Alajia.] Lxxxiv. APOCYNACEiE (staff). 19^ 



6. A. Benthamii, Siapf. A climbing shrub, 15-30 ft. high; 

 young branches minutely tomentose, soon glabrescent, terete, divaricate. 

 Leaves obovate, oblong or obtusely lanceoliite, obtuse or obscurely 

 acuminate, cuneate at the base, 1 1-2 in. long, 4-9 lin. broad, coriaceous,, 

 quite glabrous ; secondary nerves very oblique, about 8 on each side ; 

 veins branching and running from the marginal loops towards the 

 midrib ; nerves and veins raised on both sides ; petiole 8-5 lin. long. 

 Cymes few-flowered, minutely puberulous, very shortly peduncled ; 

 bracts minute ; pedicels 2-8| lin. long. Calyx not quite 1 lin. long ; 

 sepals ovate, obtuse. Corolla yellow with a deep red centre ; tube 2 lin. 

 long ; lobes ciliolate, 4 lin. long. Staminal cone reaching to the mouth 

 of the corolla, 1 lin. long. Carpels minutely pubescent. Follicles 

 glabrous, 5 in. long. — Ectinocladus Benth/imi, Baill. Hist. Plantes,. 

 X, 211 (name only) ; Stapf in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxx. 88 ; K. Schum. in 

 Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iv. ii. 1G5. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone : by the Scarcies River, near Mofari, Scott- 

 Elliot, 4440 ! Southern Nigeria : Old Calabar, Thomson, 117 ! 



7. A. Butayei, Stapf. Young branches very minutely pubescent, 

 soon glabrescent, blackish when dry.* Leaves oblong to oblong-lanceo- 

 late, gradually acuminate (acumen up- to 5 lin. long, obtuse), rounded 

 at the base, 2-3 in. long, ^-l\ in. broad, thinly coriaceous, glabrous ; 

 secondary nerves about 5 on each side, rather inconspicuous like the 

 very lax venation; petiole 1-1 J lin. long. Flowers in sessile or shortly 

 peduncled terminal many-ilowered finely pubescent pseudo-umbels ; 

 peduncles up to 3 lin. long, slender ; pedicels 3 lin. long. Calyx 1 lin. 

 long, scantily pubescent ; intra-calycular glands 3, distinct ; sepals 

 ovate-lanceolate, acute, ciliolate. Corolla glabrous without ; tube 3 lin. 

 long, constricted at the middle and narrowly cylindric below, pubescent 

 within near the insertion of the stamens ; lobes obliquely ovate-oblongs 

 as long as the tube. Staminal cone distinctly exserted, 2 lin. long. 

 Ovary pubescent, chiefly upwards. 



Ziower Guinea. Lower Congo: between Dembo (Ndembo) and the River 

 Kuango, Butaye ! 



A. Butayei differs from A. caudata in the narrower leaves (wliich are alwaxa 

 rounded at the base), the pubescent inflorescences, the ovate-lanceolate acute calyces 

 and the distinctly exserted staminal cone. 



8. A. caudata, Stapf in Kew Bulletin, 1894, 123. A climbing 

 shrub, 12-25 ft. high, perfectly glabrous; branches very slender, 

 brown or black when dry. Leaves oblong to ovate or lanceolate, 

 caudate-acuminate (acumen 3-0 lin. long), rounded or acute at the 

 base, 2J-31 in. long, \-\\ in. broad, dark above, very pallid below when 

 dry, very thin ; secondary nerves about 6 on each side, very faint ; 

 veins quite obscure ; petiole 1-^-2 lin. long. Flowers in 7-2-flowered 

 contracted pseudo-umbels ; peduncle slender, up to 4 lin. long ; bracts 

 minute ; pedicels very slender, up to 3^ lin. long. Calyx glabrous, 

 J lin. long, intra-calycular glands distinct: sepals ovate, obtuse. 



