231 



Williams adopted the name T. cordifolia in his Florida Gam- 

 b,ca {Bull. Herb. Boiss., ser. 2, vol. vii., 1907, p. 201), on the 

 authority of a " note by Planchon in Herb. Kew, as to its being 

 quite distinct from T. semilriloba," and without mentioning any 

 distinguishing characters. This note, however, has not been found, 

 although two sheets in the Kew Herbarium (Gambia, Capt. 

 Bolder; Sierra Leone, Mann, 869) are named T. cordifolia by 

 Pianchon, who points out that the stamens of Capt. Boteler's plant 

 are 10 in number as in the plate of T. cordifolia, instead of 25 as 

 in the description. Further discrepancies between text and plate 

 are that the petals are described as being slightly longer than the 

 sepals and the capsule as glabrous, whereas the petals are figured 

 as considerably shorter than the sepals and the fruit as hirsute. 

 The Kew material agrees with the plate as regards the petals and 

 stamens, whilst the fruits are hairy on some specimens and 

 glabrous on others. In what follows, T. cordifolia means the 

 species figured in the Flora of Senegambia, not the one described. 

 It seems probable that the material examined by Richard consisted 

 of a mixture of two distinct species. 



T. cordifolia as defined above, appears to be a polymorphic 

 species, exhibiting considerable variation in tho indumentum of 

 the stem, leaves, flower and fruit, and in the lobing and serration 

 of the leaves ; and both pentamerous and hexamerous flowers 

 may be found on the same inflorescence. Three well-marked 

 varieties may be distinguished, however, which, but for the 

 existence of a few intermediates, might almost be regarded as 

 distinct spacies. Typical T. cordifolia is characterized by nnlobed 

 leaves and by a sparse indumentum consisting mainly of small 

 stellate hairs ; variety Hollandii by unlobed or three-lobed leaves, 

 and by the presence on stem, leaves and flower-buds of numerous, 

 Jong, simple hairs in addition to small stellate ones ; and variety 

 tomentosa by three-lobed or almost five-lobed leaves, clothed 

 with a fine dense stellate tomentum. The type occurs from 

 Senegambia to the Cameroons ; var. Hollandii from the Gold Coast 

 to Nigeria and Fernando Po ; and var. tomentosa in the Cameroons 

 and Angola. This distribution would seem to indicate that var. 

 Hollandii and var. tomentosa are geographical races, but further 

 material is required, from different localities, and representing all 

 stages in the development of the plant, before the point can be 

 decided. The following conspectus of the varieties and forms is 

 to be regarded, therefore, as provisional : 



Triumpetta cordifolia, Guill. et Perr. PI. Seneg., t, 18 (1831), 

 *>nsu amplify non descr. T. seniitriloba, Mast, in Fl. Trop. Afr., 

 yol- 1., p. 256, non Jacq. T. semitriloba, var. africana, K. Schura. 

 to Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr., vol. c, p. 264. 



Var. n. TVpica, Sprague, foliis indivisis, indumento sparso 

 e pilis parvis stellatis plerumque constante. — T. cordifolia, 

 Guill. et Perr. I.e., sensu restrict. ; F. N. Williams in Bull. 

 Herb. Boiss., ser. 2, vol. vii., p. 201 ; Stapf in Johnston, 

 Liberia, vol. ii., p. 583. T. angulata, Hook. f. in Niger FL, 

 p. 235. 



Forma 1. pilosa, Sprague, aculeis capsulae pilosis. ene- 

 gambia, Heudelot, 62D. Gambia, Ingram, Boteler. Sierra 



