270 FLOKA OF CENTRAL MADAGASCAR. 



slender terete downy stems. Leaves alternate, long-petioled, 

 simple, cordate-ovate-cuspidate, 2-3 in. long, not coriaceous, 

 green and obscurely pilose above, matted with persistent grey 

 tomentum beneath, furnished with 5-7 distinct vertical ribs. 

 Male flowers in lax sohtary shortly-peduncled spikes 1^-2 in long 

 from the axils of the leaves ; flowers distant, 1-2-nate ; rachis 

 flexuose, densely pubescent ; pedicels or very short ; bracts 

 minute, lanceolate. Male perianth l-16th in. diam. when fully 

 expanded ; segments oblong, much imbricated, bright red. Fertile 

 stamens 6, ^ as long as the perianth-segments ; anthers minute, 

 globose, yellow, about as long as the filaments. Female flowers 

 and fruit not seen. — Woods in Betsileo-land, flowering in January, 

 Baron 52 ! Native name Ovin-ala. 



DioscoREA HEXAGONA, n. sp. — A twiulng shrub, glabrous in all 

 Its parts, with woody branchlets, with about six acute angles. 

 Leaves simple, alternate, subsessile, elliptic, rounded at both ends, 

 distinctly cuspidate or rarely lanceolate, acute, subcoriaceous in 

 texture, green and glabrous on both surfaces, with 5-7 prominent 

 vertical ribs running from base to apex. Male flowers in 1-2-nate 

 subdense spikes 1-3 in. long, on short peduncles from the axils of 

 the leaves ; flowers usually 2 to a node ; pedicels or very short ; 

 bracts lanceolate, l-16th to l-12th in. long. Male perianth cam- 

 panulate, ^ lin. long ; segments oblong, obtuse, much imbricated 

 permanently. Fertile stamens 6, l-4th to l-5th as long as the 

 perianth-segments ; anthers globose, as long as the filaments. 

 Female flowers and fruit not seen. — Hillsides in West Betsileo, 

 flowering in December and January, Baron 95 ! 140 ! 



DioscoREA HETEROPODA, u. sp. — A climber, glabrous in all its 

 parts, with slender angled twining stems and large tubers, which 

 are edible, but not palatable. Leaves alternate ; petiole shorter 

 than the blade, which is cordate-ovate cuspidate, 2-3 in. long on 

 the flowering branchlets, but sometimes 6-8 in., moderately firm 

 in texture, green on both surfaces, with 11-13 distinct vertical 

 ribs connected by cross- veinlets. Male flowers in lax 1-2-nate 

 racemes 1-3 in. long on short peduncles from the axils of the 

 leaves ; pedicels often 3-4 to a node, very unequal, the longest 

 3-4 times as long as the perianth ; rachis slender, angled, glabrous ; 

 bracts minute, lanceolate. Male flowers yellowish white, 1 lin. 

 diam. when fully expanded ; segments oblong or suborbicular, 

 much imbricated, ^ lin. long. Fertile stamens C, not more than 

 \ as long as the perianth-segments, incurved, the globose anthers 

 ^ as long as the filaments. Female flowers and fruit not seen. 

 — Betsileo-country, flowering in December and January, Baron 

 119! 139! 



Xerophyta pectinata, n. sp. — A much-branched shrub, 1-3 feet 

 high. Branches tV in. diam., clothed with the closely imbricated 

 squarrose woody bases of the old leaves, with their close flattened 

 brown spinulose ribs. Produced leaves 0-15 in a rosette, linear, 

 erect, .J ft. long, l-12th in. broad at the base, rigid in texture, 

 tapering to a point, channelled down the face, closely ribbed, the 

 young ones ciliated with crowded spreading pale brown bristles 



