PEW YORfc 



BOTANICAL 



UAKOtiN 



THE 



JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 



NEW PETALOID MONOCOTYLEDONS FROM CAPE 



COLONY. 



By J. G. Baker, F.R.S., F.L.S. 



DiOSCOREACE.E. 



Dioscorea Burchellii, n. sp. — Stems slender, widely twining, 

 glabrous. Leaves alternate; petiole ^-^ in. long; blade simple, 

 ovate-lanceolate, sliallowly cordate at the base, always entire, 

 1-2 in. long, moderately firm in textm-e, bright green, triplinerved. 

 Male flowers in lax subspicate racemes 1-2 in. long, with a slender 

 straight glabrous axis ; pedicels very short, subtended by a minute 

 ovate-lanceolate bract. Perianth campanulate, l-12th in. long; 

 tube very short ; segments oblong, obtuse. Stamens 6 ; filamenl,s 

 incurved, longer than the globose anthers. Rudimentary ovary 

 globose. Female flowers and fruit unknown. 



Hab. South central district, Burchell 5728 ! Kathery, Hutton ! 

 Kaffraria, Mrs. Barber S Mr. J. H. Barber ! 



D. (Helmia) malifolia, n. sp. — Stems slender, twining, glabrous. 

 Leaves alternate ; petiole |-1 in. long ; blade simple, entire, broad- 

 ovate, truncate or slightly cordate at the base, 1-2 in. long and 

 broad, moderately firm in texture, green and glabrous on both 

 surfaces, minutely mucronate, 5-nerved from the base to the apex. 

 Male flowers in copious lax fascicled racemes 2-3 in. long, with a 

 flexuose or straight glabrous rachis ; pedicels short, ascending ; 

 bracts ovate-acummate, minute. Perianth glabrous, 1-lGth to 

 l-12th in. long; tube short; segments oblong, obtuse. Fertile 

 stamens 6, much shorter than the perianth-segments. Female 

 flowers in lax racemes 4-6 in. long. Ovary cylindrical-triquetrous, 

 glabrous, ^ in. long. Capsule obovate-triquetrous, emarginate, an 

 inch long. Seeds with a large basal wing. 



Hab. NsitaX, Sanderson 232 \ Gerrard U4t\ Cooper S2i7 1 Wood 

 753 ! Kaftraria, Dre^/e 4500 ! 



D. (Helmia) Mundtii, n. sp. — Stems very slender, wide-twining, 

 glabrous. Leaves alternate; petiole V-l in. long; blade simple, 



Journal of Botany. — Vol. 27. [Jan., 1889.] b 



