Aneilema. | CXLIII. COMMELINACEH (CLARKE). 69 
dense, minutely or scarcely pubescent; primary axis weil marked; 
primary branches having in their lower half many approximated small 
ovate empty bracts (as in A. beniniense and many other species). 
Capsule 4 by + in., linear-oblong, obtuse, 2-celled, papery, shining ; 
seeds 3-5 in each cell. 
Nile Land. Somaliland, Donaldson Sinith ! 
This species resembles the Australian A. acuminatum, R. Br.; it bas-a much 
denser inflorescence and a longer capsule. On the same day, Donaldson Smith also 
collected his 346, which has a looser inflorescence and a smaller capsule (in which 
a l-seeded third cell is sometimes present), and is very near 4, acuminatum, R. Br., 
under which possibly both plants may be hereafter placed. 
9. A. ovato-oblongum, Beawy. Hl. Owar. ii. 71, t. 104, fig. 1. 
Very sparingly hairy. Stem 1-2 ft. long, trailing, rooting near the 
base. Leaves 2} by 1 in., elliptic, acuminate. Panicle 2 by 1} in., 
with 8-18 primary branches often falsely whorled, slender, nearly 
glabrous; bracts at their base minute. Flowers very small, pale lilac 
or white. Sepals less than 4 in. long, thin, ovate, concave. Fertile 
stamens (at least often) 3; filaments slightly hairy. Capsule ;',—} in. 
long, shining, thin, quadrate, the upper shoulders rounded, normally 
4-seeded. Seeds pale, stony.— Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 545; C. B. 
Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phan. iii. 226; Durand & Schinz, Conspect. FI. 
Afr. y. 431, and Etudes FI. Congo, i. 270; Durand & De Wild. in 
Comptes-rendus Soc. bot. Belg. xxxvi. 87; Schoenl. in Eng!. & Prantl, 
Pflanzenfam. ii. iv. 65; Hua in Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Par. i. 121. A. 
bracteolatum, R. Br. in Bowditch, Mission to Ashantee, 444. Com- 
melina umbrosa, Vahl, Enum. ii. 179; Thonn. in Schumacher, Beskr. 
Guin. Pl. 23. C. ovato-oblonga, Roem. & Schultes, Mant. i. Add. i. 376. 
Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone: near Berria, in dense forest, Scoté-E/liot, 5424! 
Liberia : Cape Palmas, Ansell! Dahomey: Lake Porto Nova, Newton, 14! Gold 
Coast, Burton § Cameron! Fernando Po, Vogel, 143! Milne! Cameroons, Preuss, 
96 ! 
Lower Guinea. Gaboon: Munda; Sibange Farm, Soyaux, 336! and without 
precise locality, Zedlie! French Congo: Ogowe River, Z'hollon, 266 bis; Brazza- 
ville, Dybowski. Loango ; Chinchocho, Soyaux, 169! Landana, Phillips. Lower 
Congo: Bingila, Dupuis ! 
Also in Tropical South America. 
Var. 8 nigritana, C, B. Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phan. iii. 227. Leaves 6 by 2 in. 
Panicle hardly peduncled, much overtopped by the leaves; its main axis and the 
sepals minutely pubescent. Empty bracts at the base of the cymes numerous, close 
together, 
Upper Guinea. Niger Territory: Nupe; Jeba, on the Quorra (Niger), 
Barter ! 
10. A. somaliense, (. 2. Clarke. Sparingly pubescent. Upper 
leaves 24 by 1} in., ovate, acute; base sessile on the leaf-sheath, 
rounded. Peduncle to the panicle 3 in. long, terminal; panicle TZ. by 
1} in,, main axis straight; cyme-peduncles about 24, spreading, 
scattered, not whorled, bracts at their base less than } in. long, ovate. 
Sepals 1-1 in. long, concave, nearly glabrous. Petals small, white. 
