Xyris. | CXLII. XYRIDEH (BROWN). 21 
I have not seen this species; it appears to be allied to X. multicaulis, N. E. Br., 
or X, filiformis, Lam, 
23. SK. erubescens, Rendle in Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. ii. 73. Plant 
about 8 in. high, “scarcely cespitose ” (Welwitsch). Leaf-sheaths form- 
ing a bulbous base, leafless in the specimens seen, the outer coriaceous 
or scarious, tapering from a broad base, smoky-brown, shining. Peduncles 
arising from the midst of the persistent bases of the leaves, 54-8 in. long, 
flexuose, subquadrangular, glabrous, green. Peduncular-sheath about 
2 in. long, rather loose above and passing into a weak acuminate point. 
Spike } in. thick, ellipsoid or subglobose. Bracts 2-2} lin. long, 
13-24 lin. broad, coriaceous, lowermost oblong, the others orbicular, 
very concave, obtuse or slightly apiculate, entire, but often broken and 
retuse at the apex, 7—9-nerved, olive-brown, paler at the margin. 
Lateral sepals 24-2} lin. long, scarcely 4 lin. broad, falcate, with very 
unequal sides; keel broad, minutely denticulate-scabrid (scarcely cilio- 
late) from about the middle to the apex, greenish-brown below, becoming 
crimson above. Arms of the staminodes with narrow brush-like tufts 
of hairs, exceeding the oblong orange-coloured anthers.—Rendle in 
Journ. Bot. 1899, 508. 
Lower Guinea, Angola: Huilla; here and there in marshy pastures near 
Nene, by the road towards Lopollo, Welwitsch, 2466 ! 
A very distinct species, well marked by the bulbous base formed by the leaf- 
sheaths. A specimen collected by Rand in Rhodesia has been referred (Journ. 
Bot., 1899, 508) by Dr. Rendle to this species, but as the leaves of Welwitsch’s 
plant are unknown, and Rand’s specimen only consists of separate peduncles and 
leaves, the base of the plant not being represented, it is uncertain if the Rhodesian 
plant, which has terete-filiform leaves, really belongs to this species, although the 
spikes are similar, 
24, KX. filiformis, Zam. Hncycl. i. 152. Leaves 3-23 in. long, 
3-4 lin. broad, linear, subacute, glabrous. Peduncle 44-10 in. long, 
4-3 lin. thick, terete, striate. Spike 24-3 lin. long, 1-2} lin. thick, 
ovoid or ellipsoid, few-flowered. Bracts 14-2 lin. long, 1-14 lin. broad, 
elliptic or suborbicular, obtuse, very concave, chestnut-brown, the outer 
with a linear greyish dorsal area near the apex, glabrous, entire, 
coriaceous, becoming somewhat scarious at the margin, 3—5-nerved. 
Lateral sepals 14-2 lin. long, narrowly spathulate-lanceolate, subobtuse, 
keeled, light brown along the keel, paler on the membranous sides ; keel 
very minutely scabrid on the apical part only.—Poir. Encyel. viii. 821 ; 
Vahl, Enum. ii. 207; Kunth, Enum. iv. 24; Nilss. in Ofvers. Vet. 
Akad. Forhandl. Stockh. 1891, 151; and in Svensk. Vet. Akad. Handl. 
xxiv. no. 14, 40; Durand & Schinz, Consp. Fl. Afr. v. 420. 
Upper Guinea. Senegal, in Upsala Herb. Sierra Leone, Smeathman! 
Afzelius, in Stockholm and Berlin Herb. 
Lamarck described this species from a specimen collected by Smeathman, of which 
I have seen a tracing, and also specimens of the same gathering in the British 
Museum. 
