Urera.] cxxiiin. urticaCe^ (Kencllc). 257 



branches which end in one or more thick fusiforni j)ellucifi jjrotiibcr- 

 ances bearing stinging hairs ; perianth sac-like, completely envelop- 

 ing the narrow elliptic-ovoid ovary ; ovary J lin. long ; stigma 

 ferruginous, rounded, projecting from the mouth of the })eriantli. 

 Achenc compressed, ovate, about 1 lin. long. — De Wild. & Durand, 

 PI. Thonner. Congol. 11, t. 18 ; Th. & Hel. Durand. 8yll. Fl. Congol. 

 512. U. Deweirrei, De Wild. & Durand in Comptes-rendus Soc. Hot. 

 Belg. xxxviii. 49, and Reliq. Dewevr. 219; Th. & Hel. Dumnd, !.(■. 

 U. Henriquesii and U . Dinklafjei, Engl, in Engl. Jahrb. xx.xiii. 121. U . 

 oboiKita, Benth., var. Jihefo, Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. i. 98(5. ])artly. 



Upper Guinea. Caraeroons : Batanga, Dinklage, (371. Fernando Po : 

 Mann ! 



Lower Guinea. Angola : Ciolungo Alto ; woods on the bankts of the wln-ains 

 of Quisucula, Welivifsrh, 0268 ! Dense forest by the River Delaniboa, near 

 iSange, Welivitsch, ()27i> ! 



South Central. Belgian Congo: Bangala Distr. ; Ngali, Thonntr, 211; 

 Aruwimi Distr. ; forests of Lokandu, Dewevre, 11 l(i. 



I have seen no authentic specimen of IJ . Thonncri, \)v Wild., but from the 

 description and figure do not hesitate to regard the Angolan specimens as con- 

 specitic. Nor can 1 find in the description of A. Dinkhgci any distinctive 

 character ; Engler distinguishes it from the Angolan plant by the glabrous st^in 

 and leaves, but this character is not constant in our series of specimens fron) 

 Angola, and the Congo specimen has also unarmed glabrous branches and 

 glabrous leaves. De Wildcman"s description of U. Dcwevrei coincides with that 

 of V. Thonncri, except that the former has only male and the latter only female 

 Howers ; the specimens from Angola and Cameroons are also represented only 

 by female flowers. 



r. congdensis, De Wild. & Durand (in Comptes-rendus 8oc. Hot. B.lg. 

 xxxviii. 50), as described, differs only in the shorter male inflorescence, the 

 flowers in which have a perianth only 4 lin. long. The authors stato.howexor, 

 that they saw only a single detached panicle ; this i)erliaps was not fiill\ 

 developed and in view of the striking coincidence of the description with our 

 Angolan specimens which De Wildeman had not, 1 believe, the opportunity 

 of seeing, 1 am inclined to regard the plants as con8i)ccific. 



4. U. obovata, Benth. in Hook. Ni(/er Fl. 516. A did'cious climb- 

 ing shrub ; young branches armed with short simple or forked pro- 

 tuberances which end in stinging hairs, hollow, up to J in. thick at a 

 distance of 8 in. from the tip. Leaves short- or long-stalked, thinly 

 membranous when dr}-, obovatc to elliptic-obovate, shortly and 

 abruptly acuminate, base bluntly rounded to emarginate. margin 

 crenate, at least in the upper half, becoming entire below the middle, 

 base 3-nerved, with 3 additional nerves on each side ascending and 

 uniting below the margin, nerves conspicuous on the lower face as 

 are also the somewhat parallel cross-nerves, 3-6 in. hmg, 2-30 in. 

 wide, upper face much darker than the lower with a few appressed 

 stinging hairs, otherwise glabrous, both faces or especially the ioNser 

 marked with short linear sometimes intermingled with dot -like 

 cystoliths ; petiole ^-5 in. long, s))arsely armed with short .^imple 

 protuberances which support a stinging hair. Stipules narrowly 

 triangular-acuminate, caducous. Male intiorescence large, exceeding 



FL. TROP. AFR. VI. SECT. II. K 



