Xyris.| CXLII, XYRIDEZ (BROWN). 19 
entire, 3- or indistinctly 5-7-nerved, dull or purplish-brown, the colour 
fading out towards the margins. Lateral sepals 1}-2 lin. long, 
4 lin. broad, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, membranous, transparent, tinted 
with red or brown on the keel, nearly colourless on the sides; keel 
moderately broad, quite entire. Corolla-lobes scarcely 2 lin. long, obo- 
vate, toothed on the margin, yellow. Arms of the staminodes with 
brush-like tufts of hairs. Anthers oblong, 2-3 lin. long. Ovary ob- 
lanceolate, shortly beaked. Seeds ellipsoid, with a prominent apical 
umbo, longitudinally striate, reddish-brown. 
Lower Guinea. Angola: Pungo Andongo: spongy places between Caghuy 
and Sansamanda, but somewhat rare, Welwitsch, 2461! in spongy wooded meadows 
at Mutollo, near Pedras de Guinga, Welwitsch, 2462! plentiful in the Presidium, in 
spongy places on the higher rocks of Catete, Welwitsch, 2464! 
The minute rugosity on the leaves in this species and in X. straminea, Nilss., and 
one or two others is probably due to some form of shrinkage in drying, as some of 
the leaves show no trace of it. 
19. K. straminea, NVilss. in Ofvers. Vet. Akad. Férhandl. Stockh. 
1891, 153. Roots filiform, densely tufted; norhizome. Leaves 4-5 in, 
long, 4-1 lin. broad, linear, acute, rarely obtuse, often from shrinkage 
(but not always) minutely transversely rugulose in the dried state, with 
concolorous or pale sheaths 4-14 in. long. Peduncular-sheath $-2 in. 
long, leafless and mucronate, or with a leafy point {-4 in. long. Peduncle 
1}~12 in. long, very slender, 1—} lin. thick, terete or subcompressed, 
striate, very minutely rugulose in the upper part, slightly hollow. Spike 
2-2} lin. long, lanceolate, acute, 14 lin. in diam. when in flower, opening 
out when in fruit, 1—5-flowered. Bracts few, 14-22 lin. long, }-1 lin. 
broad, oblong or elliptic-oblong, the inner boat-shaped, keeled, and com- 
plicate-acute at the apex, but obtuse when flattened out, entire, not 
ciliate, 3-nerved, somewhat membranous, very pale brownish or straw- 
coloured. Lateral sepals about 2-24 lin. long, 4-4 lin. broad, straight, 
narrowly lanceolate, acute, membranous, straw-coloured; keel slightly 
rounded, with no trace of a wing, entire, not ciliate. Corolla only 
seen in a very young bud, yellow. Capsule 14-1? lin. long, # lin. diam., 
oblong, obtuse, apiculate, trigonous (or acutely triangular?) in cross 
section.—Nilss. in Svensk. Vet. Akad. Handl. xxiv. no. 14, 40; 
Durand & Schinz, Consp. Fl. Afr. v. 421 ; N. E. Br. in Dyer, Fi. Cap. vii. 
751. X, filiformis, N. E. Br. in Dyer, Fi. Cap. vii. 7, not of Lam. 
Upper Guinea. Niger Territory: Nupe ; swamps near Bakona, and at Lom, 
Barter, 764! 
Mozamb. Dist. British Central Africa: Nyasaland; Tanganyika Plateau at 
Fort Hill, 3500-4000 ft., Whyte ! 
Also in South Africa. 
This species is closely allied to X. filiformis, Lam., but differs in having no dorsal 
area on the outer bracts and no ciliation on the keel of the lateral sepals. The curious 
and minutely rugulose surface of the leaves and peduncles is best seen by holding the 
Specimens in a line with the source of light, but probably it is due to shrinkage in 
drying, aud may not be evident in the living plants. An imperfect specimen collected 
by Carson in a pool 2-3 miles south of Niomkolo, in Urungu, may also belong to 
this species. 
