152 COL. GRANT—BOTANY ОЕ THE SPEKE AND GRANT EXPEDITION. 
inches long, bluntish at the point, and distinctly serrulate at the edge, and spreads 
copiously by means of filiform stolons. 
Hab. Edges of the Nile, 14° N. lat., March 1863, Col. Grant! (App. Speke’s Journ. 
650.) We have what seems to be the same from Scinde, gathered by Stocks. | 
[Found on the edges of the Nile at 144° N. lat., March 1863. Propagating by suckers.—J. А. G.] 
5. HYDRILLA VERTICILLATA, var. BREVIFOLIA, Caspary, in Prings. Jahrb. i. 415? 
Agrees with the Indian specimens of Caspary’s plant in habit and leaf, but wants 
flowers. 
Hab. Nile, 2° N. lat., Col. Grant! (Hydrilla dentata?, App. Speke’s Јошт. 650.) 
[Grows nearly submerged in the Nile, at 2° N. lat., during November, when in leaf only.—J. A. G.] 
SCITAMINEÆ. 
1. AMOMUM, sp., in leaf only. The leaves quite agree with those of 4. angustifolium, 
Sonnerat (4. Daniellii, Hook. fil. Bot. Mag. tab. 4764). 
Hab. Ukidi, Nov. 24, 1862, Col. Grant ! (App. Speke's Journ. 648.) 
[This plant is plentiful in the Uganda and Ukidi forests, where it grows in shade in rather dry ground 
concealed by tall grass. Height about 4 feet. In fruit November. Тһе roots creep along the ground, 
are jointed, and send up shoots which cover large spaces. Leaves alternate, 13 by 3 inches, stalkless, but 
sheathing the stem, and split down to the next lower leaf. Тһе fruit is of the shape of a banana, but with 
a scarlet surface; it is 5 by 1 inch in size; and four to five of them grow together. "They are developed 
underground, growing from the root of the stem. Оп attaining maturity, they partly push themselves 
out of the ground, showing their scarlet skin, but require to be dug out of the earth. Тһе taste is 
refreshing and lemon-like. "The edible part is the pulp round the black seeds ; the outer skin and a mem- 
brane within it are thrown away. Тһе peel does not come off freely like that of the banana ; and the seeds 
are like those of the apple when ripe, but are not flat. I never tasted the seeds. Тһе Waganda string 
the fruit together, wearing them as a garland or as a necklace, which is very becoming to their bronze 
skins. The seeds and leaves were preserved in Kew. My journal of May 19, 1862, mentions, “ Path 
strewed with scarlet husks of a seed the Waganda are fond of.” I never saw the Waganda eating the 
seeds, and think this quotation refers to the lemony pulp surrounding the seed and its envelope. 
—J. A. G.] 
MUSACEX. 
1. Musa SAPIENTUM, Linn.; Horan. Prod. Scitam. 42. Хо specimen. (App. Speke's 
Journ. 648.) 
[This fruit is cultivated near the coast to а small extent; and there are some grown at 5* S. lat., where, 
on account of constant quarrels between the Zanzibar traders and the native population, gardens of bananas 
arerarely met with. In the kingdom of Uganda and along the western side of the Victoria Nyanza lake, 
* the country is literally a series of banana forests surrounding the dwellings. There are many varieties 
known to the people—those for boiling like potatoes, eating, and for wine-making. Тһе boiling variety 
is pulled green, and generally boiled in its own leaf along with beef or mutton ; they are excellent in this 
way. The eating kinds are often luscious and fine-flavoured. Wine is made from the ripe fruit by 
putting а quantity, peeled, into a wooden trough the length of a log canoe, adding grass, 
anti! ; stamping the 
mass, cleansing it of sediment, adding the flour of parched grain, and covering over the whole сапое, first 
with the green leaves, and then with a large quantity of dead leaves, so as to exclude the air. The flour 
and rotting leaves assist in а slight fermentation. On the third day it is ready ; and if well made, I know 
of no better drink, tasting somewhat like Sauterne wine, but slightly sparkling. The leaves and stem of 
the plant are made into grain-covers, lashings, fences, or screens ; a chip from the bark serves to scrub 
