108 MR. 7. MIERS ON THE BARRINGTONIACE Ж. 
quoque loculo plurima, axi summo suspensa. Fructus lineari-cylindricus, latissime 4-alatus, айз 
magnis, latissimis, apice profunde semicordatis, membranaceis, crebre parallele et horizontaliter 
nervosis; pericarpium lineare, tenuiter fibroso-coriaceum, abortu 1-1осшаге ; semina pauca, lineari- 
oblonga, сошргезза, subimbricatim ab apice suspensa. 
Arbor Angolensis, grandis, frondosa: folia alterna, elliptico-oblonga, utrinque acuta, breviter petiolata ; 
racemus terminalis, brevis, pauciflorus ; flores alternatim pedicellati, inconspicui ; fructus singulariter 
late 4-alatus, majusculus. 
PETERSIA AFRICANA, Welwitsch, Hook. & Benth. Gen. Pl. i. 721; Oliv. Fl. Afr. Trop. ii. 
p. 439: procera, coma magna dilatata, apice depressa, ramis dependentibus: foliis 
epunctatis, oblongo-ellipticis, apice in acumen acutum subito constrictis, imo sensim 
cuneatis, marginibus obsoletissime serratis, subcoriaceis, supra sublucidis, intense 
viridibus, nervis tenuibus divaricatis marginem versus nexis vix prominulis, subtus 
pallidioribus, opacis, nervis. prominulis in axillis barbatis; petiolo tereti, margi- 
nato, limbo 12plo breviore: racemis in ramulis novellis terminalibus aut sub- 
axilaribus, folio brevioribus, paucifloris; floribus subparvis, longe pedicellatis ; 
pedicellis tenuibus, elongatis, medio bibracteolatis, bracteolis parvis, lanceolatis, 
oppositis, puberulis; calycis limbo in sepala 4 semiovata erecta puberula ciliata 
diviso; petalis 4, rotundo-oblongis, glabris, unguibus tubo staminigero agglutinatis ; 
staminibus numerosissimis, petalis longioribus, imo in tubum brevem erectum 
monadelphis; ovario infero, turbinato, 4-alato, alis latiusculis, ciliatis, 4-loeulari, 
ovulis in quoque loculo plurimis, pluriseriatis, axi centrali affixis : fructu lineari, tetra- 
gono, latissime 4-alato, alis membranaceis, glabris, parallele nervosis, superne pro- 
funde cordatis; pericarpio extus setis rigidis hispido, textura fibroso; endocarpio 
tenuiter coriaceo, aborto 1-loculari, axi e loculis abortivis hinc parietali; seminibus 
4-5, linearibus, compressis, imbricatis, funiculis ab apice suspensis. In Africa occi- 
dentali, in сопуа из humidioribus Monte de Quetecati, distr. Cal. alto, regno Ango- 
lensi: v. s.in hb. Hook. (W'elwitsch). 
An immense tree, 50 feet high, its trunk 4 feet in diameter to a height of 20 feet, when 
it throws out many spreading and somewhat pendent branches, forming a head rather 
depressed at its summit. The leaves are 31—61 in. long, 12-21 in. broad, on petioles 
3—6 lines long, having 12-14 pairs of nerves, with a tuft of hairs at their origin: it is 
stated (Hook. & Benth. Gen. Plant. i. p. 721) that its leaves are pellucidly punctate. I 
contested this point with the late Dr. Welwitsch, showing him that in all the younger 
leaves, and in nine cases out of ten, no pellucid dots are visible, and that where they were 
present, this was due to round globules of transparent matter deposited by insects in the 
parenchyma, sometimes in clefts made by them, sometimes appearing like raised glands. 
The terminal raceme is 3 in. long, on a rather slender rachis; the pedicels are 6-9 lines 
long, bearing in their middle (where they are articulated) 2 opposite lanceolate bracts 13 
line long; the ovary is 2 lines long, is broadly 4-winged; the sepals 1 line long; the 
petals 4 lines long, 2 lines broad ; the stamens 5 lines long ; the style 6 lines long. The 
fruit is altogether 22 in. long, 21 in. broad, the wings deeply cordate at the summit ; the 
central pericarpial portion begins at the deep sinus between the wings, extending down- 
