Hibiscus] XXIII. malvace^. 75 



in no small quantity but seen only in one place, in beds of Manihot, on 

 the left-hand side of the road leading to Ambaca, near Matas de 

 Quibanga ; fl. and immature fr. beginning of July 185G. No. 4990. 



18. H. esculentus L. Sp. PL, edit. 1, p. 696 (1753) ; Masters, 

 ^.c, Welw. Apont. p. 558 {Ahelmoschus esculentus). 



LOANDA. — An annual herb, 3 to 5 ft. high ; stem erect, thick and 

 succulent, branched ; flowers large, sulphur-coloured, inside near the 

 base purple ; fruit edible ; abundant, both wild and cultivated, on 

 plains and in fields throughout Angola ; Imbondeiro dos Lobos, fl. 

 Dec. 1858. No. 5278. 



GoLUNGO Alto. — A sparingly branched herb, sometimes rather 

 woody at the base, 4 or even 5 ft. high; flowers handsome, large, 

 sulphur-coloured inside purple at the base, but soon withering ; wild, 

 perhaps an escape from cultivation, almost ubiquitous, in bushy places, 

 Bango, fl. April 1856; native names "Quingombo" and " Quiabos." 

 No. 5277. Coll. Caep. 251. 



19. H. Ahelmoschus L. Sp. PL edit. 1, p. 696 (1753) ; Masters 

 in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. i. p. 207. 



GoLUNGO Alto. — Flowers large, yellow ; petals inside near the base 

 dark-purple ; at the borders of forests, Sobato Mussengue, fl. beginning 

 of Oct. 1855. No. 5276. A herb, 3 to 4 ft. high ; flowers very large, 

 sulphur- coloured, with a dark-purple spot near the base inside ; on 

 plains and in bushy pastures, Sobato de Bumba, fl. Oct. 1855. No. 5275. 



20. H. natalitius Harv. in Harv. k Send. Fl. Cap. ii. p. 587. 

 GoLrxGO Alto. — A branched, very bright green herb, rough with 



rigid hairs shining like crystals ; petals sulphur-coloured, marked with 

 dark-purple inside near the base ; in damp wooded stations, on the 

 left bank of the river Quibolo ; fl. and fr. April 1856. Nos. 4923, 5256. 



21. H. pusillus Thimb. Prodr. Fl. Cap. p. 118 (1794). 

 Huilla. — In stony sparingly grassy shrubby stations, near Lopollo ; 



fl. and fr. Nov. and Dec. 1859. No. 4930. 



22. H. Welwitschii Hiern, sp. n. 



A small shrub, with a woody rootstock giving oflf numerous 

 stems, 1 to 2 ft. high ; stems diflfuse, ascending, terete, thickly 

 beset with rough stellate tawny hairs, not prickly. Leaves oblongs 

 rounded at both ends except a small apiculus at the apex, coria- 

 ceous, rigid, denticulate except towards the lower part, rough on 

 both surfaces with close short stellate tawny hairs, 2 to 4 in. long, 

 ^ to 1 in. broad ; petiole I to | in. long, rough with short hairs ; 

 stipules subulate, about ^ in. long. Flowers in quasi-terminal 

 leafy racemes ; pedicels ranging up to § in. long, closely hairy, 

 jointed about or below the middle. Epicalyx closely hairy, con- 

 sisting of 5 or 6 linear-subulate segments, ~ in. long, ajDpressed 

 to the calyx in flower, and about equalling its tube. Calyx 

 hemispherical, | in. long, rather deeply 5-cleft, tomentose ; lobes 

 ovate, ^ in. long. Corolla nearly | in. long, of a brilliant vermilion 

 colour, somewhat pilose outside. Style 5-lobed at the apex. Fruit 

 not seen. 



PuNG(j Andongo. — In wooded thickets, near Quitage ; fl. March 

 1857. A very beautiful plant. No. 4901. 



The affinity of this species appears to be with H. fttliiopicus L. 



