dberia.] xni. bixtneje (oliver). 123 



straight, axillary, acute spines £-1 in. long. Young twigs pilose-pubescent. 

 Leaves ovate-lanceolate or ovate-elliptical, acute, sometimes acuminate, mem- 

 branous, softly pilose especially beneath, remotely or obsoletely spinulose- 

 denticulate, l£-2 | in. long, f-'l| in. broad. Petiole 1 line. Male flowers 

 very small, axillary, sessile, solitary or two or three together ; female flowers 

 very shortly stalked or sessile. Perianth 5-8-partite ; segments spreading. 

 Ovary densely and shortly pilose, partially or wholly 3- or 4-celled with 2 or 

 few ovules in each cell, surrounded by a small undulate or interrupted an- 

 nular disk. Styles 3-4 short, erect, papillose-lobulate at the tip. Berry 

 pilose-pubescent, much exceeding the perianth. 



Var. P. lanceolata. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate. 



Lower Guinea. Angola, distr. Pungo Andongo, Br. Welwitsch ! 



. r. " e lwitsch collected in Iluilla specimens without flower or fruit of a spinosc shrub, 

 "hich will probably prove a fifth species of Aberia. The twigs are minutely verruculose 

 and glabrous or puberulous at the tips, the leaves subcoriaceous, ovate or ovate-elliptical, 

 obtuse, entire, glabrous, veiny, l|-2 iu. long, \-\\ in. broad; petiole 1 line. 



7. DASYLEPIS, Oliv.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 972. 



Flowers hermaphrodite (or perhaps polygamous). Sepals 4 (or 5), round, 

 coherent at the base, two outside opposite. Petals 4-7, alternate, im- 

 bricate, slightly perigynous, with as many small, thick, hairy scales adhering 

 ■ their bases on the ' inner side. Stamens indefinite, slightly perigynous, 

 free; anthers linear or linear-oblong, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary free, 

 glabrous, with 2-4 multiovulate placentas. Style simple ; stigma minutely 

 2 -3-4-toothed. Fruit unknown. — A glabrous tree with alternate, somewhat 

 coriaceous, penninerved leaves. Stipules deciduous. Flowers of moderate 

 Slz e in many-flowered axillary racemes. 



" e Allowing is the only species described. 



*• D. racemosa, Oliv. ; Jo urn. Linn. Soc. ix. 170. Leaves elliptical 

 0r oval, with a wedge-shaped base, 6-9 in. long, 2|-3| in. broad, shortly 

 an <l obtusely acuminate, slightly denticulate-serrate towards the apex ; lateral 

 nerves prominent below. Petiole 4-6 lines. Flowers 6-8 lines diam., on 

 straight pedicels 3-6 lines long, articulated to the axis of the raceme. Ka- 

 eemes about half as long as the leaves. Bracts minute, rounded, scale-like. 



Upper Guinea. Camaroons mountain, 2-3000 ft., Mann ! 



Order XIV. PITTOSPORE^ (by Prof. Oliver). 



Flowers regular, hermaphrodite. Sepals 5, free or slightly connate below, 

 Privation imbricate. Petals 5, exceeding the sepals, free or connate below, 

 aiore or less spreading above, activation imbricate. Stamens 5, hypogynous, 

 ree , alternate with the petals; filaments filiform or linear; anthers dehiscing 

 ' "g'tudinally (in the African genus), unappendaged. Ovary 2-, rarely 8-5- 

 ; elled °r 1-locular with parietal placentas and indefinite ovules. Style simple, 

 ^ninal ; stigma minute or capitate, entire or toothed. Fruit (in the African 

 f n «s) a coriaceous capsule dehiscing loculicidallv in two valves each bearing a 

 e P™m on the middle. Seeds albuminous, with a minute embryo ; testa smooth 



