ie 
Tas. 5352. 
DRACAINA PHRYNIOIDES. 
Phrynium-like Dracena. 
Nat. Ord. ASPARAGINE®.—HEXANpDRIA MoNnoGyniA. 
Gen. Char. (Vide supra, TaB. 5248.) 
Drac&na phrynioides ; suffruticosa, caule declinato brevi basi squamoso dein 
folioso, foliis longe petiolatis ovatis acuminatis coriaceis striatis late viridi- 
bus maculis pallidis ovalibus transversis variegatis, petiolis teretibus antice 
canaliculatis basi insigniter dilatatis incrassatisque, capitulo terminali sub- 
sessili bracteato, bracteis numerosis late ovatis purpureis ventricosis longe 
acutissime subulatis, corolla tubo gracili, filamentis superne valde dilatatis. 
‘Tropical Africa is eminently rich in species of the genus Dra- 
cena, and not a few of them are well known to be remarkable 
for the variegated or coloured foliage, not of a uniform green. — 
The present is a new and very distinct species, sent from Fer- — 
‘nando Po by M. Gustav Mann, in 1860. Being anxious to — 
distribute so very pretty a plant named, it has been sent out 
before it blossomed, under an impression that it was a species of 
Phrynium, and with the specific appellation of maculatum. Now 
that it has proved to be a Dracena, and there being already a 
Dracena maculata, the name of D. phrynioides may not be con- 
sidered inappropriate. The flowers were produced in August of 
the present year; and they were found to expand only at night 
or before the early morning, and to close again by ten o’clock. 
Descr. Stem short and ‘stout, suffruticose but succulent, sub- 
decurrent at the base, thence erect and leafy, but rarely exceeding 
five inches in length, including the terminal head of flowers, 
Leaves six inches long, broad ovate, finely acuminate, coriaceous, 
striated, dark green, with transversely oblong, rather large, sul- 
phur-coloured spots. Pe/ioles longer than the leaves when at full 
size, terete, channelled in front, ” thick and broad sheathing at 
DECEMBER Ist, 1862. 
