DEWETKELLA COIVOENRTS 81 



Folia inter minora (pro faniilia inter minima) papyracea, opposita, 

 pleruraque ovato-lanceolata, leniter acuminata aj^ico acuta, basi trun- 

 cato-obtusissima, petiolo notabili nisi broviusculo, utrinque nisi 

 modiana in vena subtus prominula supra impressa rufo-puberula glabra, 

 in siccitate discoloria supra fusco-olivacea subtus lieve brunnea venis 

 lateralibus obscuris raro manifestis. Flores parvi cymosis in inliores- 

 centiis corymbosis ebracteolatis laxe dispositi alaribus paueitloris 

 foliis manifeste brevioribus ; ^j<?^/w;jc?^//s brevibus nonnunquam obso- 

 letis, qua pedicelli elongati minute feiTugineo-puberulis taiwuds, \hi'acfeis 

 exiguis. Cali/cis lobi angusti lineari-lanceolati acuminati acuti ; 

 corollcB tubus brevissimus infundibularis lobis lineari-oblongis obtu- 

 sissimis. 



Nannan 104 ! Boyeka (Equator), 28 August, 1914. Kerh. Mus. 

 Brit. ! 



This is described as a "... . grande liane, latex blanc ; petite Hem* 

 jaune. Peu repandue." The native name is given as Teili. 



The specimen taken as type consists of a few twigs, with very 

 slender stems, obviously twining. The leaves are approximately 

 3-5 cm. long at most, and 1'5 cm. broad, with petiole about 3 mm. in 

 length, rarely longer. A typical infiorescence consists of six to ten 

 flowers arranged sub-corymbose ly, with very slender pedicels a centi- 

 metre or more in length, set upon peduncles barely one-third as long. 

 The calyx barely exceeds a millimetre in length, its lobes narrow and 

 pointed. Corolla 5 ram. long, over four-fifths of this length attribu- 

 table to the lobes. 



EHAPHIDOSTEGIUM CCESPITOSUM (Sw.) AND ITS 

 AFFINITIES. 



By H. N. Dixon, M.A., F.L.S. 



Mt first introduction to Bhapliidostegiiim splicer otlieca (C. M.) 

 Jaeg. was a very pleasant one. It came in a box from Table Mt. 

 with a magnificent bouquet of white " Cape Lilies " ; it was a large 

 and well grown form, and it gave the impression of being, among 

 Khaphidostegia, a distinct and well-marked species. That was when 

 my acquaintances among South African mosses were ^qy^ few. 



I cannot say that closer familiarity has ripened the friendship. 

 As more specimens accrued, it became evident that the original plant 

 was by no means the only form, nor indeed the most frequent — rather, 

 indeed, an extreme and unusually fine form, under the glamour of 

 which the species had acquired in my eyes an undeservedly high 

 reputation, which the subsequent forms did little or nothing to sup- 

 port. Not only were these, while structurally identical, much smaller 

 and more commonplace, as a rule, but they began to evince an 

 inclination to vary, and to diverge from what 1 had fondly considered 

 a well-marked type, and to approach other Rliaphidostegia of a much 

 more ordinary character, until it became evident that one had to do, 

 not with a single, well-defined ty])e, but with a " Formenkreis " of 

 consideraV)le radius and an uncomfortably indefinite circumference ; 

 so that in course of time it happened with B. spluerufheca as with 

 Journal of Botany — Vol. 58. [Makctt, 1920.] g 



