Rauwolfia.'] lxxxiv. apocynace^ (staff). 117 



18. R. obscura, K. Schum. in Engl, d- Prantl, Pjianzenfam. iv. ii. 

 154. Quite glabrous. Leaves petioled, oblong-lanceolate, subacumi- 

 nate (?), acute at the base, about 4 in. long, 14 in. broad, membranous, 

 drying blackish above, cotfee-brown below, margins wavy ; secondary 

 nerves about 12 on each side ; veins quite obscure. Cymes few-fiowered, 

 crowded on the ends of the rays of an umbel (?) ; flowers very shortly 

 pedicelled. Calyx slightly over \ lin. long, divided almost to the-l>ase; 

 segments ovate, subacuminate. Corolla drying black ; tube IJlin. long, 

 villous at the mouth ; lobes broad-ovate, obtuse, J lin. long. Carpels free 

 to the base in flower. — Schlechter, Westafr. Kautschuk-Exped. 307. 



Soutli Central. Congo Free State : Mukenge, Poc/ge^ 1080 1 Leopoldville, 

 in shrubberies, Schlechter, 22534. 



Evidently a distinct species. I have seen only small fiMgments of an inflorescence 

 and a mutilated leaf, and as there is practically no description in Engler & Prantl, 

 I.e., I have not been able to ascertain its affinity. 



13. ALLAMANDA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. ii. 01)(). 



Calyx rather large, eglandular within ; sepals 5, lanceolate, more or 

 less unequal. Corolla funnel-shaped ; tube slender and cylindric to 

 about the middle, then much widened into a campanulate or funnel- 

 shaped throat with fimbriate scales or tufts of hairs at its base ; lobes 

 broad, contorted, overlapping to the left. Stamens inserted at the very 

 base of the throat, conniving into a cone ; filaments very short, decurrent 

 into a thin densely hairy ridge which projects much towards the centre 

 of the tube ; anthers free from the stigma, sagittate4anceolate, acumi- 

 nate or aristulate ; anther-cells polliniferous and dehiscing all along 

 except at the hard solid basal points. Disc annular, fleshy, entire or 

 obscurely lobed. Ovary syncarpous, 1 -celled; style filiform; stigma 

 capitate, with 5 dense patches of delicate hairs matted together by their 

 viscous secretion, a deflexed, rigid, 10-toothed frill (always?) and a 

 2-lobed short apiculus ; placentas 2, parietal ; ovules numerous, 2-5- 

 seriate. Fruit capsular, ovate or elliptic, flattened, echinate, dehiscing 

 along the sutures ; valves almost woody. Seeds numerous, imbricate, 

 broad, flat, margins membranous or winged ; endosperm fleshy ; cotyledons 

 large, subfoliaceous ; j:adicle short. — Trees or shrubs, frequently climb- 

 ing. Leaves opposite or whorled, or the upper aliernate; axillary 

 stipules ; axillary glands subulate, distinct, often very numerous. 

 Flowers large, showy, in racemiform or panicled cymes. 



Species 12, in tropical South America ; one frequently cultivated and occasionally 

 naturalised in the tropics of the Old World. 



1. A. cathartica, Linn. Mant. 214. A scantily branched shrub, 

 with pubescent or glabrate spreading branches. Leaves obovate- 

 lanceolate, acutely acuminate, attenuate towards the base, '^-b in. long, 

 1-1| in. broad, glossy above, glabrous or hairy along the midrib and 

 sometimes also on the side-nerves below ; secondary nerves about 1 5 on 

 each side, very slender, spreading; petiole 1-3 lin. long. Cymes 

 racemiform or panicled, glabrous or hispidulous ; bracts deciduous ; 



VOL. IV. E 



