203 



i 



ascending or spreading, rough tLroughont or smootli at the basal 

 part and rough above, \~2 ft. long, |-| in. thick, cylindric, 

 sheathing at the base and usually with a concave channel extend- 

 ing from the sheath ^— | way up the leaf, gradually tapering to 

 a very acute hard spine-like brown point 1^-2 lin. long, dark 

 green, faintly banded with ]3aler green when young, and marked 

 with darker green continuous and interrupted longitudinal lines, 

 which with age or on shrivelled leaves become irqpressed, form- 

 ing slight furrows. Floiver-stem 1-lJ ft. high, 2-4 lin. thick at 

 the base, green, thickly covered with minute whitish linear dots, 

 and bearing 2-4 membranous long-pointed sheaths ^1-2^ in. long 

 on the basal part and a compact spike-like raceme lf-2-| in. in 

 diam, at the uj^per part. Bracts ^-2 lin. long, membranous, 

 ovate, acute or acuminate. Flowers 2-5 in a cluster, whitish or 

 greenish-white, sometimes with a slight reddish tinge outside; 

 pedicels 1^—2 lin. long, variably jointed at or above the middle, 

 with the persistent part 1-1^ lin. long; tube about 5 Hn. long, 

 less than 1 lin, in diameter, scarcely or but slightly enlarged at 

 the base; lobes 6-7 lin. long, recurved-spreading or with reflexed 



(scarcely re volute) tips. 



British East Africa. Is^airobi River Falls, scarce, Poicellj 



13 ! tand without precise locality, Evans ! 



Described from living plants sent from Nairobi by Mr, W. A, 



Evans in 1903, and by Mr. H. Powell in 1906 to Kew, where they 



have flowered on two or three occasions. 



6. S. Phillipsiae, TV. E. Brown in Hook. Ic. Plant, vol. xxx, t. 



3000, Plant with short erect stems branching at or above ground- 

 level, forming irregular clumps about 1-1^ ft. high. Branches f 

 3-8 in, long, | in. thick, more or less horizontal or spreading on 

 the ground and ultimately rooting, ending in a tuft of leaves, 

 clothed below the tuft with overlapping broadly deltoid-ovate 

 sheaths or scales |-1^ in, long, tapering from the base into the 

 apical spine, dull green, with a membranous white edge to a 

 norrow brown border, withering to whitish-brown. Leaves 

 usually 5-10 to a growth, directed to various points of the com- 

 pass, when young ascending or suberect, ultimately very spread- 

 ing and slightly recurved, rigid, smooth, 4-18 in. long, |-| in. 

 thick, cylindric, with 5-10 longitudinal impressed lines or slight 

 furrows extending from base to apex and a deeply concave sheath- 

 ing portion 2-3-| in, long' at the base, with acute white edges, 

 gradually tapering upwards and rather suddenly narrowed at the 

 apex into a hard brown acute or obtuse point i~-^ in. ^oug, or 

 the outer leaves of each tuft acutely spine-pointed; young leaves 

 dull dark green, very faintly marked with transverse bands of 

 slightly paler green, which become obliterated with age; olH 

 leaves uniformly very dark and slightly bluish-green. Floiver- 

 sfem 14-18 in. high, bearing on the basal third 2-3 distant 

 whitish-brown membranous sheaths l-l| in. long, which gradu- 

 ally taper from their base to an acute point, and on the upper two- 

 thirds a spike-like raceme of flower-clusters. Bracts |-|- in. long, 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, membranous. Flowers 3-6 in a 

 cluster, white; pedicels 1^-1^ lin. long, jointed at or slightly 



B 2 



