Loranthus. | CXIX, LORANTHACEE (SPRAGUE). 329 
101. L, fragilis, Sprague. Branches very brittle, subterete, greyish- 
brown in a dried state, glabrous, very nodose, about 14 lin. in diam. 1 ft, 
below the apex ; internodes 2-6 lin. long. Leaves opposite, subopposite 
or alternate, obovate, rounded at the apex, cuneate into the base, $-1 in. 
long, 33-6 lin. broad, succulent, glaucous-green (Gossweiler), rigidly 
coriaceous in a dried state ; lateral nerves hardly visible; midrib slightly 
raised on both surfaces; petiole 4-1 lin. long. Umbels axillary, appa- 
rently fascicled, 3-4-flowered ; peduncle 14-13 lin. long; pedicels 1 lin. 
long; bract ovate from asaucer-shaped base, rounded or subemarginate, 
very concave, thickly keeled, glandular-ciliolate, dorsal margin }-3 lin. 
long, ventral margin 4-1 lin. long. Receptacle and calyx together 
narrowly campanulate, 1} lin. long. Calyx patulous, truncate, glandular- 
ciliolate, $lin.long. Corolla about 9 lin. long, greenish with sulphur-yellow 
lobes; tube 21 lin. long, constricted about the middle, split unilaterally 
to ¢ lin. above the base; lobes suberect, 64 lin. long, subspathulate- 
linear, slightly ineurved in the upper part. Filaments inserted at the 
base of the corolla-lobes, 34 lin. long, slightly tapering upwards, involute ; 
anthers linear, 23 lin. long ; connective produced } lin. beyond the cells, 
3 lin. broad. Disc shortly lobed, } lin. high. Style not thickened 
above ; stigma subglobose, 2 lin. in diam. 
pacha Guinea. Angola: common in woods near Benguella, Gossweiler, 
Near ZL. Welwitschii, from which it differs in the very nodose branches and 
smaller obovate leaves, 
102. L, elegantissimus, Schinz in Bull. Herb. Boiss. iv. App. iii. 
52. Branchlets spreading, elongated, yellowish-grey, glabrous. Leaves 
Opposite, subopposite or alternate, narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 
acute, obtuse or rounded at the apex, cuneate or attenuate into the base, 
$-11 in. long, 14-6 lin. broad, thinly coriaceous, glabrous, irregularly 
83-nerved from shortly above the base; petiole 4-14 lin. long. Umbels 
fascicled on leafy axillary cushion-like short-shoots, 3-4-flowered ; 
peduncle 1 lin. long ; pedicels ? lin. long ; bract ovate-cupular, strongly 
umbonate, umbo laterally compressed, dorsal margin 2 lin. long, ventral 
margin { lin. long. Receptacle and calyx together tubular, 14-12 lin. 
long. Calyx subtruncate, minutely ciliolate, 4-2 lin. long. Corolla 
orange, 83 lin. long, slightly constricted 1 lin. above the base; tube 
Split unilaterally down to 3 lin. above the base; lobes erect, linear 
below, oblanceolate-linear above, 64-64 lin. long, acute. Filaments 
inserted about the base of the corolla-lobes, about 34 lin. long, much 
involute, dorsal surface with about 7 deep transverse grooves; anthers 
linear, 28-21 lin, long ; connective produced ,1,; lin. beyond the cells. 
Dise 5-lobed, hardly } lin. high. Stigma ellipsoid, over 3 lin. long.— 
L. karibibensis, Engl. in Engl. Jahyb. xl. 524. 
Lower Guinea. German South-west Africa: Amboland ; Oombale, Schinz, 
291! Hereroland; Karibib, Dinter, 1445! Pot Mine, Fleck, 415! Spitzkoppjes, 
Dinter, 17! Amutoni, Dinter, 730! 
_ Chiefly parasitic on species of Acacia. According to Schinz, the filaments coil 
inwards explosively at the moment of expansion of the flower. 
