REVISION OF THE AFRICAN SPECIES OF ERIOSEMA. 233 



Dr. WelwitscU's manuscript name for this plant was Kriosema 

 ffracile, but as Klotzsch has described a species with the same name, 

 I have substituted firacillvniiiii. 



A slender slightly pubescent herb, 3-6 in. high, with the habit 

 oi Lotononis : root slender, but with an ovoid tuber of |^-f in. in 

 length about the middle, 1-H in. below the surface of the ground. 

 Stems branched, prostrate-ascending; branches curved, slender, 

 rather lax. Leaves simple, subsessile, oval, rounded at the base, 

 obtusely pointed at the apex, chartaceous, glabrescent, except the 

 middle rib beneath, ^—^ in. long, ^-|- in. broad, margin narrowly 

 revolute ; petiole very short. Stipules lanceolate, parallel-nerved, 

 y^^-Jq in. long. Inflorescence axillary and subterminal, about 

 2-flowered ; peduncles very slender, puberulous, ^-IJ in. long; 

 flowers near together or solitary, ^ in. long ; pedicels, when present, 

 very short. Calyx slightly puberulous, J^ in, long ; lobes 5, lanceo- 

 late or somewhat subulate, about equalling the tube. Corolla nearly 

 glabrous. Ovary densely hairy. Fruit compressed, f in. long, \ in. 

 broad, 2-1-seeded; seeds i in. long, ^l jn. broad, somewhat hairy. 



Nearly related to Eriowma cordi/oUum Hochst., an Abyssinian 

 species. 



*"-'-' Folia plerumque trifoliolata. 



37. E. TUBEROSUM Hoclist. in Schimp. Fl. Abijss. No. 1024 ; 

 Baker, I.e. 224; Eugler, Hvch(jehmjsfiora, 272. 



Hab. Abyssinia, near Gafta, Schiniper, ii. No. 1202! Dsche- 

 ladscheranne, Schimper, iii. No. 1624. Gundwa, Steudner, No. 101. 

 Leaves discolorous above, smooth below, grey-pubescent. 



38. E. psiloblepharum Welw. MS., n. sp. Caules erecti vel 

 adscendentes albo-pilosi, radice an tuberosa?, foliis plerumque tri- 

 foliolatis brevissime petiolatis, foliolis terminalibus ellipticis ad 

 extremitates angustatis prtecipue subtus albo-pilosis quam foliolis 

 lateralibus parce majoribus, inflorescentia termiuali spicato-capitata 

 ovoidea leviter pedunculata, bracteolis lineari-subulatis, sepalis 

 lineari-subulatis, corolla calyci sub^equilonga, ovario dense hirsuto, 

 leguminibus applanatis externe rufo-pilosis 1-2-spermis, seminibus 

 ovalibus. 



Hab. At Quitage, Distr. Pungo Andongo, Angola, in the rainy 

 season ; in late flower and fruit in March, 1857, Wehvitsch, No. 4101 ! 



Shaggy with long white slender hairs, 6-12 in. high, herbaceous 

 as to the upper part, branched and somewhat woody towards the 

 base ; rootstock flexuous, woody-wiry. Stems erect or ascending, 

 simple and shaggy as to the upper part. Leaves all or mostly 

 trifoliolate, very shortly petioled, shaggy; terminal leaflet elliptical, 

 narrowed at both ends, 2-3 in. long, f-lj in. wide, shaggy, especially 

 beneath, on a petiolule of \-% in. ; lateral leaflets rather smaller, 

 somewhat oblique, subsessile. Stipules lanceolate-oblong, acute, 

 sessile, parallel-nerved, f-1 in. long. Liflorescence terminal, 

 spicate-capitate, ovoid, shaggy, about 1-1^ in. long, shortly 

 peduncled ; bracteoles linear-subulate, about ^ in. long, nearly 

 equalling the calyx. Calyx-segments reaching more than half-way 

 down the calyx, linear-subulate, shaggy, nearly equal. Corolla 

 about as long as the calyx. Ovary densely hairy, sestile ; ovule 



