;

flowers axillary, solitary, deep purple; sepals linear-oblong, acute;

lip oblong, retuse, fleshy, contracted on each side at the middle.—

On trees in wet forest; ranging to Mexico.

MORMOLYZE Fenzl

Mormolyze ringens (Lindl.) Schlechter. Plants with pseudo-

bulbs, forming large dense clumps, the pseudobulbs oval, somewhat

compressed, bearing a single leaf at the apex; leaves strap-shaped,

30 cm. long and 3 cm. wide or smaller, obtuse, fleshy; scapes

very slender, erect, 1-flowered, the flowers dull yellow with purple-

brown veins; sepals narrow, 15-18 mm. long; lip dark red-brown,

3-lobed, 1 cm. long. — On trees in wet forest; ranging to Mexico.

NOTYLIA Lindl.

Notylia sp. Material of this genus, but not determinable as to

species, was collected near Lancetilla. The plants are epiphytes.

ONCIDIUM Sw. Butterfly Orchid

Epiphytic plants with or without pseudobulbs; stems leafy,

usually short; leaves 3-edged or flat; peduncles lateral, usually

elongated and branched; sepals almost equal, spreading or reflexed,

free or the lateral ones connate nearly to the apex; lip attached to

the base of the column, its middle lobe very broad, emarginate or

bifid. Species of this genus are common in most parts of Central

America. They are noteworthy for their often large panicles of

bright yellow flowers, which, by their form, suggest butterflies.

Many of the plants are exceedingly showy and beautiful when in

flower.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 151

Oncidium ascendens Lindl. Leaves pendent, subterete, very

thick and fleshy, stiff, as much as 60 cm. long or more; inflorescence

paniculate, many-flowered, the flowers bright yellow, blotched with

dark red; sepals and petals obovate, obtuse, concave; lateral lobes

of the lip short, the middle lobe reniform, emarginate. — Growing on

trees near Tela; widely scattered in Central America.

Oncidium pusillum (L.) Reichenb. f. Plants very small, com-

monly 10 cm. high or less; leaves equitant, like those of an iris;

pseudobulbs none; peduncle 1-2-flowered; sepals and petals with red

spots; lip with a reniform middle lobe, 13 mm. wide, bright yellow,

dotted with red. — Growing on slender branches in wet thickets;

widely distributed in tropical America. This is one of the most

attractive of the orchids of Central America, particularly because

of its diminutive size and brilliant flowers. Often the plants are

scarcely more than 3 cm. high, and the flowers are frequently as

large as all the rest of the plant. This species grows commonly on

small branches or twigs, rather than on the large limbs preferred by

most epiphytic orchids. Often it is found in abundance on cacao

bushes.

ORNITHOCEPHALUS Hook.

Ornithocephalus sp. A specimen of this genus was collected,

but since it is sterile, it is not possible to recognize the species repre-

sented. These plants have thick and fleshy, equitant leaves, arranged

like those of an iris. The very small, yellowish flowers have a certain

resemblance to a bird's head, hence the generic name.

PLEUROTHALLIS R. Br.

Epiphytic plants, most of them small and inconspicuous, without

pseudobulbs, the stems clustered or the plants with creeping rhizomes,

the stems with one leaf at the apex; racemes one to several, at the

base of the leaf within the sheath, usually, several- or many-flowered,

the flowers mostly small or minute, commonly on one side of the

raceme; sepals equal or nearly so, erect or spreading; petals shorter

or narrower than the sepals; lip commonly shorter than the sepals,

generally contracted and jointed with the base of the column, 3-lobed,

the lateral lobes erect, embracing the column, or small and toothlike.

This American genus is a very large one, containing nearly 600

species, many of which grow in Central America, chiefly in the

mountains. The plants are mostly small and very inconspicuous ones.

152 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Pleurothallis Brighamii Wats. Stems clustered, about 7 cm.

high; leaves oblong, obtuse, thick and fleshy; racemes equaling or

shorter than the leaves, few-flowered; sepals yellow, with purple-

brown stripes. — Collected about Lancetilla by Oakes Ames in 1923;

extending to Guatemala and Panama.

Pleurothallis hondurensis Ames. Rhizome creeping; leaves

narrowly lanceolate, 7.5-10 cm. long or more, 13-15 mm. wide,

attenuate to each end, acute at the apex; peduncles fasciculate,

about 8-flowered, the raceme 4-5 cm. long, the flowers fleshy, short-

pedicellate; lateral sepals yellowish, striped with purple, 9 mm. long;

petals 3 mm. long, oblong, acute; lip yellowish, 5 mm. long, 2 mm.

wide, lobed on each side near the base, conspicuously 3-nerved.—

On trees in wet forest; known only from Honduras. The species was

described from material collected along the Tela River.

Pleurothallis pantasmi Reichenb. f . Material related to this

species, but doubtful on account of its poor condition, was collected

near Lancetilla. The species occurs in Nicaragua.

Pleurothallis peperomioides Ames. Specimens related to this

species, but doubtful because of their poor condition, were collected

near Lancetilla. The species was described from Costa Rica.

Pleurothallis periodica Ames. Rhizomes very short, the stems

densely clustered; leaves narrowly oblanceolate, 2.5-5 cm. long, 3.5-8

mm. wide; peduncles elongate, exceeding the leaves, very slender,

bearing several bracts which subtend the flowers, these opening in

succession, slender-pediceled; lateral sepals 8 mm. long, cohering to

about the middle; petals 3.5 mm. long; lip 4 mm. long, short-clawed,

oblong, rounded at the tip, 3-nerved. — Apparently frequent, growing

on trees in wet forest; ranging to Costa Rica.

Pleurothallis pruinosa Lindl. Plants small, 5-7.5 cm. high,

the stems densely clustered; leaves linear-lanceolate to narrowly oval,

3.5 cm. long and 6 mm. broad or smaller, sessile; raceme solitary,

about 6-flowered, shorter than the leaf; sepals broadly ovate, 3 mm.

long; lip half as long as the sepals, shortly clawed, the limb triangular.

— On trees in deep forest; ranging to northern South America and the

West Indies. Flowers very pale green.

Pleurothallis Purpusii Schlechter. Growing on trees in wet

forest; ranging to southern Mexico.

Pleurothallis sertularioides (Sw.) Spreng. Rhizomes long and

creeping; leaves oblong or narrowly oval, 1.5-2.5 cm. long; peduncles

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 153

usually 1-flowered, scarcely equaling the leaves; flowers straw-colored

or pale green, the sepals 4 mm. long, 1-nerved; lip less than 3 mm.

long, sessile, with minute square auricles at the base. — On trees in

forest; also in the West Indies.

POLYSTACHYA Hook.

Polystachya minor Fawc. & Rendle. Plants epiphytic, 30 cm.

high or less, the pseudobulbs 1-2 cm. long; leaves few, 2-ranked,

oblong-ligulate, 7-20 cm. long; flowers in terminal, simple or

branched, dense racemes, yellowish white; sepals 3-nerved, apiculate,

2.5-3 mm. long; lip on the upper side of the flower, 3-lobed.—

Occasional on trees; extending to the West Indies and northern South

America.

PRESCOTTIA Lindl.

Prescottia stachyodes (Sw.) Lindl. Plants terrestrial, with a

cluster of fleshy roots, 30-60 cm. high; leaves basal, long-petioled,

the blades oval or broadly ovate, acute or acuminate, 7-16 cm. long;

flowers small, pale green, forming a long slender spike; sepals obtuse,

1-nerved, about 3 mm. long; lip 7-nerved, auricled. — Occasional in

wet deep forest; widely distributed in tropical America.

SCAPHYGLOTTIS Poepp. & Endl.

Scaphyglottis cuneata Schlechter. Plants epiphytic, erect,

branched, the pseudobulbs very slender and resembling stems, the

new ones arising near the summit of the old ones; leaves narrowly

oblong, obtuse, small, fleshy, mostly 2-3 cm. long; flowers very small,

white, clustered at the top of the pseudobulbs; lip dark purple-red.—

Frequent on trees; native also in Guatemala.

SOBRALIA R. & P.

Usually large plants, epiphytic or sometimes terrestrial, without

pseudobulbs; leaves comparatively broad and thin, conspicuously

nerved, sessile; flowers very large, in terminal racemes, or the raceme

reduced to a single flower; lip large, concave, undulate or fimbriate,

undivided or bilobed. The genus contains some of the most beautiful

of the Central American orchids, the flowers being large and very

handsomely colored. Unfortunately, the flowers are ephemeral, often

opening in the morning and, unless fertilized, closing by noon. The

name "flor de un dia" is applied to the plants in certain regions of

Central America.

154 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Sobralia decora Batem. Plate XXVIII. Plants slender, about

60 cm. high; flowers appearing one at a time, rose-red, 6 cm. long. —

On trees in wet forest; widely distributed in Central America.

Sobralia fragrans Lindl. Plants 40 cm. high or less, the slender

stems 2-edged; leaves linear-lanceolate, attenuate; flowers 4 cm. long,

pinkish white (reported also as yellow). — Occasional on trees in wet

forest, forming dense clumps; ranging from Guatemala to Colombia.

SPIRANTHES L. Rich.

Spiranthes costaricensis Reichenb. f. Plants epiphytic or

terrestrial, with pale green leaves; flowers white. — Collected in the

region in 1923 by Oakes Ames; growing here as a terrestrial plant;

ranging to Costa Rica.

Spiranthes Prasophyllum Reichenb. f. Plants terrestrial, the

leaves basal, oblanceolate, acute or acuminate, thin, petioled; flowers

green, arranged in a dense bracted spike; sepals acute, pilose outside;

lip sagittate, clawed. — Growing on a log in dense wet forest; occurring

also in Guatemala.

STELIS Sw.

Stelis gracilis Ames. Plants perhaps referable to this species

were collected near Lancetilla. The plant is a small epiphyte which

was described from Guatemala.

TRIGONIDIUM Lindl.

Trigonidium Egertonianum Batem. Plate XXIX. Plants

epiphytic, forming dense clumps; pseudobulbs short, broad, much

compressed; leaves long and strap-shaped; scapes long and slender,

bearing a single flower; sepals large, all similar, 2.5 cm. long or more,

pale greenish tinged with bronze and with fine reddish lines; petals

and lip shorter than the sepals. — Frequent on trees; widely distributed

in Central America. A rather handsome orchid because of its large

flowers, which, however, are rather inconspicuously colored.

VANILLA Sw.

Vanilla fragrans (Salisb.) Ames. Vainilla. Vanilla. A large

vine; leaves thick and fleshy, oblong, acute; flowers large, pale green

throughout. — Frequent in wet forest; widely distributed in tropical

America. Vanilla is rather common in the Tela region, but it is not

gathered here for export, so far as I know, nor is it of much importance

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 155

in Central America generally. The dried seed-pods, which are long

and cylindrical, are the "vanilla beans" of commerce, from which

vanilla essence is prepared. Most of the commercial vanilla is the

product of plants cultivated in the Old World tropics. Vanilla vines

seem to flower but rarely, for they are seldom found in blossom in

the Central American forests, nor does one often find the seed-pods.

WULLSCHLAEGELIA Reichenb. f.

Wullschlaegelia aphylla Reichenb. f. Plants terrestrial,

saprophytic, leafless, with clustered fibrous roots, 30 cm. high or

less; stems erect, puberulent, with numerous minute scales; flowers

very small, white, forming a lax bracted spike 5-12 cm. long; petals

oblong, less than 2 mm. long; lip on the upper side of the flower,

sessile, broad, undivided. — Collected in wet forest; also in the West

Indies and South America.

BURMANNIACEAE. Burmannia Family

GYMNOSIPHON Blume

Gymnosiphon tenellus (Benth.) Urban. A very slender and

delicate, glabrous, whitish, saprophytic plant, without chlorophyll,

the stems 12 cm. high or less, filiform, flexuous, usually solitary;

leaves represented by minute scales; inflorescence usually bifid, few-

flowered, the flowers subsessile, 5-8 mm. long; perianth tubular, the

limb 6-lobed; ovary inferior; fruit a small capsule dehiscing by 3

longitudinal slits. — Occasional in wet dark forest, especially under

corozo palms; ranging from Guatemala to Brazil. The plants are so

small and slight that they are easily overlooked, unless one happens

to be searching the ground carefully.

CASUARINACEAE. Beefwood Family

CASUARINA L.

Casuarina equisetif olia L. Beefwood. A tree somewhat resem-

bling a pine in general appearance, with spreading whorled branches;

leaves reduced to whorls of scales, the branchlets suggesting the

stems oiEquisetum; fruit a small cone 1-2 cm. in diameter. — Planted

occasionally as a shade tree; native of tropical Africa and Asia.

Called "pino de Australia" in Salvador and "sauce" in Nicaragua.

156 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

LACISTEMACEAE. Lacistema Family

LACISTEMA Sw.

Lacistema aggregatum (Berg) Rusby. Plate XXX. A gla-

brous tree 6-7.5 meters high; leaves alternate, short-petioled, oblong

or elliptic-oblong, 8-15 cm. long, acuminate, acute at the base, entire

or nearly so; flowers minute, arranged in very short and dense,

bracted, clustered spikes in the axils of the leaves; fruit a small

3-valved capsule, red and somewhat fleshy at maturity, containing

1-3 seeds. — Common in thickets along streams or near the beach;

widely distributed in tropical America. Although rather common,

the tree is an inconspicuous one, and not likely to attract attention.

Apparently no use is made of it in Central America unless it be for

fuel.

PIPERACEAE. Pepper Family

The plants of the pepper family are herbs, shrubs, or small

trees with mostly alternate and always entire leaves. They are easy

to recognize by their flowers, which are small and green and arranged

in very dense, slender spikes, which resemble catkins.

PEPEROMIA Ruiz & Pavon

Most of the Peperomias are epiphytic herbs, but a few of the

Central American representatives are terrestrial. They have alter-

nate, opposite, or whorled leaves which in most species are very thick

and fleshy. The spikes are small, slender, and commonly green. The

genus is a large one in Central America, most of the species being

local in distribution.

Peperomia chucanebana Trel. A more or less matted, fleshy

herb; leaves whorled in 4's, obovate, scarcely 1 cm. long, rounded

at the tip, pale green; spikes pale green; stems often tinged with red.—

Occasional on trees in forest.

Peperomia Gollii Trel. Plate XXXI. A coarse herb, erect or

pendent, the stout stems often 30 cm. long; leaves alternate, long-

stalked, obovate, obtuse or rounded at tip, tapering to the base,

usually 8-10 cm. long; spikes green or pale green, long and slender;

stems and peduncles often tinged with red. — Frequent on forest trees;

known also from Guatemala. The leaves are very thick and hard.

Of all tropical American plants known to the writer, Peperomias are

the most difficult to dry, because of their succulent foliage which

yields up its moisture only with the greatest reluctance, even under

the influence of artificial heat.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 157

Peperomia granulosa Trel. Stems slender, elongate; leaves

alternate, lance-oblong, long-tapering, at base obtuse or acute, gla-

brous; spikes long and very slender, green or pale green. — On forest

trees; known only from the region of Lancetilla.

Peperomia longeacuminata Trel. Similar to P. granulosa,

but the leaves black-dotted and scarcely granular as in that species,

the blades much thinner and less succulent. — Occasional on forest

trees or spreading over mossy rocks.

Peperomia pellucida (L.) HBK. Terrestrial; a small erect

fleshy branching herb rarely over 30 cm. high; leaves slender-stalked,

usually rounded-ovate, about 3 cm. long, acute or obtuse, pale

beneath; spikes pale green, short and very slender. — Frequent in wet

thickets; widely distributed in tropical America. Called "hierba de

sapo" in Panama.

Peperomia pililimba C. DC. Stems very slender, creeping,

densely pilose; leaves alternate, slender-petioled, ovate to rounded,

about 1 cm. long, obtuse or rounded at the apex, pilose on both

surfaces; spikes short and slender, pale green. — On trees in wet forest;

also in Guatemala.

Peperomia puteolifera Trel. Stems short or elongate and

creeping, stout; leaves alternate, petioled, oblong to obovate, very

thick and fleshy, glabrous, 3-6 cm. long, obtuse or rounded at the

apex; spikes slender, pale green, 4-5 cm. long. — On trees or logs in

wet forest.

Peperomia rotundifolia (L.) HBK. Stems very slender and

creeping, forming dense mats; leaves slender-petioled, rounded,

mostly 6-9 mm. long, glabrous, lens-shaped; spikes pale green.—

Frequent on forest trees; widely distributed in tropical America.

Peperomia staminea Trel. Forming mats on tree branches,

glabrous; leaves in whorls of 4, very thick and fleshy, elliptic or

oblong-elliptic, obtuse, at base acute or obtuse, about 2.5 cm. long;

stems often reddish; spikes short, long-stalked, bright green.—

Frequent on trees in wet forest; known only from the vicinity of

Lancetilla.

PIPER L.

The Pipers are shrubs or small trees, or more rarely herbs, which

often form a large part of the undergrowth in dense forest or in

thickets. A few species are weedlike in habit, and spring up in cleared

areas. The leaves are alternate, and very variable as to size, shape,

158 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

and pubescence. The genus is one of the largest of Central America,

but comparatively few species are known at present from Honduras.

Many of them are much alike in general appearance, so that only a

specialist can separate them. On this account they are noted here

only very briefly.

Although the species are so numerous, and most of them so local

in distribution, one familiar with the plants as they grow in the field

can recognize them, except in a few of the most difficult groups, rather

easily. The plants have little or no economic value. The usual name

applied to them in Central America, and the one applied to all the

Honduran species here listed, is "cordoncillo." In Panama the

species sometimes are called "hinojo" and "gusanillo," the latter

term, like "cordoncillo," referring to the long slender terete spikes.

Piper aeruginosibaccum Trel. A shrub 1.5-2 meters high

with pale green spikes. — In moist thicket near La Ceiba, and prob-

ably in the Tela region; known only from the type collection.

Piper aspericaule Trel. Cordoncillo (the same name applied to

all or most of the species here listed). A shrub 2.5 meters high, in

a wooded swamp near Tela; known only from the type collection.

Piper atlantidanum Trel. A slender shrub 2-2.5 meters high,

the large leaves rather softly pubescent. — Frequent in thickets and

forest; known only from this region.

Piper atlantidanum Trel. var. yoroense Trel. Type collected

in a wet thicket near Progreso.

Piper atrichopus Trel. A dense slender shrub 1.5-3 meters

high. — Frequent on the forested hills above Lancetilla, and known

only from this region.

Piper auritum HBK. Matarro. Plate XXXII. A shrub or

small tree, sometimes 4.5 meters high, with few branches; leaves

very large, often 40 cm. long or more, obtuse or rounded at apex,

deeply cordate at base; spikes white or green, long and slender.—

Common in wet thickets or forest; widely distributed in Mexico and

Central America. The crushed leaves have an agreeable odor resem-

bling that of sarsaparilla. It is said that in Honduras the young

leaves are sometimes cooked and eaten. At Lancetilla this species

is frequently a low tree, with definite trunk and crown.

Piper calvescens Trel. A dense glabrous shrub about 2 meters

high; leaves 7-nerved from the broad base, short-stalked, with long

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 159

abrupt tips. — Common about Progreso and collected also at La

Ceiba, but not noticed in the immediate vicinity of Tela.

Piper cobanense Trel. A shrub 1.5-2.5 meters high with rather

large and broad leaves rounded at the base. — In wet thickets at

Quebrada Seca; also in Guatemala.

Piper cobanense Trel. var. sarculatum Trel. Type collected

at Quebrada Seca; a common weed in banana plantations.

Piper cyclophyllum Trel. A shrub about 2 meters high, with

very large, rounded leaves, abruptly pointed at the tip and deeply

cordate at the base. — Frequent in wet forest on the high hills above

Lancetilla.

Piper dedititium Trel. A shrub 2.5 meters high with narrow

leaves. — Type collected in a wet thicket at Quebrada Seca.

Piper fallens Trel. A shrub 1-2.5 meters high; easily recognized

among the local species by its densely hirsute branches and leaves.—

In wet forest above Lancetilla; known only from this region.

. Piper fraguanum Trel. Type collected in low flat forest at La

Fragua.

Piper gracillimum Trel. A shrub or tree 3-6 meters high with

small narrow long-tapering leaves. — In wet forest high on the hills

above Lancetilla.

Piper hispidiseptum Trel. A shrub 2-3 meters high with rather

softly pubescent leaves. — In wet thickets and forest about Lancetilla,

and confined to this locality, so far as known.

Piper imperspicuibracteum Trel. A shrub 1.5-2.5 meters high

with narrow leaves and cream-colored or pale green spikes. — Known

only from wet thickets in the vicinity of Tela.

Piper lancetillanum Trel. A slender shrub 1.5-2.5 meters

high with narrow leaves and pale green spikes. — Known only from

wet thickets about Lancetilla.

Piper laterifissum Trel. A coarse shrub or tree 3-4.5 meters

high ; leaves very large, deeply cordate at the base, the lower auricle

longer than the petiole, densely and softly pubescent beneath. — In

wet forest high on the hills about Lancetilla; known only from this

region. The species is easily recognized by its large size and by the

large leaves of characteristic form.

160 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Piper levilimbum Trel. A shrub 2-3.5 meters high with rather

broad, long- tipped, smooth leaves; spikes green. — Known only from

thickets and forest of the Lancetilla region.

Piper multinervium Trel. A shrub 2-4.5 meters high, some-

times a small tree with a definite trunk; leaves narrow, pubescent

beneath; spikes pale green, curved or hooked. — Common in wet

thickets. This is one of the forms sometimes referred to P. aduncum.

Piper obsessum Trel. An inconspicuous shrub of 2 meters,

with dull pale green spikes. — Type collected in a wet thicket near

Lancetilla.

Piper onerosum Trel. A shrub 2-3 meters high, the narrow

leaves softly pubescent beneath. — Frequent in swamps and thickets;

known only from this region.

Piper peltatum L. Ombligo. A coarse herb about a meter high ;

leaves very large, rounded, cordate at the base, the petiole attached

some distance above the base; spikes greenish white, clustered in

umbels. — Common in wet fields or in forest; widely distributed in

tropical America. Easily recognized by the herbaceous habit and

very large, peltate leaves; conspicuously different in general appear-

ance from the other species of the region. Called "Santa Maria"

in Panama. It is reputed rather generally in Central America that

the juice of this plant rubbed on the skin prevents the attacks of

garrapatas or ticks, but I have never seen its efficacy tested.

Piper perinaequilongum Trel. A shrub or tree 2-6 meters

high; leaves narrow, very unequal at the base. — Frequent in wet

forest and thickets.

Piper perspicuibracteum Trel. A slender shrub 2 meters high

with narrow leaves; spikes pale green, unusually long and slender.—

Type collected in a thicket near Lancetilla.

Piper praeterlatum Trel. A shrub 1.5-3 meters high, the rather

narrow leaves softly pubescent beneath.— Type collected in wet

forest near Lancetilla.

Piper prodigum Trel. A slender shrub 2 meters high with

narrow leaves which are very rough beneath; spikes pale green. —

Type collected in a thicket near Lancetilla.

Piper quiriguanum Trel. A slender shrub 1.5-2.5 meters high;

leaves slender-stalked, rounded-ovate, shallowly cordate at the base,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 161

taper-pointed, 9-nerved from the base; spikes green, long and very

slender. — In wet thickets near Progreso; also along the coast of

Guatemala.

Piper scabriseptum Trel. A shrub 2-3 meters high with rather

narrow leaves which are rough beneath. — Type collected in a thicket

near Lancetilla.

Piper speratum Trel. A shrub 2.5 meters high with rather

broad, rough leaves; spikes dull green or cream-colored. — Type

collected in a wooded swamp near Tela.

Piper telanum Trel. A shrub a meter high; leaves very narrow,

nearly glabrous. — Known only from the region of Tela.

Piper triumphale Trel. A shrub of 2-3 meters with rather

narrow leaves; spikes pale green. — In thickets along the beach near

Tela.

Piper tuberculatum Jacq. A shrub or tree 2-5.5 meters high,

often very densely branched; leaves mostly oblong, very unequal at

the base, obtuse or rounded at the tip; spikes green; trunk sometimes

25 cm. in diameter; leaves often shining. — Frequent about Tela, but

scarce inland; widely distributed in Central America.

Piper Tuerckheimii C. DC. A shrub about a meter high with

few branches; leaves mostly ovate, long-acuminate, peltate, the

petiole attached just above the base of the blade. — Frequent in wet

forest about Lancetilla; also in Guatemala. The species is a sharply

marked one, easily recognized by its peltate leaves.

Piper vexans Trel. A shrub 2.5 meters high, the narrow leaves

densely pubescent beneath and often roughened; spikes green. — Type

collected in a thicket near Tela.

Piper Wilsonii Trel. A shrub 2 meters high, the small broad

leaves nearly glabrous, 5-nerved from the base. — Known only from

thickets in the vicinity of Tela.

Piper yoroanum Trel. A shrub 2 meters high with narrow,

very rough leaves; spikes pale green. — Type collected in a wet

thicket near Quebrada Seca.

Piper yzabalanum Trel. var. pubinerve Trel. A stout shrub

1.5-2 meters high with rather large, nearly glabrous, oval or broadly

elliptic leaves; spikes pale green. — In thickets about Tela and

Lancetilla; the typical form of the species grows in Guatemala.

162 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

SALICACEAE. Willow Family

SALIX L.

Salix chilensis Molina. Sauce. Willow. A tree 9-18 meters

high with slender drooping branches and linear alternate leaves;

flowers in slender catkins; fruit a small capsule, the seeds with tufts

of white "cotton." — Common along streams and apparently indige-

nous here; widely distributed in tropical America. This is the only

willow known from Central America south of Guatemala, and it

extends southward over the greater part of South America. About

Lancetilla the tree is plentiful along all the larger streams, where it

is conspicuous because of the color of its foliage, of a much lighter

green than that of most of the accompanying trees.

MYRIGACEAE. Bayberry Family

MYRICA L.

Myrica cerifera L. Bayberry. A shrub or small tree 2-4.5

meters high; leaves narrowly oblong or oblanceolate, mostly 4-6 cm.

long, obtuse, tapering to the base, irregularly and inconspicuously

toothed, alternate, without stipules, copiously furnished beneath

with minute yellow resin glands; flowers minute, dioecious, in short

dense spikes in the leaf axils; fruit a small globose nutlet covered with

whitish wax. — Frequent in thickets along the beach near Tela; also

in Yucatan, and widely distributed in the West Indies and in the

United States. This rather inconspicuous shrub seems to be unknown

to the native people about Tela, but in the United States the fruits

are gathered in quantity in some localities, boiled in water so as to

separate the wax, and this is skimmed off and cooled. The wax is

made into candles, which have a characteristic greenish color and

burn with a peculiar agreeable fragrance.

In the mountains of Honduras occurs another species, Myrica

mexicana Willd., known there as "cera vegetal" (vegetable wax).

This species is widely distributed in the mountains of Central America

and Mexico, and in certain regions is used in the same manner as

M. cerifera in the United States.

ULMACEAE. Elm Family

The local representatives of the elm family are trees or shrubs

with alternate 3-nerved leaves and watery sap. The stipules are

small and inconspicuous. The small greenish flowers have a calyx

with 4-5 lobes or sepals and no petals. The fruit is a small drupe.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 163

The true elms, of the genus Ulmus, are not represented in Central

America, but there grows in the mountains of the interior of Honduras

a closely related tree, Chaetoptelea mexicana Liebm., which is some-

times referred to the genus Ulmus.

CELTIS L.

Celtis Hottlei Standl. Manteca. A tree 18 meters high with a

trunk 55 cm. in diameter, unarmed; leaves short-petioled, entire,

glabrous, long-acuminate, acute at the base. — Described from speci-

mens collected near Progreso; occurring also in British Honduras.

Geltis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sarg. A slender shrub, the branches

3-6 meters long, arching or often clambering over trees and shrubs,

armed with stout recurved spines; leaves short-petioled, ovate-oblong

to oval, rounded or short-acuminate at the apex, obscurely serrate,

nearly glabrous; flowers small, green, in axillary cymes; fruit a yellow

or orange drupe 8-12 mm. long. — Occasional in wet thickets; widely

distributed in tropical America. Called "cagalera" in some parts of

Central America. This plant is very unlike the Celtis species (hack-

berries or sugarberries) of the United States as regards its general

appearance.

TREMA Lour.

Trema micrantha (L.) Blume. Capulin. A tree 6-9 meters

high, unarmed; leaves short-petioled, ovate to lance-oblong, gradually

long-acuminate, finely serrate or nearly entire, rounded and often

oblique at the base, pubescent or nearly glabrous; flowers minute,

greenish white, in axillary cymes; drupes red, about 2 mm. long.—

Common about Progreso, and occasional in the region of Lancetilla;

widely distributed in tropical America. The name "capulin negro"

is reported from Honduras. In Salvador known as "capulin macho,"

"capulin months," "capulincillo," and "churrusco"; in Costa Rica

sometimes called "juco" and "vara blanca." The bark contains a

strong tough fiber. The wood is of light weight, soft, close-grained,

and light brown.

M GRACE AE. Mulberry Family

The trees belonging to this family are very diverse as to habit and

other characters, but most of them have milky sap, and alternate

leaves which often are provided with large, mostly deciduous stipules.

The only genus with herbaceous species is Dorstenia. The flowers are

usually very small or almost microscopic, but frequently they are

164 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

arranged in conspicuous inflorescences. They have no petals, and are

often arranged in heads, spikes, or racemes.

ARTOGARPUS Forst.

Artocarpus communis Forst. Palo de pan, Mazapan. Bread-

fruit. A handsome large tree with very dense, rounded crown and

deeply lobed leaves, native of the East Indies and the Pacific Islands.

It is planted plentifully here, as it is everywhere along the Atlantic

coast of Central America. The tree is most common in those localities

where there is a large West Indian population. In the interior it is

sometimes grown as a shade tree, to which purpose it is eminently

adapted. The young and tender fruits are cooked and eaten in the

regions where the tree is grown. The breadnut, a form of this species

with large edible seeds, is planted at Puerto Arturo.

BROSIMUM Sw.

Large trees with milky sap; leaves short-petioled, thick and

entire, glabrous or nearly so, the stipules small and soon falling;

flowers of the two sexes densely crowded into small globular heads.

Fertile flower only one in each head, developing into a globose fruit

with fleshy pulp.

Several other species grow in Central America. One of them,

B. utile (HBK.) Pittier, is the famous cow tree of Venezuela, which

reaches Panama and probably Costa Rica. The milky sap is said to

be a nourishing food, and is drunk like cow's milk in some regions.

Brosimum costaricanum Liebm. Masicaran, Masicaron. I

was given also the name "masica" for this tree, but probably in error.

A tall forest tree; leaves short-petioled, glabrous, elliptic-oblong to

lance-oblong, mostly 8-15 cm. long, cuspidate-acuminate, with usu-

ally about 10 pairs of lateral nerves; flower heads nearly sessile,

solitary or in pairs; fruit reddish or yellowish, 1-1.5 cm. in diam-

eter.— Common in wet forest; ranging to Costa Rica, where it is called

"ojoche." In Costa Rica the seeds are sometimes boiled and eaten,

and the fallen flower heads also are said to be edible.

Brosimum terrabanum Pittier. Masica. A very large tree,

similar to the preceding; leaves glabrous or nearly so, oblong-elliptic,

caudate-acuminate, thick, usually with more numerous lateral nerves

than in B. costaricanum and rather broader, short-petioled; fruits

1.5 cm. in diameter, yellowish. — Probably the most abundant tree of

the region, plentiful nearly everywhere but especially on the hills;

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 165

ranging from Guatemala to Costa Rica. Called "ojoche" in Costa

Rica. The wood is used locally chiefly for charcoal, but also some-

times for lumber. The seeds are boiled and eaten in the Tela region,

and they are sometimes made into a kind of tortilla. The name

"breadnut" is given to this tree by the English-speaking people of

Central America.

CASTILLA Cerv.

Castilla elastica Cerv. Ule, Rule. Mexican rubber tree. A

tree of medium size, the sap milky; leaves deciduous, nearly sessile,

oblong, usually 20-45 cm. long, abruptly pointed, densely hairy,

entire or nearly so, cordate at the base; flowers of two sexes in

separate heads on the same tree, densely crowded on a flat or some-

what cup-shaped receptacle which is surrounded by overlapping

scales; fertile receptacles in fruit often over 5 cm. broad, orange-red,

bearing numerous fleshy fruits. — Frequent at low altitudes, in wet

forest or thickets; ranging to Salvador and Mexico. Bark smooth

and gray; wood light brown, fairly soft, not strong, perishable, not

used.

Several other species of this genus occur in Central America.

They vary greatly as to the quality of the rubber which they yield,

and some are practically useless as a source of rubber. Most of the

larger trees seen in Honduras bear the large oblique scars indicating

that they have been tapped for their rubber, which is obtained by

coagulating the milky sap. The Castillas have yielded large amounts

of rubber for export, and they have been cultivated upon a small

scale, but their cultivation does not succeed in competition with the

cheaper rubber produced by the Hevea trees grown in the East Indies.

The aboriginal inhabitants of Central America and Mexico were well

acquainted with the rubber produced by these trees, and they em-

ployed it for waterproofing clothing, shoes, and hats, for making

bottles, and for fashioning large balls used in certain games. The

Castilla trees are easy to recognize, even at a distance, because of

their large narrow leaves, which are arranged in two rows on the

branches and often droop abruptly. The brightly colored fruit

heads also make the trees conspicuous at certain seasons of the year.

CECROPIA L.

Cecropia hondurensis Standl. Guarumo. Trumpet-tree. A

tree 4.5-15 meters high, with few spreading branches; trunk smooth,

whitish; leaves clustered near the ends of the few branches, long-

stalked, very large, deeply lobed, white beneath; flowers of the two

166 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

sexes borne on separate trees, arranged in long slender spikes which

are arranged in umbels at the end of a stout stalk, the whole inflores-

cence at first enclosed in a large bract; fruiting spikes gray-green,

10 cm. long, somewhat fleshy. — Abundant in the lowlands and also

occurring in the forest; known only from this region. It is probable

that one or more additional species may occur here.

The Cecropias, of which there are several species, are among the

most abundant and characteristic trees of the Central American

coastal regions, and they sometimes extend far up into the moun-

tains. They are of very distinctive appearance because of their

peculiar habit and coloring, and stand out conspicuously among all

other trees. They are often provided with prop roots, like those of

Indian corn. They grow most abundantly upon cut-over land, and

spring up everywhere as weeds as soon as land is abandoned. In

virgin forest they are comparatively rare, but they do grow in

primeval woodlands. The hollow trunks are always inhabited by

small ants which bite ferociously and protect the tree well against

man and probably other animals. It has been supposed that these

ants protect the trees also against other insects, but it has been

found recently that this is not the case.

The wood of the Cecropias is soft and useless. The bark contains

a tough fiber which has been employed by some Central American

Indians for making rope, mats, and coarse cloth. The sap is reported

to contain small amounts of rubber. The trunks are sometimes split

and used for troughs, and the hollow stems are recorded as having

been used by the aborigines for fashioning trumpets, hence the

English name. The name used universally in Central America for

these trees is "guarumo," a word of West Indian origin.

CHLOROPHORA Gaud.

Chlorophora tinctoria (L.) Gaud. Mora. Fustic. A small or

medium-sized tree, somewhat resembling the osage orange (Madura

pomifera) of the United States, and closely related to it; bark brown-

ish gray, containing milky juice; branches often armed with spines;

leaves bright green, thin, oblong to ovate, taper-pointed, coarsely

toothed or often lobed on young shoots, nearly glabrous; flowers of

the two sexes on separate trees, the staminate in long catkins, the

pistillate in dense heads; fruits globular, green, 1 cm. in diameter,

containing numerous seeds. — In thickets about Progreso; not noticed

near Tela ; widely distributed in tropical America. The name "mora"

is current through most of Central America. The tree is of impor-

FLORA OF LANCETELLA VALLEY 167

tance as the source of fustic dyewood, employed for brown, yellow,

and green dyes, and especially for the olive-drab of khaki. Large

amounts of it have been exported from Central America. It is light

yellow, close-grained, strong and tough, rather heavy, and takes a

high polish. It is utilized for furniture, interior finish, cart wheels,

and many other purposes, and the bitter bark is used in tanning.

COUSSAPOA Aubl.

Coussapoa panamensis Pittier. Matapalo. A tree 8-12 meters

high or larger, with smooth pale bark and rounded crown; leaves long-

stalked, broadly ovate, rounded and usually short-pointed at the

apex, rounded or shallowly cordate at the base, thick, entire or nearly

so, often densely whitish-pubescent beneath or felted; flowers minute,

arranged in dense globose heads 1 cm. or more in diameter, the heads

borne on short stalks inserted in the leaf axils, becoming fleshy at

maturity. — Common in forests and often seen in pastures; ranging to

Panama. The several species of Coussapoa found in Central America

are much like the figs in habit, the seeds germinating upon the

branches of trees. They often persist for a long time upon their host,

but ultimately they stand alone. The bark is smooth and gray; the

wood reddish, moderately hard, and heavy, rather coarse-textured,

not very durable, and probably seldom if ever utilized.

DORSTENIA L.

Dorstenia choconiana Wats. var. integrifolia Bonn. Smith.

An erect simple-stemmed herb about 30 cm. high with long root-

stock; leaves long-stalked, oblong or lance-oblong, about 17 cm. long,

taper-pointed, entire or nearly so, slightly pubescent; flowers minute,

green, arranged on the inner surface of a stalked receptacle shaped

like a wine glass, green, and 1.5 cm. broad. — Frequent in deep forest

on the hills above Lancetilla; ranging from Guatemala to Costa

Rica. The typical form of the species has deeply lobed leaves.

FICUS L. Figs

This genus of trees is represented in Central America by about

35 species of trees, which are easily recognized by their general

appearance, especially by their milky sap, smooth pale trunks and

branches, and the characteristic fruits, much like those of the culti-

vated fig of the Old World, but smaller. The fruits are globular,

and consist of a fleshy receptacle which has at the apex a minute

opening covered by a few overlapping scales, the minute flowers

168 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

being crowded over the inside of the receptacle. It is evident that

fertilization must be a difficult process, and it is interesting to know

that it is performed by special tiny insects which inhabit the fruits.

It is said that there is a separate species of insect for each species of

Ficus.

The wild figs are of interest because of their "strangling" habit,

which gives rise to the common Spanish name, "matapalo," "tree-

killer." The fruits are much eaten by birds, and they transport the

microscopic seeds to the branches of trees, where they germinate.

As the plant develops it attaches itself to the host tree by small

rootlets, then sends out long cordlike roots which sometimes dangle

like ropes from the branches, or run along the trunk of the host,

finally reaching and rooting in the soil. The stems then enlarge,

often are flattened, and soon envelop the host trunk in a network of

stems or trunks. The host is sometimes able to withstand this attack

for many years, and one may often see the top of some lofty tree

projecting above the top of a large fig tree. Ultimately, if the fig tree

thrives, the host is killed, and the fig tree stands alone.

The wood of these trees is soft and perishable, and seldom or

never used. On this account the trees often are left when clearings

are made. They are favorite shade trees because of their handsome,

broad, and very dense crowns and vigorous foliage. The fruits of

some species are eaten, being sweet but rather insipid.

From the bark of the fig trees the ancient Mexicans prepared the

paper upon which some of their manuscripts were written. The sap

is very sticky and contains small amounts of rubber. Ficus elastica,

the familiar rubber tree of city flats, is an East Indian species which

yields rubber in substantial amounts and of good quality. The Old

World fig, Ficus Carica L., thrives in the interior of Honduras, but it

is little grown there.

The Central American wild figs fall naturally into two groups:

A. Receptacles (fruits) solitary in the leaf axils; involucre at

base of the receptacle 3-lobed; leaves often scabrous, rough.

Ficus crassiuscula Warb. Higuero. A large tree with broad

thin buttresses; leaves long-petioled, elliptic or oval, mostly 15-20

cm. long, obtuse, rounded at the base, glabrous, with numerous pairs

of slender lateral veins; stipules 4-6 cm. long; fruits 1.5-2 cm. thick.

— Common in the forests; extending to Panama, where this species is

planted as a shade tree in the Canal Zone.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 169

Ficus glabrata HBK. Higuero, Matapalo. A tree 12-15 meters

high or larger, with a broad open crown; leaves elliptic-oblong or

nearly elliptic, usually not more than 2.5 times as long as broad,

gradually narrowed to the acute tip, glabrous, with slender veins;

fruits large, 1.5-4 cm. in diameter or even larger, sweet, edible.—

Common in forests, thickets, and pastures; widely distributed in

tropical America. Called "amate" in some parts of Honduras, the

word derived from the old Aztec name for the fig trees, the same as the

word for paper. Wood gray or brownish, light, coarse-textured, per-

ishable, not used. The names "chilamate" and "chilamaton" are

applied to this species in Salvador. The fruits are the largest pro-

duced by any of the Honduran species, and they are more nearly

edible than those of any other wild fig.

This is one of the handsomest of all the fig trees. As is the case

with other species, the trunk and limbs are nearly always clean and

perfectly free from epiphytes, which for some reason do not frequent

fig trees.

Ficus radula Willd. Higo, Higuero. A large tree; leaves

elliptic-oblong, rough beneath, rounded or obtuse at the tip and

abruptly short-pointed; stipules 1-1.5 cm. long; fruits 1.5-3 cm. in

diameter. — Common about Tela in swampy woods; ranging from

Mexico to South America. Called "higueron" and "higueron bianco"

in Costa Rica; "amate" and "salamate" in Salvador.

Ficus segoviae Miq. Higo, Higuero. A large or small tree,

similar to F. glabrata, of which it is probably only a form; leaves

much narrower than in that species, usually 4 times as long as

broad or longer; fruits 1.5-3 cm. in diameter; leaves smooth.—

Common in forest and along streams; ranging to Nicaragua and

Mexico.

Ficus Tonduzii Standl. Higuero. A large tree; leaves mostly

oval-obovate, large, rounded at the tip and sometimes abruptly

short-pointed, thick, smooth, the lateral nerves few, very coarse and

far apart; fruits sessile, 2-3 cm. in diameter. — Common in the forests,

extending to Panama.

B. Receptacles in pairs in the leaf axils; involucre 2-lobed; leaves

never scabrous but often pubescent.

Ficus Colubrinae Standl. A tree about 12 meters high, the

branchlets usually hairy; leaves mostly elliptic or obovate-elliptic

and 5-9 cm. long, acuminate, rounded or obtuse at the base; fruits

170 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

about 6 mm. in diameter, sessile. — In wet forest; distributed from

Guatemala to Costa Rica.

Ficus Hemsleyana Standl. Higuero, Matapalo. A large tree;

leaves long-petioled, oblong, 10-20 cm. long or larger, abruptly

narrow-acuminate, glabrous, rounded at the base; fruits stalked,

8-10 mm. in diameter. — In wet forest; Guatemala to Panama.

Called "amate" in Salvador and "higueron" in Costa Rica.

Ficus involuta (Liebm.) Miq. Higo, Matapalo. A large tree;

leaves short-petioled, obovate-oblong, 10-20 cm. long, rounded at the

apex, long- tapering to the base, glabrous or nearly so; fruits nearly

sessile, 1.5-2 cm. in diameter. — Frequent in forests, often along

streams; extending to Panama and Mexico. Called "amate" and

"capulamate" in Salvador, and the name "palo de agua" is recorded

from Costa Rica, but perhaps erroneously. This species is easy to

recognize by the wedge-shaped leaves with rounded or rarely acutish

apex.

Ficus Kellermanii Standl. Higuero, Matapalo, Higuillo. A

large tree with broad dense crown; branchlets often coarsely hairy;

leaves oblong to obovate or oval, 8-15 cm. long or larger, rounded to

acutish at the apex, obtuse to subcordate at the base, hairy or nearly

glabrous beneath; fruits sessile, 8-10 mm. in diameter. — About Tela

and Progreso; also in Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Called

"amate" in Salvador and "capulin amate" in Guatemala.

Ficus Oerstediana Miq. Higuillo. A tree 6-15 meters high,

sometimes only an epiphytic shrub; leaves short-petioled, glabrous,

obovate, acute, mostly 6-10 cm. long, long-tapering to the base;

fruits stalked, only 5-6 mm. in diameter. — Frequent in thickets and

pastures about Tela; extending from Guatemala to Panama and

northern South America. This has the smallest fruits of all the

Central American figs.

Ficus padifolia HBK. Higuillo. A tree 6-9 meters high or

larger, often fruiting when only a shrub; leaves mostly lanceolate or

elliptic-oblong, 6-12 cm. long or sometimes larger, acute or acuminate,

glabrous; fruits stalked, 9-12 mm. in diameter. — Common in forests

and thickets; one of the commonest species of Central America and

Mexico. Called "higuito" in Costa Rica, and in Salvador "capula-

mate," "amate," "amatillo," "chilamate," and "cushamate." This

is one of the handsomest of all the figs, and often attains a great size.

In Salvador the leaves are given as fodder to mules, and it is reported

that the animals become fat when feeding upon them.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 171

Ficus panamensis Standl. Higuero. A large tree; leaves short-

petioled, oblong or obovate-oblong, usually 10-18 cm. long, glabrous

or nearly so, abruptly acuminate, obtuse at the base; fruits sessile,

1 cm. in diameter. — Occasional; distributed from Mexico to Colombia.

Ficus Popenoei Standl. Higuillo. A medium-sized tree with

densely hairy branchlets; leaves short-petioled, obovate or oval,

mostly 8-12 cm. long, rounded at the apex, rounded or subcordate at

the base, rough and densely hairy; fruits short-stalked, obovoid,

1.5 cm. long, densely hairy. — In forest on the hills above Lancetilla;

known only from this locality.

Ficus sp. Higuillo. A tree 6-15 meters high ; leaves long-stalked,

broadly ovate or rounded, large, obtuse to rounded at the apex, sub-

cordate at the base, glabrous. — A form frequent about Tela, but I

was unable to find fruiting specimens. The species is apparently

not described.

NAUCLEOPSIS Miq.

Naucleopsis naga Pittier. Concha de indio, Majao de indio.

A tree 9 meters high or larger; leaves short-petioled, in two ranks

along the branches, oblanceolate-oblong, 20-45 cm. long and 6-12

cm. wide, acuminate, obtuse at the base, glabrous, leathery; stami-

nate inflorescences solitary in the leaf axils, sessile, 4 cm. broad,

covered with scalelike bracts; fruiting receptacle woody, the inner

bracts hard and woody, spinelike. — A frequent tree of the forests

about Lancetilla; also in Costa Rica, where it is known by the name

"naga." It is stated that the bark is employed by some of the less

civilized Indians of Honduras for making mats and other articles.

POUROUMA Aubl.

Pourouma aspera Tre"cul. Guarumo de montana. A large forest

tree, in general appearance much like the Cecropias; leaves long-

stalked, very large, deeply lobed, white beneath, the petiole inserted

at the base of the leaf and not above the base (peltate) as in Cecropia;

flowers in loose many-flowered cymes. — Frequent on the forested

hillsides; ranging from Guatemala to South America. The ripe

fruits, which are about 1.5 cm. long and ovoid, are reported to be

eaten by some of the Indians of Costa Rica.

TROPHIS L.

Trees, unarmed, the leaves entire or toothed; flowers of two sexes

on separate trees, the staminate ones in long catkins, the pistillate in

172 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

spikes or racemes; fruit a small drupe containing a single seed,

surrounded by scant flesh.

Trophis chorizantha Standl. A tree 9 meters high with slender

branchlets; leaves oblong or obovate-oblong, abruptly long-pointed,

obtuse or acute at the base, about 12 cm. long, nearly entire, glabrous,

smooth to the touch; pistillate flowers in long, slender, much inter-

rupted spikes. — In forest high on the hills above Lancetilla; known

only from this locality.

Trophis racemosa (L.) Urban. San Ramdn. A tree 6-9 meters

high; leaves oblong to oval or obovate, entire or serrate, very rough

beneath; fruiting spikes short and densely flowered. — Frequent about

Tela and Progreso, in thickets; widely distributed in tropical America.

Called "raspa-lengua" in Salvador, and the usual name in Central

America is "ramon." My informant at Tela insisted that the name

was "San Ramon," the temptation to attach the "San" evidently being

too great to be resisted. In some parts of tropical America, especially

in Cuba, the leaves of this tree are fed to stock, especially to horses,

and they are said to be very nutritious. The fruits are edible, but the

flesh is so scant that they are scarcely worth the trouble of eating them.

URTICACEAE. Nettle Family

These plants are herbs, shrubs, or small trees, frequently armed

with stinging hairs. The alternate or opposite, entire or toothed

leaves sometimes are very unequal, and they are often sprinkled with

pale, linear or dotlike cystoliths. The small greenish flowers are

usually unisexual, without petals, the perianth represented by a

calyx of 2-5 lobes or sepals, or sometimes absent. The stamens are

2-5, and the fruit is small, 1-seeded, and either dry or fleshy.

The true nettles of the genus Urtica grow in the mountains of

Central America.

BOEHMERIA Jacq.

Boehmeria cylindrica (L.) Sw. An inconspicuous erect herb

a meter high or less, nearly glabrous; leaves opposite and alternate,

on long slender petioles, ovate, long-acuminate, coarsely toothed,

3-nerved; flowers in small dense clusters in the leaf axils, or forming

long, nearly naked spikes; fruit minute and dry. — Frequent in wet

thickets; widely distributed in tropical America.

MYRIOCARPA Benth.

Myriocarpa yzabalensis (Bonn. Smith) Killip. Plate XXXIII.

A shrub or small tree 3-6 meters high, with few branches, the branches

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 173

hirsute or hispid; leaves very large, broadly ovate to oblong-elliptic,

acute, rounded at the base, finely blunt- toothed, harshly pubescent;

flowers minute, in threadlike white spikes often 30-60 cm. long or

more; fruit a minute achene. — Common in wet forest and thickets;

ranging to Panama and Guatemala. Called "chichicastillo" at

Cuyamel. Easily recognized by the very long and slender flower

spikes, which dangle like threads from the stiff branches.

PILEA Lindl.

This genus is a rather large one in Central America, especially

in the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama, but the plants are

inconspicuous and of little general interest. They are succulent

herbs with opposite leaves, the small greenish flowers arranged in

cymes or dense clusters in the leaf axils. The two sexes of the

flowers are borne upon the same or upon different plants. The fruit

is a small compressed achene.

Pilea herniarioides (Sw.) Lindl. A very small, succulent herb

with filiform stems, erect or creeping; leaves rounded, minute, only

1-3 mm. long, entire, glabrous or nearly so. — Found only underneath

the laborers' quarters at Lancetilla, growing in moist soil; probably

introduced from the West Indies, but recorded from a few stations in

Central America.

Pilea hyalina Fenzl. A succulent erect branched herb 30-50

cm. high, glabrous; leaves long-petioled, broadly ovate, 1-6 cm. long,

coarsely crenate; flower clusters loose, usually shorter than the

petioles. — In wet thickets and forest about Quebrada Seca and La

Fragua; ranging to Mexico and South America. Called "hierba de

masamorra" in Salvador.

Pilea microphylla (L.) Liebm. A small succulent annual,

usually erect, with rather stout stems, glabrous; leaves mostly obovate

and 2-5 mm. long, entire; flower clusters minute, shorter than the

leaves. — A weed in garden at Lancetilla, apparently introduced;

widely distributed in tropical America, in Central America often

growing on old masonry. Called "palma del norte" in Salvador.

This plant and related species are sometimes grown for ornament in

the hothouses of the North, under the name "artillery plant." This

term is applied because of the fact that when the flowers are touched

the anthers eject the pollen with considerable violence, throwing it

to a distance.

174 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Pilea serpyllacea (HBK.) Liebm. Mariposa. Similar to P.

microphylla, but the leaves larger, about 1 cm. long. — Cultivated for

ornament. Called "lace plant" in the Canal Zone.

POUZOLZIA Gaud.

The local species are unattractive shrubs with conspicuous thin

stipules and with petioled entire leaves. The small greenish flowers

are densely clustered in the leaf axils.

Pouzolzia obliqua Gaud. A shrub or small tree 1.5-6 meters

high, copiously pubescent; petioles usually less than 1 cm. long;

leaf blades oblong, long-acuminate, very oblique at the base and

3-nerved. — Frequent in wet thickets; ranging to Guatemala and

Peru.

Pouzolzia occidentalis Wedd. A shrub or tree 2.5-4.5 meters

high; leaves long-petioled, oblong to broadly ovate, densely pubes-

cent and rough, long-acuminate, almost equally rounded at the base,

thin. — In wet thickets about Progreso; ranging to the West Indies

and southward to Venezuela.

URERA Gaud.

The Ureras are shrubs or small trees, usually armed with stinging

hairs, the leaves alternate, long-petioled, and variously toothed.

The usually dioecious, small, greenish flowers are disposed in cymes

or panicles in the axils of the leaves. The achene in fruit is sur-

rounded by the fleshy enlarged calyx, the whole resembling a fleshy

juicy fruit.

Urera alceaefolia Gaud. A shrub or small tree 3-4.5 meters

high, only slightly stinging; leaves slender-petioled, oblong to elliptic,

small or large, coarsely but closely dentate, hairy, the pale cystoliths

oblong, radiating from the hairs; flowers in short lax cymes, the small

fruits bright red. — Frequent in wet thickets; ranging to Mexico and

Panama. The shrub is a showy one because of the abundant clusters

of brightly colored fruits.

Urera baccifera (L.) Gaud. Chichicaste. Plate XXXIV. A

shrub 1.5-2.5 meters high, or sometimes a small tree, the stems

thickly armed with large coarse pricklelike hairs; leaves long-stalked,

oval to broadly ovate, large, densely hairy, especially beneath, with

few large coarse teeth ; rachis of the inflorescence dull red ; fruit white,

with watery juice. — Occasional in thickets; widely distributed in

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 175

tropical America. Called "ortiga" in Panama; "nigua" or "niguilla"

in Salvador, the names referring to the fruits, which suggest a nest

of the chigger or nigua. The usual name through most of Central

America is "chichicaste." The hairs sting very painfully upon the

slightest contact with the skin, and the plant is one of the worst

pests of tropical jungles. Violent contact with the hairs gives almost

the effect of an electric shock, the resulting pain and irritation some-

times lasting for several days. The shrub is often planted for hedges

in Central America, and certainly forms an effective barrier against

man and most of the larger animals.

Urera caracasana (Jacq.) Griseb. Chichicaste. A shrub or

small tree 3-6 meters high, stinging but slightly; leaves large, broadly

ovate, cordate at the base, closely crenate, sparsely or densely pubes-

cent, long-stalked ; fruits small, orange-red. — Frequent in wet thickets ;

widely dispersed in tropical America. Sometimes called "ortiga" in

Panama. This species, also, is very showy when in fruit.

Urera elata (Sw.) Griseb. Chichicaste. A tree 7.5 meters high,

armed with stinging hairs; leaves very large, ovate or ovate-oblong,

rounded at the base, closely and regularly toothed, the cystoliths

dotlike; fruits orange-red. — Occasional in wet mountain forest; dis-

tributed from Guatemala to Panama, and in Jamaica.

PROTEACEAE. Protea Family

GREVILLEA R. Br.

Grevillea robusta Cunn. Silk-oak. A medium-sized tree; leaves

pinnate, the leaflets deeply lobed, silky beneath; flowers showy,

orange, in large dense racemes. — Planted for ornament; native of

Australia. Although a rather unattractive tree, this is planted very

commonly in most parts of Central America in parks and along

streets.

LORANTHACEAE. Mistletoe Family

The plants of this family, of which there are a large number in

Central America, are true parasites; that is, they grow upon the

branches of trees or shrubs to which they are united organically, and

draw all their sustenance from them. They have woody stems and

opposite thick fleshy entire leaves. The flowers are small or large,

with a simple perianth, no corolla being present although the perianth

often is colored so as to resemble a corolla. The fruit is a small, often

transparent berry with very sticky pulp.

176 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

ORYCTANTHUS Eichl.

Oryctanthus cordifolius (Presl) Eichl. Suelda con suelda. A

shrub, its branches usually 30-60 cm. long; leaves ovate, sessile,

mostly subcordate at the base and clasping the branch, narrowed to

the obtuse apex; flowers sunken in depressions in the rachis of the

spike, very small, green. — Common; growing on Croton, Lacistema,

and other shrubs and trees; ranging from Guatemala to Panama, and

perhaps still farther southward. The young branches are somewhat

compressed and 2-edged. Called "hierba del pajaro" in Salvador.

PHORADENDRON Nutt. Mistletoe

The Central American plants of this genus are much like the

familiar mistletoe of the United States, which itself is rather different

from the classical mistletoe of Europe. They are coarse parasitic

shrubs with thick heavy leaves, the small and inconspicuous flowers

in short dense spikes, but not sunken in the rachis as in Oryctanthus.

Phoradendron piperoides (HBK.) Trel. Suelda con suelda.

Branches often a meter long and frequently pendent in dense masses

from tree limbs; leaves mostly elliptic or ovate and 6-9 cm. long,

acute at base and apex, glabrous; flower spikes green or greenish

yellow. — Frequent; widely distributed in tropical America. Called

"liga" in Guatemala, and "matapalo" in Salvador.

Phoradendron robust issimum Eichl. Suelda con suelda. A

dense shrub forming large masses on trees; leaves oblong or broadly

oblong, very thick, rounded at the apex, acute or obtuse at the base,

short-petioled; flower spikes green. — Near Tela; ranging to Guate-

mala and Costa Rica.

PHTHIRUSA Mart.

Phthirusa pyrifolia (HBK.) Eichl. Suelda con suelda. A

shrub, its branches usually 30-90 cm. long, often pendent in dense

tangles from tree limbs; leaves slender-petioled, mostly oblong and

rather thin, obtuse or contracted at the base, at the apex rounded

and abruptly sharp-tipped; flowers green, in rather long and inter-

rupted spikes, the rachis brown-scurfy. — Common; growing on

Saurauia, Acalypha diversifolia, Piper tuberculatum, and other shrubs

and trees; ranging from Guatemala to South America. Called

"matapalo" in Salvador.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 177

PSITTACANTHUS Mart.

Psittacanthus calyculatus (DC.) Don. Suelda con suelda,

Gallinazgo. A glabrous shrub, forming dense masses usually on the

tallest trees; branches angled; leaves short-petioled, lanceolate or

narrowly ovate, 6-15 cm. long, often very oblique, attenuate to the

apex, obtuse or rounded at the base; flowers 3-5 cm. long, in loose

corymbs, scarlet or orange-red; berries 1-1.5 cm. long, orange-red.—

Frequent on forest trees; distributed from Mexico to Costa Rica.

Called "matapalo" and "liga" in Salvador. The plants are very

handsome and showy when in flower, and are usually mistaken for

the flowers of some gaudy forest tree.

OLACACEAE. Olax Family

The members of the family are shrubs or trees with alternate

entire leaves without stipules. The small or medium-sized flowers,

borne singly or in clusters in the leaf axils, have a 4-6-toothed or

4-6-parted calyx, a corolla with 4-6 lobes or petals, and twice as

many stamens as corolla segments. The fruit is a drupe.

HEISTERIA Jacq.

Heisteria macrophylla Oerst. A glabrous shrub or small tree;

leaves oblong-elliptic, mostly 9-20 cm. long and 4-6 cm. wide,

short-stalked, short-acuminate, acute at the base, somewhat leathery;

flowers slender-stalked, with 5 or 6 petals, the calyx small at first but

in fruit much enlarged, saucer-shaped, and colored purple-red; fruit

a black drupe. — In wet forest near Lancetilla; ranging to Panama.

Called "ajicillo" in Panama and "sombrerito" and "cresta de gallo"

in Salvador. The Honduras specimens are sterile, and their specific

determination therefore somewhat uncertain.

XIMENIA L.

Ximenia americana L. Cagalera. Tallow-wood. A glabrous

shrub 3-4.5 meters high, armed with stout spines; leaves oblong to

elliptic, 3-7 cm. long, short-stalked, rounded or obtuse at the apex,

entire; flowers small, yellowish white, fragrant, borne in small cymes

in the leaf axils; corolla 4-lobed, densely hairy within; fruit a yellow

plumlike drupe 1.5 cm. long with acid edible flesh. — In thickets along

the beach near Tela; widely distributed in tropical America, and

extending northward to Florida. Called "pepenance" and "man-

zanillo" in Salvador, and "chochomico" in Nicaragua. The name

178 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

"manzanilla" is reported from Honduras and Guatemala. The dark

red, astringent bark may be used for tanning. The wood is fragrant,

reddish yellow, fine-textured, and very hard and heavy. It is

ordinarily too small to be useful, but it is reported to have been

employed as a substitute for sandal wood.

OPILIACEAE. Opilia Family

AGONANDRA Miers

Agonandra racemosa (DC.) Standl. A tree about 9 meters

high with a trunk 25 cm. in diameter at the base; bark pale, slightly

corky, broken into small square scales; leaves lanceolate, acute or

acuminate, acute or obtuse at the base, glabrous, entire, alternate,

with small stipules; flowers dioecious, small and greenish, in bracted

axillary racemes; fruit a small drupe. — In wet forest on the hills

above Lancetilla; the species ranges from Salvador to Mexico. The

Honduran specimens are sterile, and their determination doubtful,

but from the leaves alone I believe that the tree belongs to this genus.

The tree, as it grows in Honduras, is a very curious one because of its

habit. The trunk tapers gradually from its broad base to a very

slender, whiplike top. The crown is composed of only a few short and

straggling branches.

BALANOPHORACEAE. Balanophora Family

HELOSIS L. Rich.

Helosis mexicana Liebm. A fleshy herb without chlorophyll,

resembling a mushroom, parasitic upon the roots of other plants,

glabrous or nearly so; stem leafless, 6-20 cm. long; flowers very small

and numerous, crowded in a dense ovoid head, this 1.5-4.5 cm. long,

rounded at the apex, covered with small peltate bracts among

which the flowers are inserted.— Growing on a wet bank in forest

above Lancetilla, forming dense clumps; found only once; ranging to

Mexico and Colombia.

ARISTOLOCHIACEAE. Birthwort Family

The species here listed are perennial herbaceous vines having

alternate simple leaves without stipules. The perfect flowers are very

irregular, without a corolla, the calyx being large and colored, some-

what inflated at the base, and expanding above into a large limb.

There are 6 stamens. The fruit is an elongate 6-celled capsule.

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 179

ARISTOLOCHIA L.

Aristolochia grandiflora Sw. A large vine, the stems puberulent

or glabrous; leaves broadly ovate-cordate, acute or long-acuminate;

flowers very large, the calyx tube 12-20 cm. long, the limb 15-45

cm. long, dark purple within, terminating in a slender tail-like

pendent appendage which sometimes is a meter long. — Occasional in

wet thickets; widely distributed in Mexico, Central America, and

the West Indies. Called "giiegiiecho" and "chompipe" in Nicaragua;

"guegiiechon" and "guaco" in Salvador; and "flor de guaco" in

Mexico. The plant is sometimes grown in the North in hothouses

because of its very remarkable flowers, and the names "duck flower"

and "pelican flower" are applied to it. These terms are very descrip-

tive, since the unopened flowers strongly resemble a duck, and

they are of approximately the same size. They are probably the

largest flowers produced by any American plant. The lurid coloring

is conspicuous but not attractive, and the very offensive carrion

odor of the blossoms does not encourage one to approach them too

closely. The plant is much used in domestic medicine and is one of the

popular remedies for snake bites. The roots are said to be poisonous.

Aristolochia pilosa HBK. A small herbaceous vine, the stems

covered with long spreading brown hairs; leaves heart-shaped, obtuse

or rounded at the apex, entire; calyx 5-7 cm. long, hairy, the limb

pale green with purple-brown dots, the throat dark purple-brown.—

Frequent in wet thickets; extending to Mexico and South America.

Known in Guatemala as "sombrerito" and "hediondilla."

Aristolochia trilobata L. Media-luna. A nearly glabrous vine;

leaves broader than long, 3-lobed, the lobes rounded; calyx large,

bearing at the tip a slender appendage 12-15 cm. long. — Growing

in thickets near the beach; ranging to South America and the West

Indies. The plant is used about Tela as a remedy for colic and other

pains.

POLYGONACEAE. Buckwheat Family

The family consists of herbs, shrubs, and trees, which are easy to

recognize by the alternate entire leaves usually provided with

sheathing stipules (ocreae). The flowers have a green or colored

perianth consisting of 4-6 segments, and the fruit is a compressed

or 3-angled achene.

ANTIGONON Endl.

Antigonon leptopus H. & A. Bellisima. Coral-vine. A large,

herbaceous or suffrutescent vine, climbing high by tendrils at the

180 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

ends of the racemes; leaves triangular-cordate, nearly glabrous;

flowers bright pink, in panicled racemes. — Planted commonly for

ornament; native of western Mexico. Other species are native in

western Central America. This species is known in various parts of

Central America as "coralito," "cadena de amor," "colacion," and

"confite." Called Confederate vine in Florida. The plant is a

handsome and showy one, and is popular all over Central America.

COCCOLOBA L.

The species of Coccoloba are shrubs or trees with persistent leaves.

The flowers are small and greenish or pinkish, arranged in long

racemes or spikes. The sepals or calyces are enlarged and usually

fleshy in fruit, resembling a berry.

Goccoloba acuminata HBK. Rabo de leon ("lion-tail"). A

nearly glabrous shrub or small tree, rarely 4.5 meters high; leaves

lance-oblong, long-acuminate, with tufts of short hairs beneath along

the midrib; fruit bright red. — Common in thickets, especially near

the coast; ranging from Guatemala to Colombia. — Called "papa-

turrillo" in Nicaragua. The wood is creamy, with darker growth

rings; it is odorless and tasteless. The long racemes of bright red

fruits are conspicuous and ornamental.

Coccoloba anisophylla Standl. A nearly glabrous shrub or

small tree 3-6 meters high; leaves almost sessile, obovate, acuminate,

at the base very unequal and clasping; flowers and fruits unknown.—

Frequent in wet forest; known only from this region.

Coccoloba barbadensis L. Uva. A glabrous tree 6-12 meters

high with a short clean trunk and dense rounded crown; leaves

elliptic-oblong, rather small, obtuse or short-pointed, leathery;

flowers green. — Common in thickets and pastures about Tela; known

in Central America only from this region, but growing also in the

West Indies.

Coccoloba belizensis Standl. Uva. A large tree; leaves large

and leathery, oval to ovate or broadly oblong, acute, cordate at the

base, pubescent beneath, up to 45 cm. long. — In thickets and wet

forest; occurring also in British Honduras, where it is called "wild

grape." The reddish green fruit is much eaten by birds.

Coccoloba hirsuta Standl. Uva, Uva de monte. A large tree;

leaves elliptic-oval or obovate, very large, rather thin, acuminate,

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 181

rounded or subcordate at the base, coarsely hairy on both surfaces.—

In wet hill forest; known only from the Lancetilla Valley.

Coccoloba Tuerckheimii Bonn. Smith. Uva. A shrub or small

tree; leaves large, obovate, rounded and short-pointed at the apex,

acute at the base, finely pubescent beneath or nearly glabrous;

fruits about 1 cm. long. — In wet thickets near Lancetilla; also in

Guatemala.

Coccoloba Uvif era (L.) Jacq. Uva. Sea-grape. A dense rounded

shrub or a tree up to 8 meters high, nearly glabrous; leaves almost

sessile, rounded, often broader than long, thick and stiff; fruit

whitish or purplish, 2 cm. long, very juicy, edible. — Common on

beaches; confined to seashores, but widely distributed in tropical

America, and ranging northward to Florida. In colonial days the

Spaniards sometimes used the cardboard-like leaves as a substitute

for writing paper, impressing characters upon them with a pin. They

employed the leaves also as playing cards. The bark, when cut,

yields an astringent red sap, the source of West Indian kino, which,

under the names gum kino, American kino, and American extract

of rhatany, formerly was an article of trade. The wood is odorless,

slightly astringent, hard, heavy, compact, fine-grained, red or dark

brown tinged with red, fairly durable, strong but brittle, and takes a

high polish. In Costa Rica the tree is called "papaturro" ; in Mexico

"uvero" and "manzano."

Muhlenbeckia platyclada Meisn., a native of the Solomon Islands,

is sometimes planted for ornament. It is a curious leafless plant with

broad ribbon-like branches. In Salvador it is known by the names

"solitaria" and "pie de muneco."

POLYGONUM L.

The three species here listed belong to the group of the genus

called "smartweed" in the United States. They are coarse herbs

with narrowly lanceolate leaves, their flowers in long racemes.

Polygonum acuminatum HBK. Smartweed. A stout herb as

much as 1.5 meters high; leaves densely and finely hairy beneath;

stipule sheaths with numerous long bristles along the margin; flowers

greenish white. — Frequent in open swamps; widely distributed in

tropical America.

Polygonum longiocreatum Bartlett. Smartweed. An erect

herb a meter high or less; leaves glabrous, the sheaths without bristles;

182 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

flowers deep pink, in dense spikes. — In marshy fields near Tela;

occurring also in Guatemala.

Polygonum punctatum Ell. Smartweed. A slender herb;

leaves glabrous, the sheaths fringed with bristles; flowers greenish

white or pinkish, in slender interrupted racemes. — In marshy or wet

soil; widely distributed in tropical America. Called "chile de perro"

in Costa Rica.

RUMEX L.

Rumex crispus L. Yellow dock. A few plants found in a horse

corral at Tela; doubtless imported from the United States. The

plant is a native of Europe.

CHENOPODIACEAE. Goosefoot Family

BETA L.

Beta vulgaris L. Remolacha. Beet. Beets are planted commonly

and successfully in the local gardens.

AMARANTHACEAE. Pigweed Family

The amaranths are mostly weedy herbs, with alternate entire

leaves. The flowers are small, usually green but sometimes white or

colored, without petals, and arranged in spikes or heads, or some-

times panicled. The fruit is small and dry, a 1-seeded utricle, or in

Celosia a several-seeded capsule.

ACHYRANTHES L.

The species of Achyranthes, of which two occur in Central America,

have been introduced from the Old World, and have now become

frequent weeds in waste ground. They are herbaceous plants with

long spikes of slender green flowers which are abruptly reflexed.

The bracts and sepals have straight spinelike tips, by which they

adhere tenaciously to clothing and to the hair of animals.

Achyranthes aspera L. Mozote. Leaves acute; an erect or

decumbent herb, the stems often a meter long. — Common in wet

thickets or in waste places. The name "mozote" is equivalent to

the English word "bur," and is applied generally in Central America

to plants having burlike fruits. In Panama the name "cadillo" is

given to plants of this sort. In Salvador this species is called "abrojo"

("eye-opener").

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 183

Achyranthes indica (L.) Mill. Leaves rounded or obtuse at

the apex. — A common weedy herb of pastures and thickets. The

green flowers often are tinged with pink.

ALTERNANTHERA Forsk.

A good many species of the genus grow in Central America, but

only two have been collected in the Tela region. They are procum-

bent weedy herbs with dense sessile heads of flowers inserted in the

leaf axils.

Alternanthera obovata (Mart. & Gal.) Standl. Flower heads

mostly more than 1 cm. thick; utricle much shorter than the sepals;

leaves rounded or very obtuse at the apex. — Found only at Guaymas,

on an open weedy bank. The species has not been collected pre-

viously south of Guatemala.

Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R. Br. Flower heads less than 5

mm. thick; utricle obcordate, as long as the sepals; leaves acutish.—

Common in wet thickets or open swampy ground.

Alternanthera versicolor (Lam.) Regel. Colchon de nino. A

low erect plant with brightly colored red, pink, or purplish leaves. —

Planted occasionally for ornament. The plant is known only in

cultivation.

AMARANTHUS L. Pigweed, Amaranth

The pigweeds are common weedy plants of Central America. All

are much alike in general appearance, and resemble those so well

known in the United States. About Tela, as throughout Central

America, the leaves are cooked and eaten as "greens" or pot herbs,

a practice followed also in the United States.

Amaranthus dubius Mart. Bledo de Jamaica. Pigweed. Utricle

smooth; leaves acute. — Infrequent, and doubtless introduced here,

probably from the West Indies, or from elsewhere in Central America,

where it is common. I was told that the plant had been introduced

about Tela only recently, and by the Jamaicans, who call it "calalu."

This name, said to be of East Indian origin, is applied by the West

Indians living along the Atlantic coast of Central America to various

plants whose leaves are cooked and eaten.

Amaranthus gracilis Desf. Bledo. Pigweed. An erect herb

with acute leaves; utricle wrinkled. — A frequent weed in fields;

introduced from the Old World tropics. It is seldom plentiful in

Central American localities.

184 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Amaranthus spinosus L. Bledo. Spiny pigweed. Easily recog-

nized by the sharp spines inserted below the leaves. — One of the

most common weeds of Central America, and plentiful about Tela;

a well-known garden weed of the United States. The leaves of spiny

pigweed are eaten, like those of the unarmed species. In Salvador

this plant is called "huisquilite," a name of Aztec origin, signifying

"spiny quilite," the word "quilite" or "quelite" being applied in

Mexico to pot herbs of many kinds.

Amaranthus viridis L. Bledo. A procumbent succulent herb,

distinguished by the leaves, which are deeply notched at the tip.—

An infrequent weed here, and found only sporadically in Central

America; introduced from the Old World.

CELOSIA L.

Celosia argentea L. Mono. Cockscomb. The garden cocks-

comb is grown here for ornament, and, as elsewhere in tropical

America, it sometimes grows as a weed in waste ground, although

never persisting long. The half-wild plants have simple spikes of

white or purple-red flowers, degenerating rapidly from the garden

form (var. cristata) with large fan-shaped fasciated inflorescences.

This plant, although perhaps native in tropical America, probably

is truly wild at present nowhere in the region. In Panama it is called

"abanico" (fan); in Salvador "cresta de gallo" (cockscomb), "San

Jose"," "borla," and "terciopelo" (velvet).

CHAMISSOA HBK.

Chamissoa altissima (Jacq.) HBK. A coarse half-woody plant,

often growing as a large vine over shrubs or small trees; leaves

lanceolate or ovate, long-acuminate; flowers green, small, the two

sexes on separate plants, forming large panicles. — The plant is

widespread and abundant at lower altitudes in Central America,

but it is rather inconspicuous, in spite of its large size, and no common

name is reported for it.

The single black seed of the small utricle is surrounded by a

conspicuous fleshy white aril. Botanists may thank the recent cross-

word craze for popularizing, among other botanical terms, the word

"aril," which is employed so frequently in such puzzles that to cross-

word fans, at least, its meaning can need no explanation.

CYATHULA Lour.

Cyathula achyranthoides (HBK.) Moq. Mozote. A coarse

herb with acute leaves; flowers in long dense spikes, abruptly reflexed;

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 185

sepals with hooked spinelike tips by which they catch hold of clothing

and of the hair and skin of animals. — A common weed in fields and

thickets. The plant resembles the species of Achyranthes, but in the

latter the spines of the flowers are straight, not hooked.

GOMPHRENA L.

Gomphrena dispersa Standl. Sanguinaria, Sangrinaria, Sesi-

cante. Flower heads white, about 1 cm. thick, sessile; a low pro-

cumbent herb. — A common weed in waste places; frequent in waste

ground through most of Central America. In Guatemala the plant

is called "botoncillo." About Tela it is said to be employed as a

remedy for venereal diseases, and for affections peculiar to women.

Gomphrena globosa L. Siempreviva. Globe amaranth, Bache-

lor's-button, Immortelle. Flower heads about 2 cm. thick, usually

purple-red or white, sometimes yellow. — Grown in gardens for orna-

ment, as it is throughout tropical America. The plant is well known

in United States gardens, where the flower heads are dried and used

for winter bouquets. The plant is of American origin, but it is not

known in the wild state. In Panama it is known sometimes by the

name "suspiro."

IRESINE P. Br.

The Iresines are herbs or shrubs, usually inconspicuous, and often

weedy. The leaves are opposite, and the very small, whitish or green-

ish flowers are mostly unisexual, disposed in small spikelets, which

are arranged chiefly in panicles.

Iresine Celosia L. Hierba de gato. A coarse herb, often half

climbing; flowers of the two sexes on separate plants, minute, greenish

white, in large feathery panicles. — A common weed of thickets and

waste ground, often clambering over bushes; widely distributed in

tropical America. In Salvador it is called "siete pellejos" (seven-

bark), "coyontura," "taba de giiegiiecho," and "hierba de la plata."

The leaves have a bitter flavor.

Iresine Herbstii Hook. Mano de lagarto. Similar in habit to

/. Celosia, of which it is probably a derivative; leaves purple-red,

deeply notched at the apex. — Planted for ornament; known only in

cultivation. Called "chorcha de gallo" in Salvador.

Iresine nigra Uline & Bray. A slender shrub, sometimes clam-

bering; leaves ovate to lanceolate, glabrous or nearly so, turning dark

when dried; spikelets arranged in large panicles. — Collected near

Progreso; ranging to Salvador and southern Mexico.

186 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

PHILOXERUS R. Br.

Philoxerus vermicularis (L.) R. Br. A prostrate or procum-

bent, nearly glabrous, very succulent, perennial herb; leaves opposite,

linear to oblong, 2-5 cm. long; flowers small, white, forming very

dense, sessile or stalked heads 1-3 cm. long. — On sandy flats along

the beaches; a widely distributed strand plant of tropical America,

which occurs also on the west coast of Africa.

PLEUROPETALUM Hook. f.

Pleuropetalum Sprucei (Hook, f.) Standl. A nearly glabrous

shrub 1.5 meters high, of inconspicuous appearance; leaves oblong-

lanceolate, acuminate; flowers small, greenish, in small long-stalked

panicles; fruit a small capsule containing several seeds. — Growing in

wet forest; rare.

NYCTAGINACEAE. Four-o'clock Family

The plants of this family are mostly of little general interest.

They are herbs, shrubs, or small trees, their leaves opposite or alter-

nate and entire. The flowers are usually small and inconspicuous,

but sometimes showy. Although they have no corolla, the calyx

often is colored so as to resemble a corolla. The fruit is an anthocarp,

the ovary at maturity being united with the enlarged calyx base.

BOERHAAVIA L.

The Boerhaavias are represented in Central America by the three

species here listed. They are weedy herbs with opposite petioled

leaves, minute, white, pink, or red flowers, and small dry club-shaped

fruits.

Boerhaavia caribaea Jacq. A spreading sticky-pubescent herb

with minute, dark red flowers; branches of the inflorescence viscid-

pubescent; flowers in small heads or glomerules; fruit glandular-

pubescent. — A common weed of waste places; widely distributed in

tropical America. Called "clavellina" in Salvador.

Boerhaavia coccinea Mill. Mozote. A spreading perennial, the

larger branches sparsely pubescent; leaves rounded or broadly ovate,

their margins more or less undulate, the lower surface pale; branches

of the inflorescence glabrous; perianth dark red, 1-2 mm. long;

fruits glandular-pubescent, in small heads, 3-4 mm. long, angled.—

Frequent in waste ground; a weedy plant widely distributed in

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 187

tropical America, but rare in most parts of Central America. Called

"carasola" in Panama.

Boerhaavia erecta L. An erect annual, usually 30-60 cm. high,

branched; leaves mostly ovate, petioled, pale beneath; flowers pinkish

white, in loose cymes; fruit glabrous, 3-4 mm. long, truncate at the

apex. — A weed in waste ground; rather scarce here, but widely dis-

tributed and an abundant weed in many parts of tropical America.

Called "golondrina" and "iscorian" in Salvador.

BOUGAINVILLEA Commers.

Bougainvillea glabra Choisy. Napoleona. The well-known

bougainvillea, native of Peru and Brazil, is planted here for orna-

ment, as it is in most tropical regions. The vine is a very showy and

handsome one when in flower, but its gaudy appearance depends not

upon the flowers, which are small and inconspicuous, but upon the

large, brightly colored bracts which surround the flowers. In

Panama the vine is called "veranera" and "flor de verano"; in Sal-

vador "manto de Jesus" ; and variations of the Latin name are often

used in Central America.

MIRABILIS L.

Mirabilis Jalapa L. Clavellino. Four-o'clock. A nearly gla-

brous, perennial herb with opposite leaves, and with large, showy,

purple-red, white, or yellow flowers, which often are variegated or

streaked with several colors. The flowers, which are very sweet-

scented, open in the evening and close in the forenoon. This plant,

although so common in cultivation in tropical America, and supposed

to be of American origin, probably is not known in a truly wild state.

When occurring spontaneously, it seldom is found far from gardens,

and it does not appear to be able to succeed in competition with the

more vigorous tropical weeds. Probably it is the descendant of some

native plant long extinct. The four-o'clock is grown for ornament

commonly in most parts of the United States. The plant is called

"buenas tardes" in Panama, and "mara villa" in most parts of

Central America. The English name "marvel of Peru" sometimes is

used in the North.

NEEA Ruiz & Pavon

The genus is represented in Central America by several species of

trees and shrubs having opposite or whorled leaves. The flowers are

small and greenish, arranged in small cymes or panicles, the two sexes

on separate plants. The fruit is an elongated drupe with scant flesh.

188 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

Neea acuminatissima Standl. A shrub 1-2 meters high with

few branches; leaves short-petioled, oblong or elliptic-oblong, very

large, mostly 30 cm. long or larger, very long-acuminate, glabrous;

drupes 1.5 cm. long, red, dark purple, or pinkish white, juicy. —

Frequent in wet forest about Lancetilla; known only from this region.

Neea psychotrioides Donn. Smith. A shrub or tree 3-6 meters

high, nearly glabrous; leaves opposite or whorled, oblong or elliptic-

oblong, mostly 6-10 cm. long, acute or acuminate, petioled; flowers

very small, green, in loose panicled cymes. — Rather frequent in

thickets, pastures, and swamps about Tela and Progreso; not noted

near Lancetilla; ranging to Guatemala and Costa Rica. Known in

Salvador as "sangre de chucho," "puruma," and "teiiidor."

PISONIA L.

Pisonia aculeata L. Cargalera. A large shrub, the branches

arching or often climbing over trees, armed with stout hooked spines;

leaves opposite, mostly elliptic or ovate, acute or acuminate, densely

hairy or nearly glabrous; flowers small, green, in dense cymes; fruit

dry, club-shaped, 9-12 mm. long, 5-angled, the angles with a dense

row of sticky glands. — Frequent in wet forest and thickets; widely

distributed in tropical America, often along seashores. Called

"espino negro" in Nicaragua and "cagalero" in Salvador. The sticky

fruits adhere easily to birds and animals, and thus are widely

dispersed.

PHYTOLACCACEAE. Pokeweed Family

The Honduran plants of this group are weedy herbs or shrubs of

little importance. They have alternate entire leaves without stipules.

The small and mostly inconspicuous flowers, arranged in spikes or

racemes, have no petals, but the sepals often are colored and petal-like.

MICROTEA Sw.

Microtea debilis Sw. A low glabrous annual herb, spreading

over the ground; leaves long-petioled, obovate, obtuse or acute;

flowers minute, greenish white, in slender racemes; fruit very small,

obovoid, dry, 1-seeded, covered with minute spinelike tubercles.—

A frequent weed in thickets and open fields, common in banana

plantations; widely distributed in tropical America.

PETIVERIA L.

Petiveria alliacea L. Ipacina. A coarse erect herb, or some-

times somewhat woody, nearly glabrous; leaves oblanceolate, acumi-

FLORA OF LANCETILLA VALLEY 189

nate; flowers whitish or pinkish, in long slender spikes; fruit dry, with

4 hooked bristles at the tip. — Infrequent about Lancetilla, but a

common and widely distributed weed of Central America, and of

tropical America generally. Called "anamu" in Panama, and by the

West Indians "gully-root" and "guinea-hen weed." When crushed,

the plant has a strong and disagreeable odor, suggestive of garlic.

It is reported that a garlic flavor is imparted to the milk and butter

of cows browsing upon it. The plant finds some use in domestic

medicine, and the West Indians often sniff the odor of a piece of the

root to relieve headache. The sharp spines of the fruit catch hold of

clothing and penetrate the skin readily and painfully if the plant is

handled carelessly.

PHYTOLACCA L.

Phytolacca rivinoides Kunth & Bouche'. Quilete, Cola de

ardilla. Pokeberry. Plate XXXV. A coarse glabrous herb 1-2

meters high with large succulent leaves; flowers pink, in long graceful

racemes; fruit juicy, black-purple, berrylike. — Common in clearings

and abandoned fields; widely distributed in Central America. Called

"jaboncillo" in Costa Rica, and by the West Indians "calalu." This

species is exactly like the common pokeweed of the United States in

general appearance. In Costa Rica the roots are utilized for washing

clothes, since they make a copious suds when rubbed in water. The

leaves and young shoots are cooked and eaten as greens in Honduras,

as is the custom elsewhere. The name "quilete" is a corruption of the

Aztec "quilitl," used to designate edible herbs generally.

RIVINA L.

Rivina humilis L. Achotillo. An erect, branched, slightly

pubescent herb, often somewhat woody; leaves slender-petioled,

ovate; flowers small, greenish white, in racemes; fruit 4 mm. long,

juicy, bright red. — A common weed in thickets; generally distributed

in tropical America. Known in Nicaragua as "coralillo," and in

Colombia as "carmin." Sometimes called "rouge plant." The

racemes of bright red berries are conspicuous and rather pretty.

TRICHOSTIGMA A. Rich.

Trichostigma octandrum (L.) H. Walt. A large glabrous

shrub, often trailing over bushes; leaves slender-petioled, oblong to

ovate, acuminate; flowers pale green, in slender racemes, the long

stamens white; fruit juicy, 1-seeded. — In thickets, but not common;

190 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — BOTANY, VOL. X

widely distributed in the Central American lowlands. Called "sota-

caballo" in Costa Rica.

AIZOACEAE. Carpet-weed Family

The plants of this group are low herbs with entire leaves, the

stipules small and scarious, or none. The small and commonly

inconspicuous flowers are perfect and regular, with 4-5 distinct or

united sepals, small or no petals, and definite or very numerous

stamens. The fruit is a small capsule.

GLINUS L.

Glinus radiatus (R. & P.) Rohrb. A prostrate or ascending

annual, covered with fine branched hairs; leaves opposite, thin,

petioled, elliptic to spatulate, rounded to acutish at the apex; flowers

clustered in the leaf axils, the sepals 4 mm. long; petals none; capsule

enclosed in the calyx. — Noted only in an open field at La Fragua;

widely distributed in tropical America, but in Central America found

chiefly on the Pacific coast. An inconspicuous weedy plant, perhaps

introduced here.

MOLLUGO L.

Mollugo verticillata L. Carpet-weed. A prostrate glabrous

annual, much branched; leaves in whorls of 5 or 6, linear-spatulate,

1-2.5 cm. long; flowers pediceled in the leaf axils, the sepals scarcely

2 mm. long, whitish; petals none; capsule 3-celled, slightly longer

than the sepals. — Common in cultivated fields and waste places;

widely distributed in both hemispheres; a common weed of many

parts of the United States.

SESUVIUM L.

Sesuvium Portulacastrum L. A perennial, glabrous, very

fleshy herb, the stems usually very long and rooting at the joints;

leaves thick, linear to oblanceolate, sessile, 1.5-4 cm. long; sepals

6-10 mm. long; petals none; stamens rose-purple, rather showy.—

Common along the beach; widely distributed in both hemispheres; a

characteristic strand plant.

PORTULACACEAE. Purslane Family