244 FLORA OF CENTRAL MADAGASCAR. 



in the forests of Betsileo, with a larger calyx with very small sharp 

 teeth to the lower lip, hut his specimens do not show the corolla 

 satisfactorily, either for colom- or form. 



Mjcromeria madagascariensis, n. sp. — A perennial herb, with 

 densely tufted obscurely pilose slender square trailing stems above 

 a foot long. Leaves distant, opposite, shortly petioled, usually 

 linear-oblong, enth-e, rarely ovate-oblong, obscurely crenate, obtuse, 

 ^— ^ in. long, firm in texture, green on both surfaces, copiously 

 gland-punctate beneath. Flowers few, solitary from the axils 

 of the leaves on long pedicels with a pair of bracteoles at the 

 middle. Calyx infundibuliform, pilose, 10-ribbed, ^ in. long ; teeth 

 deltoid. Corolla-tube as long as the calyx ; upper lip oblong, 

 nearly as long as the tube ; lower, of three smaller orbicular 

 segments. Stamens shorter than the corolla. — Central Madagascar, 

 Dr. Parker. " Scent like that of wild thyme." This genus, which 

 has its head- quarters in the Mediterranean region, is near to the 

 island. Two species are known in Abyssinia and one in South 

 Africa. 



Polygonum tristachyum, n. sp. — A tall shrub, glabrous in all 

 its parts, with terete brown woody branches. Ochreae greenish, 

 membranous, not ciliated, \-^ in. long, clasping the stem tightly ; 

 petiole about | in. long ; blade broad- oblong, cuspidate, 2-3 in. 

 long, rounded at the base, moderately firm in texture, green and 

 glabrous on both surfaces, with 6-8-jugate distinct parallel arc- 

 uate-ascending main veins. Flowers in about three lax terminal 

 racemes 3-4 in. long ; bracts contiguous, but not imbricated, ^ in. 

 long, greenish, membranous, clasping the rachis except at the 

 deltoid- cuspidate tip ; flowers 1-3 to a node, with pedicels as long 

 as the bract. Perianth greenish, infundibuliform, cleft nearly to 

 the base into five lanceolate acute segments. Stamens 8, reaching 

 to the tip of the perianth. Styles 3. " Fruit triquetrous, i in. 

 long, with a succulent pericarp." — Edges of woods and shrubby 

 places, flowering in December and January in West Betsileo, 

 Baron 137 ! 



Peperomia tanalensis, n. sp. — Stems densely tufted, erect, pilose, 

 much branched, about ^ ft. long. Leaves opposite or at the tip of the 

 branchlets ternate, shortly petioled, oblong, acute, entire, about 

 •| in. long, densely pilose, with a distinct midrib and two obscure 

 side veins running from the base to the margin a short distance 

 fi"om the tip of the leaf. Spikes copious, slender, shortly 

 peduncled, terminal, 1-li in. long ; rachis glabrous ; bracts 

 peltate, glabrous, the lower distant, the upper contiguous. Ovary 

 glabrous, with a sessile terminal stigma. Piocks in damp forests of 

 the Tanala Country, JJaron 311 ! 



Dlloheia, sp. — Dr. Parker sends a specimen, without flower or 

 fruit, which no doubt belongs to this imperfectly-known endemic 

 genus of Proteaceoi. It is a small tree, with young branchlets 

 clothed with short ferruginous pubescence, and alternate leaves 

 about a foot long, which in shape and texture resemble the fertile 

 fronds of a Platijceriuin. They are twice forked dichotomously, 

 with lanceolate segments, with rounded sinuses between them, with 



