Dioscorea.| DIOSCOREACER (Baker). 251 
obtuse lobe on the lower side; petiole shorter than the blade; 
flowers of both sexes unknown; fruit in lax, simple, shortly peduncled, 
axillary racemes; pedicels very short, deflexed ; capsule oblong, 
acutely angled, retuse, glabrous, an inch long ; seeds oblong, narrowly 
winged along the margin as well as at the base. 
Eastern Recion: Natal ; Adendorf’s farm, Newcastle, Rehmann, 7042 ! 
11. D. Forbesii (Baker in Journ. Bot. 1889, 2); stems slender, 
very twining, shortly pubescent; leaves alternate; petiole 3-1 in. 
long; blade digitately compound ; leaflets 5, sessile, oblanceolate- 
oblong, obtuse, distinctly mucronate, moderately firm in texture, 
1-2 in. long, finely pubescent; male flowers in shortly-peduncled 
geminate spikes with a slender very hairy rachis; perianth 
campanulate, densely villose, 4, in. long, subtended by an ovate- 
lanceolate acuminate bract a little longer than the flower; fertile 
stamens 6; filaments very short; anthers globose; rudimentary 
style very short ; female flowers and capsule not seen. 
Eastern ReGion: Delagoa Bay, Forbes! 
12. D. crinita (Hook. fil. in Bot. Mag. t. 6804); stems slender, 
twining, pubescent; leaves alternate ; petiole 1-2 in. long ; blade 
compound; leaflets 5, distinctly stalked, obovate, membranous, 
conspicuously mucronate, 14-3 in. long, green on both surfaces, 
thinly pilose ; male flowers in 2—4-nate, shortly peduncled, axillary 
racemes with a very slender, densely pilose rachis; pedicels very 
short ; perianth campanulate, very hairy, j; in. long, subtended on 
the outside by an ovate-lanceolate, very acuminate, hairy, membranous 
bract two or three times as long as the flower; fertile stamens 8 ; 
filaments very short; female flowers in shortly peduncled dense 
spikes; ovary oblong, densely villose; perianth-segments very 
small; capsule not seen. 
Eastern Rea@ion: Natal; Berea, near Durban, 150 ft., Wood! Inanda, 
Wood, 1618! and without precise locality, Gerrard, 445! 512! 
Introduced into cultivation by Mrs. Steane in 1883! 
13. D. retusa (Masters in Gard. Chron. 1870, 1149, with wood- 
cut); stems slender, very twining, finely pubescent; leaves 
alternate ; petiole 2 in. long; blade compound ; leaflets 5, distinctly 
stalked, obovate, retuse, mucronate, 14-2 in. long ; moderately firm 
in texture, green, glabrous; male flowers in 3-4-nate, shortly- 
peduncled racemes with a slender hairy rachis; pedicels very short ; 
perianth oblong, 3; in. long, subtended on the outside by a large 
ovate acuminate, membranous bract, usually shorter than the flower, 
and 2 minute broad bracteoles ; perianth-segments oblong, connivent ; 
fertile stamens 3; filaments very short ; staminodia 3 ; rudimentary 
style 3-lobed ; female flower and fruit not seen. 
SoutH Arkica; without locality, Ze; her. 1846! : 
Karanarr Rereron: Orange Fiee State, Cooper, 907; Transvaal; Magalies 
River, Burke, 266! 
