FLORA OF CENTRAL MADAGASCAR. 113 



as a series of minute inflexed teeth. Staminodia 5, opposite the 

 sepals, lanceolate, membranous, connate round the base of the 

 ovary. Pistil about as long as the petals. Ovary oblong-cylin- 

 drical, narrowed into a short style, with a large capitate 3-lobed 

 stigma. — In the open country, Betsileo land, near rocks and water, 

 only one plant seen, Kitcking ! Baron 255 ! I am indebted to Dr. 

 Masters for the determination of this curious new species. 



Begonia {Mezierea) cladocarpa, n. sp. — A succulent under- 

 shrub, glabrous in all its parts. Leaves long-stalked ; petiole 

 reaching 5-6 in. ; stipules large, lanceolate, deciduous ; blade 

 oblique cordate-deltoid, 5-6 in. long, and nearly as broad, thin in 

 texture, palmately 5-lobed less than halfway down, obsurely den- 

 ticulate. Flowers in the specimen all female, in sparse cymes 

 from the axils of the leaves, which are not more than \-l as long 

 as the petiole ; bracts deciduous ; pedicels as long as the ovary. 

 Ovary clavate-oblong, terete, |~f in. long, tapering into the 

 pedicel. Sepals 2, oblique obovate, pinkish, \ in. long. Styles ^ as 

 long as the sepals, each with a single fork reaching halfway down. — 

 Damp places in the forests of Eastern Betsileo, Baron 9. A second 

 species, in addition to B. aptera, Roxb., of the section Aneupteron 

 of the genus Mezierea, as understood by A. DC. Prodr. xv. pt. 1, 

 407. Male flowers not yet seen. 



RApmniocYSTis brachypoda, n. sp. — A herbaceous climber, with 

 a slender angled nearly glabrous stem, with a simple tendril, 

 spiral from its base, from each node. Petiole very short; blade 

 simple, cordate-ovate, acuminate, 3-4 in. long, thin in texture, 

 obscurely lobed, with distant deltoid-cuspidate teeth and a few 

 obscure setae mostly on the edge. Female flowers 3-4 together in 

 cymes sessile in the axils of the leaves ; pedicels finally about ^ in. 

 long. Ovary oblong, above ^ in. long, densely clothed with large 

 bright brown pungent bristles ; upper part of calyx-tube campanu- 

 late, ^ in. broad and deep ; teeth small, linear or lanceolate. 

 Corolla infundibuliform, 1 in. long; segments lanceolate. Style 

 with cylindrical stigmas reaching to the top of the corolla-tube. 

 Male flowers unknown. — Forests of the Betsileo country. Baron 

 144 ! Habit and foliage of the Guinea Pi. Mannii, Hook, fil., with 

 a very different inflorescence. Two species are known already, 

 both Tropical African. 



Trochomerl^ madagascariensis, n. sp. — A forest climber, with 

 slender angled deeply sulcate branchlets and small simple tendrils. 

 Petiole 2 in. long, wanting the foliaceous persistent stipules of T. 

 dehilis and T. Garcini; blade simple, cordato-ovate, acute, 2-3 in. 

 long, nearly glabrous, turning black in drying, with a large 

 rounded basal sinus and conspicuous deltoid-cuspidate spreading 

 teeth, growing smaller gradually towards the tip of the leaf. 

 Female flowers 1-3 together from the axils of the leaves on a 

 common peduncle shorter than the petiole. Ovary oblong, gla- 

 brous, ^ in. long, narrowed into a distinct neck below the cam- 

 panulate summit of the calyx-tube, which is ^ in. long and broad, 

 with five minute distant teeth. Petals ovate, | in. long, free to 

 the base. Style columnar, with the large capitate stigma on a 



