Hepaticae Amazonicæ et Andinœ... / Richard Spruce.

  • Spruce, Richard, 1817-1893.
Date:
1884,1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hepaticae Amazonicæ et Andinœ... / Richard Spruce. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Folia ad ^ lat. usque imbricata, supra lobulum divaricata, subplana, a basi (semicordata caulem transeunte) ultra £ complicata angulo plicam inter et caulem 45°-60°; lobus late oblongus, subfalcatus rotundatus repandulus ; lobulus triplo fere brevior, subrhombeus obtusus vel subacutus, planus, subappressus, solum ad carinam paru inflatus, basi in caule alte incurrens ; cellulse parvse conformes subEequilatero-hexagonse leptodermes convexulte, ambitu ex endoch- romio late opacce, solum in centro pellucidse.—Mammilla radicellifera ad medium lobulum, juxta carinam, posita, humiliuscula. Flores dioici: in dichot'omiis. etiam in ramis monotropice innovandis quasi-laterales. Bractete foliis conformes, nisi pro lobulo longiore dimidium lobum aequante. Perianthia flavida foliis duplo longiora, subrecta, a basi brevi obconica lato-linearia, compressa, ore truncato bilabiata et vel repando-sub- crenulata vel utraque facie medio breviter fissa exindeque 4-lobulata. Andrcecia medio caule ramove posita, foliis consecutiva, vel ramulum totum sistentia ; bracteas sub 5-jugae, foliis vix minores, erectiores, dimidio inferiore sacculum oblongum erectum constantes, lobulo dimidium lobum superante apice ovato-rotundato. Yar. Negrensis S. Major, 3-4-pollicaris flavida fulvave. Caules arctiuscule pinnati, raro subbipinnati; rami breves, medio (ad speciem) florem ^ gerentes, revera apice floriferi, innovatione recte continua prolongati. Hab. ad San Carlos del Rio Negro. Var. Campanensis S. Subbipinnata. Folia utraque basi cordata. Perianthia albida subbreviora, ore brevissime 4-5-loba et crenulata. Hab. M. Campana, in cortice, alt. 1200m. Obs. This is the commonest corticolous species of the Amazonian plain, yet I can nowhere find it described. The Mexican R. subinfiata of Lindenberg and Gottsche seems the nearest, and many of its characters are the same ; yet nothing is said of the strongly divaricate leaves—a marked feature of our species, distinguishing it from all other South American ones except R. pseudostachya, nor are the perianths said to be compressed, whereas our plant has them much flattened, and (the short obconic base excepted) of equal breadth throughout, so as to be ligulate, or broadly linear, in outline. The lobule is slightly bullate at the root- bearing mammilla, but not so much so as in some other species, described in Syn. Hep., where it is not considered worthy of mention. Radula amazonica grows throughout the Amazon Valley, from the mouth of the Amazon to the cataracts of the Orinoco on the north, and on the south-west ascends the Peruvian Andes to about 4000 feet on Mt. Campana. It grows always on the bark of trees, whereas its near ally, R. riparia, grows on shady rocks by streams ; and R. flaccida Lind, et G. always on living leaves, whether of trees and shrubs, or of palms, or of perennial herbs and ferns. The variety Campanensis looks distinct, from, the whitish perianths, but I can find no good character to separate it from the type. 9. Radula riparia Spruce. Hab. Tarapoto Andium Peruvian, ad rapes umbrosas in rivuli ripis. p i-6 x 1*2, P4 x 1*25, lobulus ‘5 x 5 ; c -g^ ; per 3'0 x *75mm. Elata pallide flava substrati ficata. Caules 3-pollicares inrequaliter pinnati, ramis ? furcatis. Folia subimbricata—ramomrn sterilium subdissita—patentissima vel