Gnetum.] cxxviii. gnetacejb (Pearson). 331 



thickened and tumid at the nodes ; branches spreading, reflexed or pen- 

 dulous, opposite, sometimes in whorls of 3, glabrous ; penultimate in- 

 ternodes 6-8 in. long ; lower branches as thick as a crow's quill. Leaves 

 opposite, sometimes in whorls of 3, shortly petioled, ovate- or elliptic- 

 oblong, more rarely lanceolate, attenuate at the base, abruptly acumi- 

 nate, obtuse or minutely apiculate, entire or obscurely subcrenate, 

 somewhat rigid, thin, glabrous, pale green above, paler beneath, with 

 3-6 strongly curved lateral veins on each side, looped under the 

 margin, prominent beneath ; petiole canaliculate above, li-f) lin. 

 long ; blade 4-5 in. long, lJ-2 in. broad, with an acumen J-J in. long. 

 Male spike lateral or terminal on a short lateral branch, solitary, 

 peduncled, usually (? always) unbranched, wnth a pair of triangidar 

 scale-like bracts on the peduncle, internodes 8-12, cyhndric, very 

 slender in dried (? or old) specimens ; peduncle about J in. long ; 

 rhachis 2-2 J in. long ; cupule very prominent in dried (? or old) 

 specimens, with an entire, rarely 2-toothed margin ; anthers 2, 

 exserted from the 2-leaved envelope during flowering. Female 

 spike straight or variously twisted, terminal on a short or long 

 lateral branch, unbranched or sometimes branched, pedunculate, 

 with a pair of triangular scale-like bracts on the peduncle, with 

 5-9 slightly turbinate internodes, bearing at each node a whorl of 

 3 or 2 perfect or aborted seeds ; peduncle about J in. long ; rhachis 

 lJ-2 in. long ; internode J-| in. long ; cupule very slightly swollen, 

 with an entire or somewhat irregular margin. Ovule sessile in a cup- 

 shaped depression. Mature seed i-J in. long, enclosed in the somewhat 

 drupaceous orange-tinted envelope. — Rendle in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. 

 ii. 257 ; Pearson in Ann. Bot. xxvi. 603-620, t. Ix. fig. lb. ( S spike). 



Upper Guinea. Cameroona : Abonando, Riidati<t, 42 ! Bipindo, Zetiker. 

 1180 ! 4129 ! 4134 ! 4380 ! 



Lower Guinea. Gaboon : Munda ; Sibange Farm, Soyaiix, 205 ! Angola : 

 Oazengo District ; Golungo Alto, in dense thickets, Welwitsch, 1224 ! Sorra do 

 Alto Queta, Welwitsch, 1225; on the Queta range near the Montobello home- 

 stead, in dense forest, Gossweilfr, 756 ! Pearson, 2307 ! 



2. G. bucholzianum, Eiigl in Enql. Jahrb. xl. 519. A dioecious 

 liane. Adult branches flexuous ; internodes of the penult i mate branches 

 6 in. long, | in. thick ; of the younger 2-2J in. long, green, tumid at 

 the nodes, glabrous. Petiole slender, canaliculate above, frequently 

 twining, J-3 in. long ; blade oval or oblong-elliptic, obtuse or acute 

 at the base, at the apex long-acuminate and mucronulate, entire, 

 somewhat rigid, glabrous, pale green, paler beneath, with 4-5 ascend- 

 ing curved lateral veins on each side looped under the margin and 

 prominent beneath, 3-6 in. long, 1J-3J: in. broad with an acumen 

 J-f in. long. Male spikes lateral or terminal, solitary, shortly 

 pedunculate with a whorl of 2 or 3 triangular scale-like bracts on the 

 peduncle, with 8-12 turbinate internodes thicker at the base than 

 higher up; cupule cyathiform, with an entire or 2-toothed edge, 

 much shorter than the internode ; peduncle J in. long ; rhachia 



