FLORA NIGRITIANA. 539 
apice divisi in petiolulos tres semipollicares ; infra petiolum 
adest sepe mucro brevis recurva. Foliorum segmenta 2-8 
poll. longa, supra medium 1-12 poll. lata, basi et apice 
obtusa, margine recurva, sub lente minutissime et creberrime 
pellucido-punctata : costa media ven:zque ab ea divergentes 
1-2, alternæ, subtus prominentes ; venæ 2 opposite tenuiores 
ad basin costze medi convergentes; venule reticulate sub- 
transverseeque. Inflorescentia et flores desunt. Capsule axis 
l-li poll. longa; ale horizontaliter divergentes, 14 poll. 
longz, parallele venosz. Semina non vidi. 
There are besides, in Don’s collection from Sierra Leone, 
some bunches of capsules of a Dioscorea, possibly. one of those 
above-described, but there are no leaves to identify them ; and 
the D. alata, Linn. and D. sativa, Linn. are both, according to 
Thonning, in cultivation. 
CXI. Liniacez. 
l. Gloriosa superba, Linn.; var petalis apice tantum undulatis. 
—Grand Bassa, Vogel. 
The foliage is exactly like that of the Indian G. superba, and 
of the Mascarene (not W. African) G. virescens, Lindl. The 
flower is fully as large as in G. superba, yellow when young, 
ted after it is fully out, according to Vogel. Forbes's Mada- 
Sascar specimen of G. virescens is bad, and has two flowers, the 
one young, apparently about the size represented in the Bota- 
nica] Magazine, the other, more developed, fully as large as the 
East Indian ones, but not so undulate. Lamark describes a 
Senegalese form, with petals broader than any I have seen. 
humacher and Thonning describe a G. angulata, from Guinea, 
with petals pubescent at the apex, his other character, the 
angularly compressed stem, frequently occurring in all the 
Varieties, There is, moreover, a South African form, gathered 
by Drége, and referred to G. virescens by Kunth, which I have 
not seen. Whether all these be mere varieties of G. superba, 
or whether any or all the African ones may belong to a distinct 
Species, and if so, what are its geographical limits, can only be 
determined from better materials than we possess at present. 
