Borreria, nov. sp. near valerianoides (Rubiaceae).
Fritz Muller sent me seeds of this plant, which is extremely abundant in St.
Catharina, in South Brazil; and ten plants were raised, consisting of five long-
styled and five short-styled. The pistil of the long-styled flowers projects
just beyond the mouth of the corolla, and is thrice as long as that of the
short-styled, and the divergent stigmas are likewise rather larger. The anthers
in the long-styled form stand low down within the corolla, and are quite hidden.
In the short-styled flowers the anthers project just above the mouth of the
corolla, and the stigma stands low down within the tube. Considering the great
difference in the length of the pistils in the two forms, it is remarkable that
the pollen-grains differ very little in size, and Fritz Muller was struck with
the same fact. In a dry state the grains from the short-styled flowers could
just be perceived to be larger than those from the long-styled, and when both
were swollen by immersion in water, the former were to the latter in diameter in
the ratio of 100 to 92. In the long-styled flowers beaded hairs almost fill up
the mouth of the corolla and project above it; they therefore stand above the
anthers and beneath the stigma. In the short-styled flowers a similar brush of
hairs is situated low down within the tubular corolla, above the stigma and
beneath the anthers.
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