18 FLORA OF CENTRAL MADAGASCAR. 



province of Imeriiia b}' Bojer, Hilsenberg, Miller, and others, so 

 that the proportion of novelties in this x^arcel is not so large as in 

 Mr. Baron's. Dr. Parker has paid special attention to the native 

 names of the plants, and has sent us a general sketch of the 

 Botany of Central Madagascar, with remarks in detail upon the 

 habit, distribution, and economic uses of the more remarkable 

 species ; and he has also sent an interesting paper on the drugs 

 used as remedies by the natives, which has been communicated to 

 the Pharmaceutical Society, and printed in their Journal under 

 the title of "A Malagasy Materia Medica" (' Pharm. Journ.,' 1881, 

 p. 853). The third collection was made by Dr. Hildebrandt, 

 already well known by his botanical explorations in Somali-land, 

 Zanzibar, and other parts of Tropical Africa. Dr. Hildebrandt's 

 researches have, so far, been restricted to the Island of Nossibe and 

 the western provinces of the mainland of Madagascar at a com- 

 paratively small elevation above sea-level ; so that his collection 

 represents a flora of an entirely different climatic type to those of 

 our two English correspondents. In the present paper I have only 

 attempted to notice the more interesting plants contained in the 

 parcels sent by Mr. Baron and Dr. Parker, leaving untouched some 

 of the more difficult natm*al orders, such as OrchidecE and Graminea; 

 so that all the species here dealt with may be considered as belonging 

 to the elevated region of the centre of the island, and included 

 within the bounds of the three provinces of Imerina, Betsileo, and 

 Tanala, and principally the two former. 



Nasturtium harhareafolium, Baker, Fl. Maurit. 7. — Common 

 in Betsileo-land, flowering in November and December, Baron, 32 ! 

 Native name Akondrow jaza — the child's banana. 



Acome micrantha, Baker. — Polanisia micrantlia, Bojer, in Ann. 

 Sc. Nat. ser. 2, xx. 57. — Provmce of Imerina ; a common weed in 

 fields of manioc and sugar-cane ; also in any open ground, Parker ! 

 Eeceived previously from Bojer and Lyall. 



Acome dumosa. Baker. — Polanisia dumosa, Bojer MSS. — A much- 

 branched annual, with finely glanduloso-pilose stems 1-2 ft. long. 

 Leaves petioled, digitately trifoliolate ; leaflets lanceolate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, entire, acute, ^-1^ hi. long, obscurely hispid and 

 ciliated, thin, green on both surfaces. Racemes very lax, finally 

 3-4 in. long ; fruit-pedicels spreading at a right angle from the 

 finely glandular rachis, \-\ in long ; bracts small, simple, 

 foliaceous, lanceolate. Calyx densely glandular, -^V in. long ; 

 sepals 4, lanceolate. Petals obovate, yellowish, ^ in. long. 

 Stamens 6, as long as or rather longer than the corolla, the 

 2 lower with large anthers as long as the filaments, the 4 others 

 with smaller anthers. Pod sessile, linear, straight, 1^-1^- in. 

 long, tapering at both ends, with many fine much -raised anas- 

 tomosing ribs. Seeds about 50, brown, reniform, rugose. — 

 Imerina, Parker ! Roadsides at Fianarantsoa, Betsileo-land, 

 Baron 11 ! Flowers in December. 



Viola ahyssinica, Steud. = V. emirnensis, Bojer MSS. =F. 

 Zont/ia, Tulasne, in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 5, ix., 300. — Common on 

 shady banks in the forests of the Betsileo country, Baron 90 ! 



