Costus. | CXXXIV. SCITAMINEA (BAKER). 299 
cuneate at the base, moderately firm, glabrous on both sides; petiole 
scarcely any; ligule oblong, brown, membranous, obtuse, 1-14 in. 
long. Flowers many in a sessile globose cluster, terminal on the leafy 
stem ; bracts orbicular, } in. broad. Calyx } in. long, toothed at the 
tip. Corolla-lobes above 1 in. long. Lip 2 in. long and broad, pink ; 
process of fertile stamen an inch shorter than the lip. 
Lower Guinea. Corisco Bay, by the Muni River, Mann, 1628! 
3. C. sarmentosus, Bojer in Ann. Sc. Nat. sér. 2, iv. 262, t. 8. 
Stems slender, sarmentose, reaching a length of 20-30 ft. Leaves 
oblong-lanceolate, a span long, 2 in. broad at the middle, softly pubes- 
cent beneath ; petiole very short, villous; ligule short, densely ciliated. 
Spikes sessile at the apex of the leafy stem, i} in. diam.; bracts 
suborbicular, the lower 1 in. broad. Calyx shorter than the bract. 
Corolla-lobes oblong, acute. Lip obovate-cuneate, 1 in. broad, white 
with a yellow blotch in the middle, fimbriated at the margin ; process 
of fertile stamen nearly as long as the lip.— Bojer, Hort. Maurit. 328. 
Mozamb. Dist. Island of Zanzibar, on the banks of streams amongst tall 
grass, Bojer ! 
No specimen in the Kew Herbarium. 
4. C. afer, Ker in Bot. Reg. t. 683. Terrestrial. Leafy stems erect, 
reaching a length of 10-12 ft. Leaves very variable in size, oblong or 
oblong-lanceolate, 3—9 in. long, 1—3 in. broad at the middle, acuminate, 
moderately firm, rounded at the base to a short broad petiole, glabrous 
or softly pubescent beneath; ligule very short. Spikes globose, 1-3 in. 
long, 1 23 in. diam., usually sessile at the end of the leafy stems ` bracts 
suborbicular, glabrous, the outer 3—1 in. long and broad. Calyx shorter 
than the bract ; lobes ovate, obtuse. Corolla-lobes oblong, acute, about 
l in. long. Lip 14 in. long and broad, white or red, with a yellow 
‘centre; process that bears the anther 4—4 in. broad, nearly as long as 
the lip, incurved at the tip.—Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 4979; Horan. 
Prodr. Scit. 36 ; Ridley in Journ. Bot. 1887, 131; Schumann in Engl. 
Jahrb, xy. 422, 
Upper Guinea, Island of Los, Selwyn ! Sierra Leone, Afzelius ! Don! Vogel, 
£0; Scott-Elliot, 3886! Gold Coast, Burton! Lower Niger ` Abo, Vogel! Barter, 
417! Fernando Po, Mann, 439! Cameroons: Cameroon River, Mann, 2143! 
Nile Land. British East Africa: Niamnieam; Nabambisso River, Schwein- 
Surth, ser, iii. 204! Uganda, Scott-Elliot, 7330 ! 
Lower Guinea. Congo, Smith! Angola: Golungo Alto; between Trombeto 
and Cambondo, common on the banks of the streams, Welwitsch, 6464! 
Var, maculatus, Baker. Flowering stems produced direct from the root, covered 
by imbricate leaf sheaths, C. maculatus, Rose. Scit. t. 82. 
Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Don, 
Dried specimens of a plant cultivated at Kew in 1883 show the tall leafy stems of 
the type, and the short leafless stems of the variety from the same root. 
5. C. lucanusianus, J. Braun & Schumann in Mitth. Deutsch. 
Schutzgeb. ii. (1889) 151. Leafy stem 6-7 ft. long. Leaves shortly 
petioled, oblong, 8-10 in. long, 2-3 in. broad, gradually acuminate, 
