186 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



the flowers have hitherto been known only by the description 

 given of them in the great collector's accompanying note, all his 

 specimens being in the advanced fruiting stage, at which period 

 their large accrescent calyces lend them a peculiar appearance, 

 well calculated to suggest the view that the plant bearing them 

 belongs to a special generic type. In the Flora of Trojncal Africa 

 (vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 362), Mr. Hemsley, still without opportunity of 

 examining flowers, considers Velvitsia cahjcina to be a species of 

 Melasma {M. calycimim Hemsl.). Flowers having now come to 

 hand, it is possible to settle the question definitely. 



The flower of Gossweiler, 2124, is seen on dissection to have 

 all the characters of Melasma, and to agree closely with Welwitsch's 

 description above mentioned. True, the corolla-lobes Welwitsch 

 states to be ovate, whereas Mr. Gossweiler's note speaks of them 

 as orbicular ; iu effect, when moistened and laid out on the stage 

 of the microscope, they seem to me to be neither the one shape 

 nor the other, but suborbicular. This slight discrepancy may 

 perhaps be accounted for by supposing that Welwitsch's flowers 

 had already begun to shrivel up when his note was written. Then 

 the stamens, says Welwitsch, are attached to the middle of the 

 tube (" medio tubo fixa "), whereas, as Mr. Gossweiler writes, they 

 are inserted not far from the base. The older collector gives white 

 tending towards pale yellow with violet veins for the colour of the 

 flowers, while Gossweiler describes them as " pure white, trans- 

 lucent, puberulous, with longitudinal nervation in relief outside." 

 In spite of these small points of difference, all the other characters 

 seem so like in each as to leave no reasonable doubt that the two 

 are conspecific. 



A few notes on the flower are appended : — 



Calyx florescens scabro-pubescens, 1 cm. long. ; lobi 4 mm. 

 long. Corollge extus microscopice puberulae tubus 1 cm. long., 

 ima basi 4 mm., superne 8 mm. lat. ; lobi inter se subaequales, 

 suborbiculares, 8x7 mm. Stamina corollae tubo 2 vel 3 mm. 

 supra basin inserta ; filamenta breviora 3 mm. longiora 5 mm. 

 long. : antherae 2*5 mm. long. Ovarium ovoideum, 4 mm. long. ; 

 stylus clavatus, ovarium duplo excedens, glaber; stigma hamatum, 

 circa 3 mm. long. 



Gerardiina angolensis Engl, in Bot. Jahrb. xxiii. 507, var. 

 nov. gracilis. Ob habitum gracilem, folia angusta (modo 1'5 mm. 

 lat.), pedicellos cito 1-5-2 cm. long, a typo plane divergit sed vix 

 species propria esse videtur. 



Hah. Angola, with GlumacecB and marsh herbs on the 

 Wawaiela rivulet, Kaconda ; Gosstveiler, 3400. 



Sopubea laxior, sp. nov. Herba perennis metralis vel ultra, 

 caule erecto tetragono sparsim vel frequentius ramoso glabro, foliis 

 (internodiis satis distantibus) oppositis vel verticillatis vel etiam 

 solitariis lineari-oblongis raro anguste oblanceolatis obtusis basi 

 angustatis chartaceis pagina utraque scabridis, floribus medio- 

 cribus pedicellatis in racemis laxis paniculatis satis elongatis 

 digestis, bracteis linearibus pedicellis brevioribus, calycis scabridi 

 lobis tubo brevioribus deltoideis acutiusculis margine breviter 



