1916-17.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 205 



about 1"5 cm. long and 2 cm. broad rounded emarginate more 

 or less crenulate. Stamens 10 unequal, longer about 3"3 cm. 

 shorter about 2 cm. long ; anthers dark purple in longest 

 stamens about 3 mm. long, in shortest 2 mm. ; filaments 

 slightly flattened at the base scarcely widened, glabrous 

 throughout, eglandular. Disk pubescent. Gynaeceum 

 about 3 "8 cm. long slightly exceeding the stamens, shorter 

 than corolla: ovary black-purple slightly grooved narrow 

 cylindric about 8 mm. long by 2 mm. in diameter glabrous ; 

 style glabrous slightly clavately expanded under the lobulate 

 stigma. 



W.X.W. Yunnan : — Tseku. Valley of Loukiang. Soulie. 

 No. 1000. 16th March 1895. 



Franchet's diagnosis of this species, sufficient for its 

 purpose at the time of publication, is inadequate now that 

 we have so many more species to deal with in the Irroratum 

 alliance. I have therefore drawn up this fuller description. 

 For the means of doing this I am indebted to M. Lecomte 

 of the Paris Herbarium, who has given himself much trouble 

 on my behalf, for which I wish to express my warm thanks. 

 I received from him a drawing of the type-sheet in the 

 Paris Herbarium, and subsequently beautiful specimens of 

 Soulie's collecting. Upon these my description is based. 



The species finds its nearest ally in Rh. ceraceiim, and 

 comes naturally into the set which includes also Rh. antho- 

 sphaerum and Rh. hylotlireptiLin. Like Rli. ceraceum, it 

 has the peculiar wax covering over the under surface of 

 the leaf, but the glossy sheen is not so bright. It appears 

 to be a larger - leaved and larger - flowered plant than 

 Rh. ceraceum. In the flower itself the unequal corolla 

 lobes spotted posteriorly and the glabrous pedicels, calyx, 

 stamens, and ovary are diagnostic. One may look on it 

 as a glabrous edition of Rh. ceraceum. 



Diels thought his Rh. gymnanthum to be similar to 

 Rh. lukiangense, differing in, amongst other characters, 

 its glabrous not tomentose pedicels. But the pedicels in 

 both are glabrous. What Diels saw was the tomentose 

 axis of inflorescence in Rh. lukiangense, and that is very 

 different from the glabrescent rhachis of Rh. gymnanthum. 

 Other characters separating the species are the wax-coated 

 not floccose stems and petioles of Rh. lukiangense, its 



