412 Lxxxv. ASCLEPiADEvE (buown). [Spkcurocodou. 



Corolla-tiibe distinctly campanulate, 2h lin. \on^ . 1. S. obttisifoHum. 



Corolla with its uiiitexl part ^ lin. lonsr, not forming a 



distinct tube, scarcely more than saucer-shaped . 2. S. ntelananthvs. 



* 1. S. obtusifolium, Benth. in Hook. Ic. PL xii. 78, t. 1190. 

 Rootstock woody. Stems several to a root, erect, 1-3 ft. high, 

 branching at the base only, softly tomentose. Leaves spreading ; 

 petiole 2-3 lin. long; blade 1^—3 in. long, |-lf in. broad, oblong to 

 elliptic, usually very obtuse and apiculate, sometimes subacute, broadly 

 or cuneately rounded at the base, sub (glabrous or sparsely pubescent 

 above, softly pubescent beneath. Cymes umbel-like, sublateral, 

 pedunculate, 6-13-flowered ; peduncles |-f in. long, tomentose ; bracts 

 1-2 lin. long, linear, pubescent ; pedicels 3-4 lin. long, tomentose. 

 8epals 2 lin. long, linear-lanceolate, acute, pubescent outside and at the 

 apex inside. Corolla dark purple, 3J-4 lin. in diam., broadly campanu- 

 late (not globose as originally described), 54obed to J of the way down 

 or rather more; tube 2-^- lin. long; lobes If lin. long, ovate, obtuse, 

 outside more or less puberulous on the lobes, inside loosely clothed 

 with very fine jointed (cobwebby ?) hairs. Corona-l-lobes arising -| lin. 

 above the base of the staminal-column, radiating, fleshy, rather minute, 

 tubercle-like, compressed, oblong, obtuse. Caudicles very slender. — 

 Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. i. 692. S . ohfMsifolia, K. Schum. in Engl. 

 Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 326, and in Engl, k Prantl,. Pflanzenfam. iv. ii. 283, 

 fig. 85, J-L, and 285. S. natalense, Benth. in Hook. Ic. PI. xii. 79. 

 aS'. nafMensis, K. Sebum, in Engl, k Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iv. ii. 285. 

 S. caffra^m, Schlechter in Journ. Bot. 1895, 339. Tylophora 

 caffra, Meisn. in Hook. London Journ. Bot. 1843, ii. 542, by error 

 442. Gongronema Welwitschii, K. Schum. in Engl. Jahrb. xvii. 145. 



lao-wer CS-uinea. Angola : Pungo Andongo ; in thickets near Luxillo River, 

 Welwitsch, 4195 ! 4196 ! 



ITllle Iiand. Uganda: East side of Lake j^lbert Edward, on dry grassy hills, 

 Scott-Elliot, 8029 ! 



X^oz;am1>. l^ist. Portugue«e East Africa : by the River Shire near Morambala 

 Kirk ! British Central Africa : Nyasaland ; Namasi, Cameron ! and without pre- 

 cise locality, Buchanan, 1370 I 



Also in Niital, there being no distinction between S. natalense and the tropical 

 plant. 



2, S, melananthus, N. E. Br. Plant 6-10 in. high, branching 

 at the base. Stems erect, terete, puberulous. Leaves numerous, 

 opposite, 4-8 lin. apart, ascending-spreading; petiole J-1 lin. long ; 

 blade |-lj in. long, 3J-7 lin. broad, elliptic-oblong, subacute, rounded 

 or obtuse at the base, slightly puberulous on the veins and midrib 

 beneath, elsewhere glabrous. IJmbels lateral at the nodes, pedunculate, 

 2-3- or sometimes 1 -flowered ; peduncles 5-11 lin. long, slender, 

 puberulous ; bracts |-3 lin. long, subulate to linear-lanceolate, acute ; 

 pedicels G-8 lin. long, slender, puberulous. Sepals 1 lin. long, J- J 

 lin. broad, lanceolate or oblong, acute, spreading, glabrous. Corolla 

 subcimpanulate, about \-\ in. in diam., lobed to § of the way down, 



