Gnidia. | CXVILI. THYMELHACEE (PEARSON). 219 
5. G. Thomsoni, //. 17. W. Pearson. Flowering stems slender, erect, 
glabrous, branched, 6-9 in. high. Leaves linear, acuminate, acute, 
glabrous, 4—-? in. long. Heads many-flowered, peduncled ; involucral 
bracts 6-8, elliptic, acuminate, acute, with distinct midrib, thin, 
coloured, erect during flowering, 4 in. long. Flowers 4-merous, 
minutely pedicellate ; pedicel silky-villous at the summit. Calyx-tube 
quite glabrous below the articulation, glandular and puberulous above, 
about $ in. long ; lobes elliptic, concave, obtuse, slightly incurved at the 
apex. Petals reduced to slender capitate papillz }-4lin. long. Anthers 
of the lower whorl imperfect. Ovary glabrous. 
Mozamb. Distr. German East Africa: lower plateau north of Lake Nyasa, 
Thomson ! 
6. G. Welwitschii, Hiern in Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. i. 923. Stems 
erect, simple or little branched, glabrous, 1-3 ft. high, arising from a 
thick woody rootstock. Leaves alternate or crowded, linear, acute, 
rigid, glabrous, }-% in. long, 4-3 lin. broad. Heads terminal, many- 
flowered (about 24); peduncle leafless, short ; involucral bracts about 8, 
oval-obovate, obtuse or mucronate at the apex, coloured orange or 
reddish, glabrous or minutely gland-dotted, 3 in. long. Flowers 4-merous, 
vermilion or scarlet, scarcely 4 in. long; pedicel rather thick, villous 
at the apex. Calyx-tube slender, glabrous below the articulation, 
puberulous above; lobes broadly ovate, obtuse, pilose on the back, 1 lin. 
long. Petals small. Fruit ;'5 in. long. 
Lower Guinea. Angola: in bushy pastures between Lopollo and Humpata, 
and in the dry open Monino forests, Welwitsch, 6482! 
7. G. Schweinfurthii, Gilg in Engl. Jahrb. xix. 261, Flowering 
stems erect, laxly branched, stout, glabrous, 1-2 ft. high, apparently 
arising from a stout rhizome. Leaves scattered, lanceolate or oblong, 
obtuse or subacute, narrowed at the base, glabrous, shortly petioled, 
4-1 in. long, 2-3 lin. broad. Heads 15-25-flowered, terminal or in 
loose, axillary, 1-3-headed, long-peduncled, more or less leafy racemes ; 
involucral bracts 4—5, broadly ovate or subrotund, rounded at the apex, 
papery, coloured, about 4} as long as the flowers. Flowers 4-merous, 
brownish-yellow (Schweinfurth), pedicellate ; pedicels about 4 lin. long, 
bearing a brush of long erect white hairs. Calyx-tube glabrous below 
the articulation, pubescent above, about 3} in. long; lobes oblong, 
rounded at the apex, pubescent below, about 1 lin, long. Petals linear 
or subulate, thinly membranous, about } lin. long. Ovary glabrous. 
Fruit ovoid, acuminate, obtuse, smooth, 1-14 lin. long. 
Worth Central. Eastern Chari: near Vou, Chevalier, 7391! between Vou 
and Ndelli, Chevalier, 7407 ! 
Wile Lana. Bongo: Sabbi, Schweinfurth, 2851! 
8. G. Buchananii, Gilg in Engl. Jahrb. xix. 261, Flowering 
stems numerous, erect, much-branched, stout, 1-2 ft. high, arising from 
