Diodia.] LXX. RUBIACEZ (HIERN). 231 
2. D. rubricosa, Hiern. Glabrous, almost shrubby below, rigid. 
Branches subterete, somewhat compressed towards the extremities, 
reddish brown. Leaves oval, obtuse, apiculate, wedge-shaped at the 
base, rather thick, 3-1} by 4-3 in., midrib and about 4 pairs of lateral 
veins impressed on the upper surface; stipular sheath about ¥, in. 
deep, tipped with 3 about equally long sete. Flowers solitary, nearly 
$ in. long, sessile, axillary. Calyx + in. long; limb consisting of 2 
foliaceous elliptical lobes } in. long. Corolla-tube very slender, nearly 
} in. long ; lobes 4, elliptical, 4 in. long. 
Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Hb. Afzelius! 
3. D. arenosa?, DC. Prodr. iv. p. 564. Glabrous, decumbent ; 
branches ascending, scarcely a foot high. ‘Leaves sublinear, more or 
less narrowed at both ends, sessile, scabrous above and on the margin, 
1-23 by $-4 in., lateral veins obsolete ; stipules truncate, sheathing, 
short, 3-5-setose at the apex; setee narrowly subulate, equalling or 
rather exceeding the sheath. Flowers several together, small. Calyx- 
lobes 4, lanceolate-subulate, longer than the tube.—Benth. in Hook. 
Niger Fl. p. 423. 
Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone?, G. Don! 
_ Ihave not seen the type of this Brazilian species, and only follow Mr. Bentham 
in doubtfully referring Don's plant to it. 
4. D. maritima, Thonn. in Schum. Beskr. Guin. Pl. p. 75. A 
creeping or decumbent herb, with long trailing glabrate quadrangular 
or rarely subterete branches, rising about 1 foot high, leafy towards the 
extremities. Leaves oval, subapiculate, rounded or subobtuse at the 
subsessile base, smooth and shining above or scabrid on both sides and 
on the margin, rigid (at least in the dry state), ranging up to 1-1} by 
2-4 n., lateral veins about 4-5 pairs, impressed above, making an 
acute angle with the impressed midrib; stipules short, broad, truncate, 
rennecting the base of the leaves or short petioles, usually 5-setose. 
Owers sessile or subsessile, usually solitary, tetramerous, 4 in. long. 
alyx green; lobes in fruit 2-2 in. long, lanceolate-oblong, glabrous © 
or scabernlous on the margin; intermediate teeth minute, subulate. 
Corolla white ; lobes oval or somewhat lanceolate. Stigma subcapitate. 
ruit glabrous, 3-4 in. long exclusive of the calyx-limb.—Diodia 
Soliosa, Wawra et Peyritsch, Sert. Beng. p. 39. 
Ba Upper Guinea. On sandy coasts of Guinea, Thonning, Capt. Babington ! 
nanas, Sierra Leone, Afzelius! Smeathman ! Senegambia, Perrottet and Leprieur, 
Heudelot Goree, Hb. Mus. Brit.; on the Nun River, Th. Vogel! Mann! Brass, Barter ! 
Old Calabar, W. G@. Milne! 
Lower Guinea. Banana, Congo, Monteiro! Chr. Smith! Loango, Soyaur ! Ben- 
Suella, Wawra, 
De Candolle in Prodr. iv. p. 594 refers Spermacoce commutata, Schult. from Porto 
ico and 8. serrulata, Beauv. from Warree, as varieties of this species. 
Occurs also in Cuba, Guatemala, ete. 
5. D. breviseta, Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. p. 424, A trailing or 
Scandent herb of many feet in length, with quadrangular often scabrid 
ranches. Leaves elliptical, somewhat narrowed at both ends sub- 
