FLORA NIGRITIANA. 373 
tubo petalis multo breviore basi vix attenuato.—From the 
Niger Expedition, without the precise locality. 
Habitus 4. longiflore, sed folia profundius lobata, majora et 
scabra, glandulis petiolaribus crassis conicis. Stipula cirrho 
opposita foliacea, subreniformis, denticulata, 8-4 lin. longa. 
Pedunculus florum masculorum crassus, folia subsquans, 
apice racemoso-10-12-florus. Bractee foliacez, cuneate v. 
ovate, acute, denticulate, 2-5 lin. longe. Pedicelli semi- 
pollicares. Calycis tubus 9 lin. longus, a basi ad apicem 
gradatim latior. Anthere infra medium tubi inserts, ut 
videtur diadelphe. Petala pollice longiora, ovata, basi in 
unguem brevem contracta, margine crispa. 
It is with great reluctance that I have established this genus 
"pon a knowledge of the male flowers only; but the two 
Species were so evidently congeners, and so remarkable in the 
peculiar glands of the leaves, that I was unwilling to pass them 
over, and they could not be united with Luffa, Trichosanthes or 
Gymnopetalum, with all of which they have more or less of 
affinity. 
There remain two Cucurbitacee in the collection which I am 
compelled to leave undetermined; the one, from Fernando Po, 
Appears to be a Cucumis with the hairiness of Benincasa: the 
flowers, according to Vogel, are white, but in the specimens are 
not in a state to be examined. The other, also from Fernando 
Po, with deeply palmately lobed leaves and long male racemes, 
has only a few young buds, which in their structure resemble 
those of Luffa ; yet I can scarcely believe the plant to belong 
to that genus, 
The Cucumis arenarius and C. chrysocoma, Schum. et Thonn., 
both from Guinea, complete the list of known Cucurbitacee 
from West Tropical Africa. 
LVIII. PORTULACES. 
l. Portulaca oleracea, Linn.—Accra and Fernando Po, Vogel. 
A common sea-coast plant, appearing very early on newly 
formed islands. i 
