76 ICONES PLANTAEUM. 



tained as distinct hj all other botanists. Amongst them it is nearest allied to the 

 American Hleront/ma, but has neither the scurfy indumentum nor the drupaceous fruit 

 of that genus, and the calyx is rather more deeply lobed. It has neither the one-celled 

 ovary of Antidesma nor the dehiscent cocci of Tkecacoris. The fruit in Schweinfurth's 

 excellent specimens is not quite ripe, but has evidently reached its full size, and occa- 

 sionally the se?d is fully formed externally, but not ripe enough to show its internal 

 structure, — G. Be>'Tham. 



Plate 1297. 



LEPIDOTURUS LAXIFLORUS, Benth. 



30 



EuPHORBiACEiE, Tribe Ceotonkj;. 



f 



L, laxiflorns, sp. nov,, stlpulis linearibus, foliia ovatis membranaceis 

 breviter acuminatls basi rotundatis, spicis mascnlis laxis, bracteis ovatis 

 obtusis, ovario dense, fructu brevissime hispidalo. 



Hab. Tropical Africa, Kiamniam country, SchweiiifurtJi n. 2956 a7id 



ArlusGula 15-20-pedalis, partibus novellis snbsericeo-hispidnlis, "de- 

 mum glabratis. Folia alterna, petiolata, 2-3-pollicaria, leviterlateque 

 crenata, basi non v. vix cordata, membranacea, pennivenia et basi 

 3-nervia, tenuiter transyersim reticulata. Stipulce angustissimEe, 2-3 

 Hn.^ longae. 8;ptcce masculas in ramis annotinis defoliatis ad nodos 

 solitariae, basi squamis ferrngineis imbricatis stipatge, 2-4-pollicares, 

 Flores secus rhachin dissite glomerati, parvi, breviter pedicellati. Bradece 

 sub glomerulis ferruginese, ovatse, obtus{3e, concavae, integerrimse, 1-2 lin. 

 longre, persistentes. Calyx in alabastro globosus, per antliesin in seg- 

 menta 3-4 valvatim fissus. Stamina 8, Spicce fceminese tenues in 

 axillis inferioribus v, ad apices ramorum homotinorum foliatorum 

 solitarii, floribus paucis dissitis sub bractea minuta sessilibus soli- 

 tariisque V, ebracteatis. Sepala 2r-3, parva, valde inajqnalia. Disci 

 liyPpgy^i glandulse 3^. ^ Ovarium pilis minimis dense hispidum, 

 stylis 3 longe subulatis indivisis. Cajpsula jam valde aucta sed in speci- 

 minibus adhuc immatura, globoso-tridyma. 



Fig. 1. Male flower open, seen from above. 2. Stamen, seen from the back, 3. 

 Female flower, 4. Ovary, transverse section. 



The species is evidently nearer to the Madagascar Z. alnifolius, of which I have 

 seen no good specimens, than to the western i. occidmfalis, but differs from both 

 as well in the shape of the leaves as an the much longer and looser male spikes An 

 Imperfect male specimen from the Niger, Barter, may possibly belong to L. laxiflorus. 



