JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM STUDIES IN THE GENUS COCCOLOBA, VII. A SYNOPSIS AND KEY TO THE SPECIES IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA RICHARD A. HOWARD THE ONLY COMPLETE MONOGRAPH of the genus Coccoloba was prepared by Gustav Lindau and published in Engler's Botanische Jahrbiicher 13: 106-229. 1890. Since that time many additional species have been de-scribed in the genus as the result of extensive collecting by botanists in Mexico and in the several countries of Central America. Paul Standlev revised Coccoloba as it occurs in Mexico in his treatment of the trees and shrubs of Mexico published in 1922. More recently Standley with Julian Steyermark treated the species of Guatemala as part of their series of papers on the flora of Guatemala. In addition, lists of species, some with critical notes, will be found in the following papers. Other papers and citations are included in the text. ALLEN, P. Preliminary index to the trees of the Goltito-Palmar area, Costa Rica. 37. 1952. SMITH, J. D. Enumeratio plantarum Guatemalensium 6: 36. 1903. STANDLEY, P. C. Flora of the Panama Canal Zone. Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 27: 170. 1928. . Flora of Yucatan. Publ. Field Mus. Bot. 3: 252-253. 1930. -Flora of the Lancetilla Valley, Honduras. Publ. Field Mus. Bot. 10: 180-181. 1931. Flora of Costa Rica. Publ. Field Mus. Bot. 182: 413-414. 1937.-and S. CALDER6N. Lista preliminar de las plantas de El Salvador. 98. 1925.---and S. J. RECORD. The forest and flora of British Honduras. Publ. Field Mus. Bot. 12: 125-127. 1936.YUNCKER, T. G. A contribution to the flora of Honduras. Publ. Field Mus. Bot. 17: 361. 1938. -. Flora of the Aguan Valley and the coastal regions near La Ceiba. Honduras. Publ. Field Mus. Bot. 9: 286. 1940. In general, the genus Coccoloba has been overdescribed in Mexico andCentral America. Of the eighty names which have been applied in pub-lished form, only thirty-three species are recognized in this paper. In largepart this tendency to excessive description is due to floristic treatmentswhich deal individually with the many small countries of Central America.Many species which were considered endemic in adjacent countries haveproved to be identical instead. Several West Indian species are now rec-ognized in the Central American flora and the corresponding CentralAmerican name has been reduced to synonymy. Seven species had been de-scribed on the basis of sterile branches from adventitious shoots. All ofthese have now been associated with fertile material and these names placed[VOL. XL
BioStor
