COL. GRANT—BOTANY OF THE 5РЕКЕ AND GRANT EXPEDITION. 105 
obovoideusve, 11-2 poll. longus, pericarpio tenui. Seminis testa crustacea, nitida, castaneo-brunnea.— 
Butyrospermum niloticum, Kotschy, Pl. Knobl. tab. 1, et В. Ратки, tab. 2; В. Parkii, Kotschy, РІ. 
Tinnneane, tab. 8. fig. B. 
Hab. Madi, plentiful, Dec. 1862, Col. Grant/ Widely spread in north tropical 
Africa. 
ГА tree, 10 to 15 feet in width; trunk 10 feet high; the wood red, the colour of cedar, but hard and 
close in the grain, so much so that the natives think it unfit to be cut by their hatchets. Plentiful at 34° 
N. lat., but not observed anywhere else. Bark very thick, and deeply marked by oblong segments, 3 by 
2 inches: on cutting it, a milk exudes profusely, becoming a hard, white, translucent, insoluble gum 
(collected). The branches have a bare appearance, as the leaves chiefly grow from the tips of the 
branches. The leaves are very handsome, with waving edges and close parallel ribs. Inflorescence in 
thick clusters from the ends of the branches, smelling heavily of honey, and covered in December with 
the honey-bee. Flowers creamy yellow, fall off readily and cover the ground. 
Name and иве.--“ Meepampa” (Kin.). It was known to “ Manua,” who had seen it at Loowemba, 
9° S. lat., and nowhere else. When this tree is growing by the villages, the bark is much chipped away. 
I infer from this that its juice is used. 
The fruit was seen, though not identified. In my notes made in December, when the tree was in 
blossom, there is a figure of a fragment of an unknown fruit and the following remark :— 652. Madi 
country, 3rd Dec. 1862. On pathway, found half the shell of a horse-chestnut (?), same colour, polish, 
and size, said to be eaten.” I am now able to identify this note with the seed of Bassia Parkii by reading 
Schweinfurth, who describes it as resembling the horse-chestnut, and by examining the specimens in the 
Kew Museum of the seed and Shea-butter eaten by the natives.—J. A. G.] 
Plate LX XIII. fig. 1. Flower; figs. 2and 3. Corolla; fig.-4. Inner segment of corolla ; 
fig. 5. Stamen; fig. 6. Pistil ; fig. 7. Transverse section of ovary; fig. 8. Seed. 
MYRSINEA. 
1. EMBELIA NILOTICA, Oliv., sp.nov. Arbor; ramulis ultimis foliisque subtus ferrugineo- 
tomentosis ; foliis breviter petiolatis, late ellipticis late et obtuse apieulatis; racemis axil- 
laribus brevibus, calyce pedicellisque tomentosis, petalis æstivatione subvalvatis. 
Arbor. Rami rectiuseuli, teretes, lenticellati, hornotini ferrugineo-tomentosi. Folia tenuiter coriacea, 
supra glabrata, subtus tomentosa v. pilosula, 82-44 poll. longa, 2-3 poll. 
lata; petiolus 2-1 poll. longus. Racemi tomentosi, 2-1 poll. longi; bracteolæ lanceolate v. subulate 
pedicellis æquilongæ, deciduæ. Calyx parvus, profunde 5-fidus, tomentosus, lobis deltoideo-ovatis, acutis. 
Petala ovato-lanceolata, dorso glabrata, margine et intus tomentella, æstivatione valvata у. subvalvata. 
Stamina glabra. Ovarium glabrum, ovoideo-globosum ; stylus longiusculus, sparse papillosus ; stigma 
3-obatum. ` , 
Hab. Madi, Dec. 1862 ( Embelia, вр., App. Speke’s Journ. 639), Col. Grant ! | 
ГА tree, 30 inches in circumference of stem. Banks of a rocky burn in Madi, December. The mode 
of growth in this tree was remarkable: the older wood was bent down as if from the weight of the season’s 
fruit; the shoots of the year grew erect for 10 feet, and were covered with small flowers and a red-brown 
pubescence, which also adheres to the backs of the leaves. lLeaf-ribs prominent underneath and 
red. Calyx and corolla both white. The natives told me that its fruit resembled in size the shot we kill 
birds with, and called the tree * m'ezker'a ” (Kin.).—J. А. 6.) | 
Plate LXXI. fig. 1. Expanded flower; fig. 2. Same, with corolla removed; fig. 3. 
Stamen and petal; fig. 4. Ovary laid open; fig. 5. Placenta and ovules, transverse, and 
fig. 6 vertical section. 
elliptica v. obovata, integra, 
