^5^ 



SHORT NOTES. 



Vanilla, sp, iudeterminabilis. 



Hab. Creeper in bush, Samburu, No. G132. 



Epipactis africana, sp. nov. Elata puberuhx inferue glabres- 

 cens, caule crasso ; foliis inferioribus ovatis amplexicaulibus aciitis 

 cum venis promineutibus, superne in bracteas lanceolatas, flores 

 subaequantes (vel vix) transeuntibus ; racemo raultitioro, alabastris 

 a bracteis plus minus obtectis dense fusco-puberulis ; floribus 

 magnis, sepalo dorsali lanceolato acuto, lateralibus falcatis louge 

 acuminatis, petalis ovato-lanceolatis valde acutis, labelli parte 

 inferiori anguste scaphoidea lobis geminis lineari-oblongis basi 

 instructa, lamina triangulari acuta undulato-crispa, disco carinata, 

 staminodiis parvis angustis post stigma erectis. 



Hab, In heather, Butagu, Ruwenzori, 8-10,000 ft., July (rains), 

 1894, No. 8005. 



The specimens, which are broken off above the base, reach 

 1^-2^ ft, in length ; the leaves and bracts are strongly nerved, the 

 lower being 3 in. by 1^ at their broadest. The short pubescence 

 becomes very dense in tlie upper part of the long bracteate raceme, 

 the flower-stalks, ovaries, and buds being densely covered ; on the 

 bracts it is less evident. The ovary, with its slender curving stalk, 

 is 14-15 lines long. The 3 (scarcely 5)-nerved dorsal sepal is 

 recurved towards the tip, and is | in. long by J in. The sepals 

 and petals are 5 -nerved, the former 11 by 4 lines, the latter 8 by 

 2J. The narrow boat-shaped lower half of the lip is 4^ lines long, 

 its two basal lobes are 3^ lines by 1 line ; the erect lamina is 4 by 2J 

 lines, and bears a swollen rounded median keel on the lower 

 two-thirds of its upper surface. The broad subquadrate stigma, 

 bilobed below, is 1^ lines across; the narrow staminodes project 

 slightly on each side at its rear. The column is 1 line long, the 

 large blunt anther 2 lines. 



This species, the discovery of which extends the range of the 

 genus into Tropical Africa, recalls E. latifolia All. in its leaf- 

 characters, but is easily distinguished by its densely bracteate 

 inflorescence and larger flowers, with sharp long-pointed sepals 

 and petals. The very narrow basal portion of the lip also supplies 

 a distinction. 



(To be continued.) 



SHORT NOTES. 



Altitude of Ajuga pyramidalis in Scotland. — In this Journal 

 for 1893 (p. 50) Mr. Arthur Bennett gives a number of altitudes at 

 which this plant occurs, the lowest being in Caithness, " on the 

 sloping banks (among grass) of one or two of the rivers, at a low 

 elevation (70-100 ft.?)." Last year I sent a specimen to Mr. 

 Bennett from Moidart, west coast of Inverness-shire, from an ele- 

 vation of about 15 ft. above sea-level ; this year I have found several 

 plants in another place in the same district, half a mile or so from 

 the first station, at about 20 ft. They grow on dry ledges of rooks 



