Tab. 7896. 

 DISSOTIS Mahoni. 



Native of Uganda. 



Nat. Ord. Melastomace^. — Tribe Osbbckie^e. 

 Genus Dissotis, Benth. ; {Benth. & Hook.f. Gen. Plant, vol. i. p. 746.) 



Dissotis (Heterotis) Mahoni; tota hispido-pilosa, canle prostrato ramoso, 

 foliis 1-1 \ poll, longis oppositis rotundatis ovato-rotandatisve obtusis, 

 petiolis J-j poll, longis, floribus ad apices ramulornm solitariis 2 poll, latis, 

 pedicellis foliis brevioribus, calycis hemispheerici noti plumosi tubo setis 

 rigidis simplicibus basi bulbosis instracto lobis 5 ovato-oblongis subacutis, 

 sina inter lobos appendice filiformi apice bifarcato ramis divaricatis 

 instracto, petalis oblique obovatis roseo-purpureis, staminorum majorum 

 connectivo antice in appendicem elongatura bituberculatum antice con- 

 cavum prodacto, minor um appendice simpliciter didymo, ovario hispido 

 tubo calycis profunde immerso. 



D. Maboni, Hook.f. 



The Dissotis here figured so closely resembles the widely 

 distributed tropical African D. plumosa, Hook. f. (in Oliv. 

 Fl. Trop. Afr. vol. ii. 452), in habit, hairiness, foliage and 

 flowers, that I long hesitated before giving it a new- 

 specific name. I find, however, in all the specimens of 

 that plant which I have examined, whether from East, 

 West, or Central Africa, that the bristles of the calyx-tube, 

 and the arms of the processes between the calyx-lobes are 

 plumose with stellate hairs (whence its specific name) of 

 which there are no traces in D. Mahoni. 



The genus Dissotis is a large one, upwards of fifty 

 species having been described, all tropical African, except 

 one, which is a native of Natal. Two have been previously 

 figured in this Magazine, D. incana, Triana (Osbeckia 

 canescens, Grah.), t. 3790, and D. Irvingiana, Hook. t. 

 5149. 



Seeds of D. Mahoni were sent to the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, in 1901, from Uganda, by Mr. John Mahon, plants 

 raised from which flowered in a stove in September, 1902. 

 I have the pleasure of naming it after its discoverer, 

 formerly at Kew, now Curator of the Botanic Station at 

 Uganda. 



Descr.— Whole plant, except the flowers, hispidly hairy. 

 May 1st, 1903. 



