Essentially similar to S. spinosa except the plant never armed except on older stems; the flowers larger, the tepals more than 4 mm long. Croat 14955. Rare, in the forest. Croat 14955 may be S. spinosa with an unusually large flower. Shattuck 150 is a sterile plant-probably S. spinosa, since it has spines on the young stem. No other collections from BCI can be assigned to this species with certainty. Since fruiting specimens of S. lanceolata and S. spinosa are not distinguishable, the validity of this species seems in doubt. Mexico to Panama; West Indies. In Panama, known from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone, Bocas del Toro, Colón; Veraguas, Herrera, Panamd, and Darién; known also from premontane wet forest in Bocas del Toro and Panamd and from tropical wet forest in Bocas del Toro, Coclé, and Panamá.