287 



French Congo. Brazzaville, A. Chevalier, 11177, 11196. 



In the absence of mature fruits and seeds I hesitate to express a 

 definite opinion regarding the affinity of this new genus. The 

 gynoecium is exactly that of Leptonychia and Theobroma, and the 

 curiously-shaped petals may well be reduced to the type prevailing 

 in Buettnerieae. The androecium, on the other hand, represents 

 a more primitive condition than that observed in Buettnerieae, 

 the stamens being all perfect, alike, and practically free to 

 the base of the filaments ; they resemble, however, the fertile 

 stamens of Leptonychia. Another peculiarity is in the aestivation 

 of the calyx and corolla. The sepals are distinctly imbricate in 

 the young tlower, but they soon cease to overlap, and the petals 

 become visible between them. The petals assume the character 

 of " open " aestivation at a still earlier stage. I had to go back to 

 corollas less than 1 mm. long to find the petals imbricate, and even 

 then the overlapping did not amount to much, and was con- 

 fined to the upper part. The flowers appear therefore more or 

 less open long before they have attained their full size and 

 maturity. In the Buettnerieae, as we know them, the aestivation 

 of the calyx is typically valvate and the edges of the sepals are 

 correspondingly not attenuated. In Cotylonychia we find an 

 indication of thinning-out along the edges, although the pale and 

 submembranous margin is very narrow, and this is evidently due 

 to the different conditions of aestivation. The aestivation of the 

 calyx and the structure of the androecium afford, it seems at 

 present, the only objections to referring Cotylonychia to the Buett- 

 nerieae ; but it must be admitted that they are serious objections, 

 and when more material is at hand the question will have to be 

 considered whether the genus here described should not be taken 

 as representing a distinct and more primitive tribe. 



952. Corchorus discolor, N. E. Brown [Tiliaceae] ; affinis C. hir- 

 suto, Linn., foliis supra glabris et fructu ellipsoideo setis filiformi- 

 bus longis densissime obtecto facile distinguitur. 



Caules i?0 cm. vel ultra longi, erecti, ramosi, lignosi, superne 

 pilis stellatis tomentosi. Foliorum petioli 5-11 mm. longi ; laminae 

 2-6 cm. longae, 1-2-6 cm. latae, oblongae vel oblongo-lauceolatae, 

 obtusae vel subacutae, argute serratae, supra glabrae, subtus cinereo- 

 albidae, pilis stellatis minutis densissime tomentosae ; stipulae 

 5-9 mm. longae, subulato-tiliformes. Flores capitati ; capituh 

 globosi, multitlori, pedunculati, ad nodos laterales et termmales, 

 tomentosi. Pedumuli 0-5-2-5 cm. longi. Braeteoli 8-10 mm. 

 longi, subulati. Pedicelli 2-7 mm. longi. Sepala 1 cm. longa, 

 f* mm. lata, lanceolata, subulato-acuminata. Petala 7-b mm. 

 tonga, 4 mm. lata, obovata, apice rotundata, glabra, lutea. Mamma 

 mimerosa, glabra. Ovarium oblongum, dense piloso-tomentosum, 

 4-loculare, loculis 10-12-ovulatis ; stylus brevis, I'D mm. longus ; 

 stigma leviter incrassata. Camula 1-5-2 cm. longa, 1-4-M cm. 

 diam., ellipsoidea, obtusa, setis tenuissimis filiformibus fiexuosis 

 minute pilosis 5-7 mm. longis densissime obtecta. 



Natal. Near Stanger, Wood, 10186, and without precise 





locality, Gerrard, 1130. 



N. E. Brown [Tiliaceae] 



colori, N. E. Br., foliis' supra 'minute velutino-puberulis et setis 



32998 B 2 



