154 Lxxxiv. APOCYNACEiE (sxapf). [Vocicanga, 



the collectors) pale sulphur-yellow flowers, whilst Scliweinfurth describes the corollas 

 as white and Welwitsch as whitish. A very siujilar species occurs in Nntal : 

 V. Dregei, E. Meyer, Much more material with good flowers, fruits and seeds is 

 required before it can be definitely decided whether V. ohtusa should be treated as 

 a species distinct from V. Thouarsii. At the same time it is also possible that the 

 above description covers more than one species. 



Scheffler (I.e.) gives a description of a tree found in the Usambara forests, which 

 he names V. ohtusa. It is a tall tree with a slender stem, slender erect branches, 

 and scanty foliage. The flowers are sulphur-yellow, waxy, and in size and shape 

 very similar to those of Taherncemontana Holstii. The wood is hard, yellowish- 

 white, the bark smooth, dark grey, and the fruits dark green, mottled with yellowish- 

 white. This tree sheds its foliage completely by the end of October and beginning 

 of November. The new leaves appear early in December. 



2. V. Thouarsii, Roem. d- Schultes, Syst. Veg. iv. 439. A glabrous- 

 tree or shrub ; branches stout, pallid or the youngest blackish when dry ; 

 leaf-buds more or less coated with resin. Leaves crowded towards the 

 ends of the branches, obovate- or oblong-cuneate, broadly rounded at 

 the apex, 4-8 in. long, IJ-3J in. broad, subcoriaceous, dull when dry; 

 secondary nerves 12-16 on each side, subhorizontal, straight for the 

 greatest part or slightly curved, slender ; petiole very variable in length, 

 rarely over J in. long. Inflorescences usually geminate from the branch- 

 forks, racemiform (consisting really of racemosely arranged reduced 

 cymes) ; peduncle stout, 2-4 in, long ; rhachis stout, gradually lengthen- 

 ing up to 3 in. as the lower flowers fall ; bracts ovate, concave, up to 

 5 lin. long, caducous ; pedicels stout, 3-5 lin. long. Calyx wide-tubular, 

 5J-7 lin. long, early circumscissile at the base, with very numerous 

 glands within ; lobes rotundate, 2 lin. long. Corolla white, fleshy ; 

 tube subcylindric, slightly constricted, 8-10 lin. long, twisted from the 

 middle upwards, quite glabrous ; limb in bud ellipsoid, 6 lin. long ; lobes 

 subobcordate, up to 1 in. long, and more than 1 in. broad. Anthers 

 inserted close to the mouth of the corolla, exserted for half their length, 

 3-3 J lin. long. Disc cupular, obscurely lobed, exceeding the ovary and 

 adnate to it only at the base, persistent. Style up to 8 lin, long ; stigma 

 shortly cylindric, grooved, with a frill at the base. Berries globose, 

 of the size of an apple (Baron) or a walnut {Kirk)^ mottled. — K. Schum. 

 in Engl, k PrantI, Pflanzenfam. iv. ii. 149. 



Mozamb. Dlst. German East Africa : Mafia Island, KirJc ! 

 Also in Madagascar. 



3. V. angolensis, Stapf ex Hiern in Cat. Afr. Pl.Welw. i. 668 

 partly. A small tree, 6-9 ft. high ; branches moderately stout, pubes- 

 cent when young, pallid. Leaves broadly ovate- or obovate- or elliptic- 

 lanceolate, acute to acutely acuminate, acute at the base or decurrent on 

 the petiole, rarely more or less panduriform and subsessile, up to 10 in. 

 long, 2-4 in. broad, thinly coriaceous, pubescent beneath chiefly on the 

 midrib and nerves, at least near the base, or glabrescent ; secondary 

 nerves 12-15 on each side, slender, oblique ; petiole up to 4 lin. long or 

 hardly any. Inflorescences geminate, terminal, few-flowered, shortly 

 racemiform or umbelliform, softly pubescent, at least below ; peduncle 



