165 



and Houtbosch. 



tffra is confined 



to the Transvaal, but there are named varieties in Cape Colony 

 Natal, and Zambesia. 



Var. longipes, Warb. — See note under F. cordata, below. 



Picus cordata, Thurib.— The Pretoria " Wonderboom " was at- 

 one time identified for me at Kew as this species, and I have since 

 called it by that name (see Transvaal Agricultural Journal v. 4 

 n. 13, plates 3, 4 and 5. Oct. 1905). Although I have not been 

 able to see Thunberg's type, his published woodcut of it, and the 

 material so named at Kew, show that F. cordata is distinct from 

 any species known to us in the Transvaal. It is largely, if not 

 entirely, a coast region species. Warburg, in his revision of the 

 South African species of Ficus (" Die Sudafrikanischen Arten d. 



Kenni. d. Af 



schrift 



Mas. d. Univ. Zurich 

 Naturf. Gessel. in Zurich, Jahr. 51, Heft. 1, 1906) does not cite 

 any Transvaal material in his account of this species, and restricts 

 the range of distribution to Cape Colony, Bechuanaland and 

 Hereroland ; it is possible that the Bechuanaland and Hereroland 

 trees may prove to be distinct. 



Rehmann, 4435c (in herb. Zurich) from the Wonderboompoort, 

 Pretoria, appears to me to be only an exceptionally narrow-leaved 

 shoot of the " Wonderboom " tree, with pedicellate receptacles. 

 At one time Warburg appears to have taken it to be a variety of 

 F. catfra. for he has written on the Zurich sheet the manuscript name 

 " F. caffra var. lanceolata, Warb." ; but he finally published it as 

 a variety of the Abyssinian Ficus salicifolia, Vahl., calling it 

 var. australis, Warb. I have seen only one specimen of F. solid- 

 folia, and that not the type, but Rehmann's specimens do not 

 appear to bear more than a mere resemblance to it. No other 

 South African material at Kew, Zurich, or Geneva appears to come 

 anywhere near to F. salicifolia, and it seems unlikely that that 

 species should extend its range into South Africa ; in any case 

 more material is needed before this point can be decided. 



Rehmann, 4435 (in herb. Zurich) from the Wonderboompoort 

 Pretoria, appears to me to be much the same as the " Wonderboom," 

 but I had no specimens of the latter with me at Zurich for 

 comparison. From the numbering and general resemblance it- 

 seems quite probable that the two specimens 4435 and 4435c came 

 from the same tree. Warburg has, however,^ taken them to 

 represent distinct species, and has called 4435 F. caffra var. 



Warb 



Warbu 



of peduncles to the receptacles. He has used this character in his 

 key to separate species otherwise closely related, but it is by no 

 means constant ; some of my Wonderboom specimens have both 

 sessile and pedunculate receptacles on the same branchlet. 



Several specimens at Kew seem to connect the " Wonderboom " 

 with Ficus caffra. Among these is one of Atherstone's, which 

 bears the legend " Wonderboom near Pretoria, diam. 24 ft. 

 hollowed out by fire, formerly 50 feet high." Atherstone's 



Transvaal collections were made between Dec. 1873 and Jan. 1874. 



