208 80. R. KOEHLERI. 



devoid of felt, is rough to the touch, and the hairs upon its 

 veins are few in number and short ; the panicle is rather 

 open, pyramidal and truncate, most of its branches being 

 longish, corymbose and patent; the terminal flower of the 

 whole panicle and of each of the branches is very shortly 

 stalked, whilst the lateral flowers have much longer stalks ; 

 the rachis, branches and peduncles are nearly always very 

 thickly armed with long slender prickles and aciculi, and 

 have also many hairs and setse. The petioles are furrowed 

 above. The filaments are white, and the anthers pale 

 yellow. 



The variety which I call infestus, the R. carjyinifolius of 

 Leigh ton, has the under side of its leaflets often slightly 

 felted, soft to the touch, with many hairs on all the veins ; 

 the panicle is very prickly, broad, with an almost hemi- 

 spherical top, and short mostly axillary branches ; the prickles 

 of the panicle, as also those of the stem, are usually short, 

 thick, very much compressed, and falcate, or very greatly de- 

 clining. The terminal peduncle of the panicle, and of each 

 branch, is shorter than the lateral ones, which are here and 

 in it. ^;a?^i(:/M5 erect-patent, not divaricate, as in true R. 

 Koehleri. The filaments are faintly pink, and the anthers 

 gi'eenish. 



In R. pallidus the underside of the leaflets is usually 

 furnished with a very fine coat of felt, and the veins bear 

 many long hairs; therefore it is soft to the touch. The 

 panicle is usually close, from the shortness of its branches, 

 and generally narrows towards the top. The terminal flower 

 of the panicle and of each of the branches is usually fur- 

 nished with a longer stalk than the lateral flowers ; and the 

 prickles of the rachis and peduncles are rarely so abundant, 

 and are nearly always stronger than those of R. Koehleri. 

 The branches of the panicle have a tendency to become 

 corymbose with divaricate branchlets in R. Koehleri^ whilst 



