Commelina. | CXLIII. COMMELINACEE (CLARKE). 61 
4-} in., linear, slightly dilated at the very base. Peduncle exserted 
3-2 in. from the leaf-sheath. Spathe 14 in. long, 14 in. broad, ovate- 
triangular, acute, purple-green; margins free. Cymes paired in each 
spathe, upper with many flowers. Sepals } in. long, elliptic, nearly 
free. Corolla in the dried state purple-blue. 
Mozamb. Dist. British Central Africa: Kambole, south-west of Lake Tan- 
ganyika, 5000 ft., Nutt / 
The examples of this call to mind the large Mexican C, elliptica, H. B. & K., 
but the leaves are totally unlike. 
68. C. Holubii, C. B. Clarke. Nearly glabrous. Stems 5 in. 
long, with 2 leaves and 1 spathe each. Leaves 4 by }—1 in., linear, 
slightly wider at the base. Peduncles exserted }~1 in. from the leaf- 
sheath, nearly glabrous. Spathe ? in. by ? in., ovate-lanceolate, acute, 
very nearly glabrous, pale yellow-brown in the dried examples ; margins 
free or obscurely connate at the base. Flowers numerous, some exserted 
entirely from the spathe. Petals 4 in. iong, appear to have been pale 
violet. Two fertile anthers intensely blue in the dried state. Capsule 
about } in. long, square, 4-seeded. 
Mozamb. Dist. British Central Africa: Rhodesia ; Leshumo Valley, Holub 
715! 
From the imperfect capsule, this almost certainly belongs to the Section Disseco- 
carpus, 
69. ©. senegalensis, Linn. ex Cat. Ort. Bot. Napol. 1845, 22. 
(name only) ; Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 429. 
Upper Guinea. Senegal? 
4, POLYSPATHA, Benth. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. 
Pl. ni, 849. 
Sepals 3, small, concave. Petals 3, white, 2 very long-clawed. 
Stamens 3 fertile, 3 sterile with dissimilar rudimentary anthers. 
Ovary sessile, 2-celled, with one ovule in each cell. Capsule 2-celled, 
loculicidally 2-valved. Seeds half-ellipsoid; hilum vertical ; embryo- 
stega opposite the hilum.—Cymes few-flowered, scattered along simple 
(rarely branched) elongate axes springing from the axils of the upper 
leaves and sometimes piercing their sheaths; spathes ovate, folded flat, 
sessile, each enclosing one cyme. 
Endemic, monotypic. 
1. P. paniculata, Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 543. Stem 1-2} ft. 
long, trailing or weak, often rooting at the lower nodes, undivided but 
in one example throwing several weak stems from the rooting node. 
Leaves 6 by 24 in., broadly elliptic, acuminate at either end, quasi- 
petioled, glabrate above, pubescent beneath ; lower leaves smaller, 
sometimes reduced to sheaths. Panicle of 1-6 branches, each 3-6 in. 
long, pubescent ; spathes } in. long, about 4 in. apart, pendent in fruit. 
