314 CXXXIV. SCITAMINEZ (BAKER). [ Thalia. 
1. T. coerulea, Ridley in Journ. Bot. 1887, 132. Root-leaves 
lanceolate-acuminate, 10 in. long, an inch broad, with a long broad 
sheathing petiole. Stems slender, 5-7 ft. long. Panicle lax, with few 
branches, } ft. long ; lower branch-bracts not leafy ; branchlets flexuose ; 
outer flower-bract grey-violet, ovate-lanceolate, 4 in. long; inner ovate, 
obtuse. Flowers blue. Sepals ovate, obtuse. Dorsal petal lorate, 
obtuse, ł in. long, much larger than the two others. Staminiferous 
lobe of the andrecium lanceolate, obtuse; lip lanceolate, from a tri- 
angular base. Seed oblong, } in. long. 
Lower Guinea. Angola: Pungo Andongo; in marshes by the River Cuanza, 
Welwitsch, 6444! 
No specimen in the Kew Herbarium. 
2. T. Welwitschii, Ridley in Journ. Bot. 1887,132. Root-leaves 
ovate, glaucous, 9 in. long, 3 in. broad, with a petiole 1 ft. long, sheath- 
ing the stem in the lower part. Stem 3-5 ft. long. Panicle lax, 
leafless, not very compound; final branchlets slightly flexuose, 2 in. 
long; outer flower-bract subacute, 3 in. long; inner rather longer, 
oblong, acute. Flowers purple. Sepals ovate, obtuse. Dorsal petal 
ligulate, obtuse; lateral shorter, lanceolate, obtuse. Staminiferous 
lobe of the andrecium cuneate; anther with a long stipes. Fruit 
globose. 
Lower Guinea. Angola: Cazengo; rather rare in damp places between 
Cacula and Dalatanda, Welwitsch, 6443! Pungo Andongo; in marshes in the woods 
of Mutollo, Welwitsch, 6445! 
No specimen in the Kew Herbarium. 
3. T. geniculata, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. ii. 3. Whole plant 5—6 ft. high. 
Root-leaves with long petioles, sheathing the lower part of the stem ; 
blade ovate or oblong, acute, rounded at the base, moderately firm, 
glabrous, very variable in size, often 1 ft. long, 4—6 in. broad ; petiole 
with a glabrous cylindrical callus at the apex, 4—1 in. long. Panicle 
very large and lax ; lower branches often subtended by reduced leaves; 
rhachis very flexuose; flower-bracts oblong, scariose, glabrous or 
hairy, }-1 in. long. Flowers in pairs reaching to the tip of the 
bract, shortly pedicellate. Calyx very small. Petals oblong, obtuse. 
Staminodia usually obovate, violet, much longer than the petals. 
Capsule obovoid, } in. long.—Rose. Scit. t. 45; Horan. Prodr. 10; 
Peters. in Mart. Fl. Bras. III. iii. 142, t. 38, fig. 3. Maranta geniculata, 
Lam. Illust. i. 9. 
Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Heudelot, 665! Sierra Leone: in rice fields 
about Mahela, Scott-Elliot, 4054! Falaba, Scott-Elliot, 5098! Dahomey : Godome, 
Newton, 16! Lagos: Yoruba; Abeokuta, Irving, 152! 158! and without precise 
locality, Moloney! Millen! Niger Territory: Nupe, Barter,1024! Hausa, Krause - 
Cameroons: Yaunde, Zenker § Staudt, 198! 608 ! 
S ! 
Wile Land. British East Africa: Jur; Jur Ghattas, Schweinfurth, 1791! 
Niamniam ; Gumango Hill, Schweinfurth, 2873 ! 
Also through Tropical America from Florida to Brazil. 
