298 cxxiiiD. URTiCACEJE (Eendle). [Parietaria. 



suburceolate, nearly 1 lin. long ; perianth 4-partite ; segments ovate- 

 triangular, white with obtuse green tips, hispidulous on the back. 

 Female perianth 4-lobed, scarcely J lin. long ; lobes shortly triangular 

 in fruit. Achene ovoid-apiculate, polished brown, about equal in 

 length to the enclosing perianth which is barely 1 lin. long. — Cortesi 

 in Fl. Ruwenzori Relaz. Sci. i. 463, t. xxix. P. dehilis, Rendle in 

 Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xxxviii. 278 ; not of Forst. P. scandens, 

 Engl, in Mildbraed, Wiss. Ergebn. Deutsch. Zentr.-Afr. Exped. ii. 191. 



Nile Land. Ruwenzori Region: Butagu Valley, to 11,000ft.. Mildbraed^ 

 2570 ; east side, 12,000 ft., Wdlaston ! Bujongola, Ahruzzi ; third day's march 

 from Eldama Ravine, Whyte ! 



3. P. debilis, Forst. in Fl. Ins. Austr. Prodr. 73. An annual often 

 diffusely branched herb from a few inches to over 1 ft. high ; stem 

 and branches slender, flaccid, erect, ascending or sometimes prostrate, 

 leafy, generally more or less pubescent, especially in the younger 

 portions, often with small glandular hairs intermingled. Leaves 

 thinly membranous, broadly ovate to subrotund, apex obtuse or 

 shortly and obtusely acuminate, base rounded to obcordate, some- 

 times contracting and passing into the petiole, margin entire, vary- 

 ing much in size from J in. or even less to IJ in. long, and J-1 in. 

 wide, 3-nerved from the base, sparsely hairy on the upper face and 

 on the veins beneath, upper face dotted with numerous cystoliths ; 

 petiole vejry slender, long, but shorter than the blade, hairy like the 

 young stem. Cymules densely few (3-7)-flowered ; flowers sessile ; 

 bracts generally linear, lanceolate or linear-oblong, more rarely 

 elliptical, not increasing in size in the fruit, ciliate. Flowers a few $ , 

 the majority female ; perianth 4-lobed, lobes ovate to ovate- 

 triangular, obtuse ; female perianth increasing in fruit, from r, lin. 

 to 1 lin. long, the reddish-brown lobes bearing stiffish pointed hairs 

 especially at and below the apex and sometimes shorter gland- 

 tipped hairs, lobes with a conspicuous darker midrib and more or 

 less conspicuous marginal nerves. Achene included in the perianth, 

 ellipsoid, not apiculate, about -| lin. long, polished dark brown or 

 greenish-brown. — Wedd. Monogr. Urtic. 514, t. xvii. figs. 21-25, 

 and in DC. Prodr. xvi. i. 235^= ; Bl. Mus. Bot. Lugd.-Bat. i. 254 ; 

 Boiss. Fl. Orient, iv. 1150 ; Hook, f . Fl. Brit. Ind. v. 593 and in Journ. 

 Linn. Soc. vii. 215 (j3 diffusa) ; Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr. 195 ; 

 Schweinf. in Bull. Herb. Boiss. iv. App. ii. 147. P. alsinefolia, 

 Hochst. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 258 ; not of Delile. P. aus- 

 tralis, Bl. I.e. 256. P. carnosula, Bl. I.e. 255. P. micrantha, Ledeb. 

 Fl. Alt. iv. 303, Icon. t. 22. Freirea alsinefolia, Hochst. ex A. Rich. 

 I.e. (name cited in synonymv) ; not of Gaud. Vrlica debilis, Endlich. 

 Prodr. Fl. Norf. 37. 



Upper Guinea. Cameroons : Cameroon Mountain, Mann ! 

 Nile Land. Abyssinia : near Intjatkab, Schimper, 753 ! Berrethowa, 

 6200 ft., Schimper, 203! near Jelajeranne, Schimper, 1G(>7 ! near Memsah, 



I 



