Gnetum. | CXXVIII. GNETACEH (Pearson). 331 
thickened and tumid at the nodes; branches spreading, reflexed or pen- 
dulous, opposite, sometimes in whorls of 3, glabrous ; penultimate in- 
ternodes 6-8 in. long; lower branches as thick as a crow’s quill. Leaves 
opposite, sometimes in whorls of 3, shortly petioled, ovate- or elliptic- 
oblong, more rarely lanceolate, attenuate at the base, abruptly acumi- 
nate, obtuse or minutely apiculate, entire or obscurely subcrenate, 
somewhat rigid, thin, glabrous, pale green above, paler beneath, with 
3-6 strongly curved lateral veins on each side, looped under the 
margin, prominent beneath; petiole canaliculate above, 3-5 lin. 
long ; blade 4-5 in. long, 14-2 in. broad, with an acumen }-4 in. long. 
Male spike lateral or terminal on a short lateral branch, solitary, 
peduncled, usually (? always) unbranched, with a pair of triangular 
scale-like bracts on the peduncle, internodes 8-12, cylindric, very 
slender in dried (? or old) specimens; peduncle about $ in. long ; 
thachis 2-24 in. long; cupule very prominent in dried (? or old) 
specimens, with an entire, rarely 2-toothed margin; anthers 2, 
exserted from the 2-leaved envelope during flowering. Female 
spike straight or variously twisted, terminal on a short or long 
lateral branch, unbranched or sometimes branched, pedunculate, - 
with a pair of triangular scale-like bracts on the peduncle, with 
5-9 slightly turbinate internodes, bearing at each node a whorl of 
3 or 2 perfect or aborted seeds ; peduncle about $ in. long; rhachis 
13-2 in. long ; internode }- in. long; cupule very slightly swollen, 
with an entire or somewhat irregular margin. Ovule sessile in a cup- 
shaped depression. Mature seed 3-3 in. long, enclosed in the somewhat 
drupaceous orange-tinted envelope.—Rendle in Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. 
ii. 257 ; Pearson in Ann. Bot. xxvi. 603-620, t. Ix. fig. 1b. (¢ spike). 
Upper Guinea. Cameroons: Abonando, Rudatis, 42! Bipinde, Zenker, 
1180 ! 4129! 4134! 4380! 
Lower Guinea. Gaboon: Munda; Sibange Farm, Soyaur, 205! Angola: 
Cazengo District ; Golungo Alto, in dense thickets, Welwitsch, 1224! Serra de 
Alto Queta, Welwitsch, 1225; on the Queta range near the Montobello home- 
stead, in dense forest, Gossweiler, 756! Pearson, 2307! 
2. G. bucholzianum, Engl. in Engl. Jahrb. xl. 519. A dicecious 
liane. Adult branches flexuous ; internodes of the penultimate branches 
6 in. long, } in. thick ; of the younger 2-2} in. long, green, tumid at 
the nodes, glabrous. Petiole slender, canaliculate above, frequently 
twining, 4-3 in. long; blade oval or oblong-elliptic, obtuse or acute 
at the base, at the apex long-acuminate and mucronulate, entire, 
somewhat rigid, glabrous, pale green, paler beneath, with 4-5 ascend- 
ing curved lateral veins on each side looped under the margin and 
prominent beneath, 3-6 in. long, 14-3} in. broad with an acumen 
4-2 in. long. Male spikes lateral or terminal, solitary, shortly 
pedunculate with a whorl of 2 or 3 triangular scale-like bracts on the 
peduncle, with 8-12 turbinate internodes thicker at the base than 
higher up; cupule cyathiform, with an entire or 2-toothed edge, 
much shorter than the internode; peduncle } in. long; rhachis 
