GEOPHILA (RUBIACEAE) IN NORTH AMERICA Louis 0. Williams Field Museum In the preparation of an account of Geophila for the Flora of Guatemala it was found necessary to study all of the North American material and to correlate it with the South American collections. Geophila is a genus of lowland species and as might be expected they are often wide ranging. Most of the North Amer-ican material has been called Geophila herbacea (Jacq.) Schum. (~G. repens (L.) I. M. Johnston) and it is true that ours are all closely allied. The four species reported here are all known in South America and probably all are more common there. Fruits black when mature; inflorescence originating from the primary stem or from a very short usually leafless secondary stem; pyrenes not ridged G. macropoda . Fruits red or orange when mature; inflorescence usually from an elongated leaf -bearing secondary stem; pyrenes prominently ridged. Ovary, fruits and leaves pubescent G. cordifolia . Ovary and fruit glabrous, leaves usually so. Leaves acute or acuminate, obviously longer than broad G. gracilis . Leaves obtuse, about as long as broad G. repens . GEOPHILA CORDIFOLIA Miq. Stirp. Surin. Sel. 176. 1850; Steyerm. Mem. N. Y. Bot. Card. 23: 392. 1972. Mapouria trichogyne Muell.-Arg. in Martius, Fl. Bras. 6>2* 423. 1881. Geophila trichogyne Standi. Field Mus. Bot. 7: 423. 1931. The species occurs in British Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica. The abundant pubesoence distinguishes it superficially from others in Central America and Panama. Widely distributed in lowland South America,-the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru (var. peruviana Steyerm.). GEOPHILA GRACILIS (Ruiz & Pavon) DC. Prodr. 4: 537. 1830. Psychotria gracilis Ruiz & Pavon, Fl. Peruv. 2: 63, .t. 21 1 t fig . C. 1799. Known from a single specimen in Nicaragua ( van der Slui.js S666 ) and in Panama from Barro Colorado Island ( Croat 10989 ; Ebinger 569 ; Seibert 564 ; Starry 31 ) • In South America known 263
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