Tap. 8221. 
RAPHIONACME ovrttis. 
Angola. 
ASCLEPIADACEAE. ‘Tribe PERIPLOCEAE. 
RapuHronaomE, Harv.; Benth. et Hook, f. Gen, Plant. vol, ii. p. 745, 
Raphionacme utilis, Brown et Stapf in Kew Bulletin, 1908, p. 215 cum tab. ; 
! affinis R. Welwitschii, Schlecht. et Rendle, sed planta humilior, foliis 
latioribus oppositis vel subrosulatis rotundatis ellipticis vel oblongo-ovatis 
et corona biseriata. 
Herba nana, tuberosa, Tuber napiformis, 5-14 cm. diametro. Caules annui, 
2-10 em. longi, erecti vel decumbentes, herbacei, puberuli. Folia opposita 
vel subrosulata, 3°5-8°5 em. longa, 3°2-4°5 em. lata, orbiculata, elliptica 
vel oblongo-ovata, obtusa, apiculata vel subacuta, basi cuneata, rotundata 
vel subcordata, petiolis 4-8 mm. longis. Cymae terminales vel axillares, 
sessiles, confertae, pluriflorae, puberulae. Bracteae 2-4 mm. longae. 
Pedicelli 3-6 mm. longi. Sepala 2 mm. longa, lanceolata, acuta, pur- 
purascentia, apice viridia. Corolla 12-15 mm. diametro, profunde 5-loba, 
extra minutissime puberula, intus glabra, purpurea, lobis oblongis 
subacutis. Corona biseriata, segmentis exterioribus 1 5 mm. longis ovato- 
oblongis bifidis albis apice purpureis, segmentis interioribus 3 mm. longis 
subulatis incurvo-erectis purpureis. 
This interesting little plant is likely to prove of consider- 
able economic importance, since its tubers yield a large 
quantity of Rubber said to be of good quality. It has bgen 
identified by Dr. Stapf with the “ Ecanda” or “ Marianga ” 
Rubber-plant, first recorded by Professor Geraldes in his 
‘“Kstudo sobre os latex borrachiferos,” pp. 143-172, pub- 
lished at Lisbon in 1906, and a full account of it is given 
in the Kew Bulletin above quoted, from which, according 
to Professor Geraldes, the plant is a native of the interior of 
Angola, growing in the drier parts of treeless, sandy and 
alluvial areas between the River Kwanza and the River 
Zambesi, at an altitude of from 4000 to 5500 ft. above 
sea-level. 
It is seldom that a species of Raphionacme is seen in 
cultivation in Europe, this being the first to be figured in 
the Botanical Magazine, although no fewer than 25 species 
have been described, nine of them natives of South Africa, 
the remainder Tropical African. &. divaricata, Harv., one 
OctosER, 1908. 
