240 OK THE EHESHWATETl HTDROCHAETDE^ OF AFRICA. 



B. coRDATA, Ldl. — Madagascar, Forhes no. 1 ! Herb. Brit. 

 Mus- 



B. ExsERTA, n. sp. (Plate XIII.) Ehizoma subiiullum ; folia 

 coriacea oyata elliptica obtusa 5-nervia longe pcfciolata, lamina 2|- 

 3-5 uucias longa, l|-2 uncias lata, petiolus ad 9 uncias longus ; 

 scapus 10-uiicialis vel brcvior ; spath seangustse 1-2 uncias longse, 

 subcyliudricre vix dilatatae apice trifidae, latere uno profundiore 

 fiss^ ; flores J circiter G in spatha, tubus longe exsertus ; sepala 

 tenuia quam petala multo breviora ; petala flava versus apices albe- 

 scentia, ovata obtusa ; stamina flava; flos $ singulus in spatha 2 

 uncias longa, tubus exsertus ; sepala angusta coriacea viridia, acu- 

 minata, ^ unciam longa, obtusa. 



Eastern Africa. Biver Sliirc, a few miles above Sbamo, Aug. 

 1859 ; K. Zambesi, Shupaiiga, Jan. 5, 1860, Sir John Kirk in 

 Herb. Kew\ Madagascar, no. 2, Forhes ! Herb. Brit. Mus. 



This is a small species with hard leaves something like those 

 of Potamogeton nataiis, L., and rather small yellow flowers, 

 the tubes of which project for some distance beyond tlie spathe. 

 Both the specimens collected by Sir John Kirk and the 

 drawing made by him (for the use of which I have to express my 

 thanks to the authorities at Kew, and especially to Mr. Baker) 

 were in male flower; but in the British-Museum herbarium are 

 t"wo specimens collected by Forbes in Madagascar, which have 

 both male and female flowers. The male flowers, besides being 

 more numerous in the spathe than the female, are larger, with a 

 more delicate tube further exserted from the mouth of the spathe, 



and the sepala are quite thin and shorter and blunter. Two flowers 

 apparently are open at the same time. The petals are yellow, 

 deepest in the centre and parsing into white at the edges. The 

 female flower has a shorter and thicker tube, and larger thicker 

 sepals, very narrowly lanceolate acuminate but blunt. I have not 

 seen the petals* 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 



Plate XIII. 



Boottia exaerfa, Ridley, xu sp. 

 Fig. 1. The entire male plant, nat. size, fmm an original drawing bj Sir John 



Kirk, F.L.S. 



2, Spathe of male plant, laid open, 



3, Spathe of female flower, laid open ; petals foUen away. 



4, A stamen. 



5, Rudimentary pistil of male flower. 



