188 CXVI. LAURINE# (STAPF). | Cassytha. 
5. CASSYTHA, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. ii. 164. 
Flowers hermaphrodite, sometimes dimorphic (dicecious?). Perianth 
with a turbinate or ovoid receptacle (very small during flowering) and a 
6-partite limb, after flowering tightly constricted at the junction of limb 
and tube; segments unequal, outer 3 much smaller. Stamens in 4 
whorls of 3, of the 3 outer fertile, of the fourth staminodial, rarely also 
those of the second whorl] reduced to staminodes ; anthers 2-celled, of the 
2 outer whorls introrse, of the third extrorse; filaments of the third 
whorl with subsessile glands at each side of the base; staminodes sub- 
sessile or stipitate. Ovary during flowering hardly immersed in the 
receptacle, which afterwards grows out and envelopsit. Fruit completely 
enclosed in the succulent receptacle, often crowned by the persistent 
limb. Seed witha coriaceous testa. Cotyledons tightly adpressed to each 
other, distinct only when young.—Twining, parasitic herbs, adhering to 
their hosts by means of uniseriate haustoria. Leaves reduced to minute 
scales. Flowers small, racemose, spicate or capitate, sessile or pedicelled 
from the axils of scale-like bracts, supported by a pair of bracteoles. 
Species about 15, mostly Australian, the following widely spread throughout the 
tropics. 
1. C. filiformis, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. i. 35. Stems filiform, bright 
yellow, glabrous or more or less pubescent to tomentose. Leaf-scales ovate 
to lanceolate-subulate, acute. Inflorescences loosely spicate, usually soli- 
tary, spreading, 1—2 in. long, few- to 10-flowered. Flowers hermaphrodite, 
white, up to about 1 lin. long; bracteoles ciliolate. Outer perianth- 
segments very similar to the bracteoles, inner broadly ovate-oblong, 
obtuse, 3 times longer. Filaments of the first whorl broader than the 
anther, thinly membranous, of the second narrower than the anther. 
Staminodes triangular, fleshy. Fruit crowned with the persistent limb, 
2-3 lin, in diam.—Meisn. in DC. Prodr. xv.i. 255; Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. 
C. 182; Hiern in Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. i. 915; Engl. ex Gilg in Baum, 
Kunene-Samb., Exped. 238 ; De Wild. in Ann. Mus. Congo, sér. v. i. 244. 
C’. guineensis, Meisn. l.c. (including var. Livingstonii). C. americana, 
Meisn. l.c. 256. Cassyta guineensis, Schum. & Thonn. Beskr. Guin. Pl. 
199; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 497. C.americana, Nees, Syst. Laur. 644. 
Upper Guinea. Senegambia: without precise locality, Roger ! Sierra Leone, 
Scott-Elliot, 4177! 5875! Freetown, Johnston, 71! Gold Coast: Aburi, Johnson, 
970! Togoland: Lome, Warnecke, 53! Lagos, Dawodu, 33!154! Southern Nigeria: 
mouth of the Niger, Mann, 464! Northern Nigeria: Nupe, Barter, 412! Adda- 
suduh, Fogel ! 
Wile Land. Somaliland, Lort Phillips ! Uganda: Buddu, 3900 ft., Dawe, 302! 
LowerGuinea. Loango, Soyaux, 32! Angola: Pungo Andongo, Welwitsch, 
6427! 6428 ! Benguela, Welwitsch, 6424! Monteiro! Mossamedes, Welwitsch, 
6425 ! Gossweiler, 30! Chijija, by the Longa River, Baum, 626! 
Mozamb. Dist. Zanzibar, Hildebrandt, 1030! German East Africa: Tanga, 
Volkens, 170! Tanganyika shore, Scott-Elliot, 8235! Mozambique: Island of 
Chingune, Johnson, 65! Mouth of Zambesi, Kirk ! Nyasaland: banks of Luabo 
river, Kirk, 24! 51! Muata Manja, Kirk! Shire Highlands, Buchanan, 367! 
Namasi, Cameron! Nyika Plateau, MeClounie, 112! Island of Likoma, Johnson, 
33! west shore of Lake Nyasa, Kirk ! 
