430 AMARANTACE (Cooke and Wright). [ Achyropsis. 
from a long basal funicle. Uftricle enclosed by the perianth, mem- 
branous, indehiscent. Seed ovoid or lenticular ; testa brownish, 
thinly coriaceous ; aril 0 ; embryo surrounding the fleshy albumen ; 
cotyledons flat. 
Erect trichotomously branched undershrubs ; leaves opposite or fascicled, 
narrow, quite entire ; nerves inconspicuous; flowers small, white, arranged in 
axillary spikes or terminal panicles ; bracts membranous ; bracteoles in pairs. 
Disrris. Species 2, one extending into Tropical Africa. 
Flowers 5-merous; perianth 14 lin. long; staminodes 
fringed ... pe shes ms : ... (1) avicularis. 
Flowers usually 4-merous ; perianth 1 lin. long ; staminodes 
not fringed ere ee =e ... (2) leptostachya. 
Eastern Recion :; Natal; near Durban, Drege ! 
2. A. leptostachya (Hook. f. in Beath. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. 
iii, 36); a branched undershrub 1-1} ft. high ; stem terete, or 
tetragonous in the upper part, ribbed ; branches pubescent, ascend- 
ing ; leaves subsessile or shortly petiolate, narrowly oblong, obtuse, 
very shortly mucronate, up to 14 lin. long and 5 lin. wide (usually 
much smaller), sparingly pubescent above, whitish villous beneath ; 
midrib prominent beneath; spikes up to 1} lin. long, on slender 
rigid silky peduncles nearly as long as the spikes ; bracts very 
short, ovate, entire, shortly mucronate, shining ; perianth-segments 
4, elliptic, concave, obtuse, glabrous, | lin. long ; stamens 4; filaments 
subulate ; staminodes quadrate, not fringed ; anthers ovate ; utricle 
subglobose, green ; seed nearly lenticular, black. Baker & C. B. Cl. 
in Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. vi.i. 66. A. alba, Hook. f. lc. Achyranthes 
alba, Eckl. & Zeyh. ex Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 311 ; Sonder in 
Linnea, xxiii. 96. A. leptostachya, E. Meyer ex Meisn. in Hook. 
Lond. Journ. Bot. ii. (1843), 548, by error 448. Psilotrichum 
densiflorum, Lopr. in Malpighia, xiv. 453. Paronychia capensis, 
Spreng. in Sonder in Linnea, xxiii. 96. 
Coast Rgaron : Uitenhage Div. ; by the Zwartkops River, Zeyher, 56 ! 3612! 
Prior! Bathurst Div. ; near Port Alfred, Burchell, 4031! Galpin, 2965 ! Komgha 
aa . Banks of the Kei River, under 500 ft , Drege! British Kaffraria, Cooper, 
1S : 
