Monodora.] iii. anonace^e (oliver). 39 



plish black. Fruit ovoid-ellipsoidal, 4 in. long, 2a-3 in. diam., marked will) 

 faint longitudinal ridges, very shortly and abruptly apiculate, at length tardily 

 opening more or less longitudinally. 



Upper Guinea. Old Calabar, Thomson ! 



liower Guinea. Golungo Alto, Angola; a tree of 15-25 ft., in elevated primeval 

 forests, Dr. Weiwitsch ! 



Var. sempervirens. Leaves shining above. Petioles glaucous. Pungo Andongo, Dr. 

 Welwitsch ! 



4. M. brevipeSy Benth. I. c. A tree attaining 30-40 ft. in height. 

 Leaves firmly membranous or at length coriaceous, obovate-oblong or ob- 

 ovate-elliptical, shortly and abruptly acuminate, the narrowed base very ob- 

 tuse or rounded, midrib aud lateral nerves prominent below ; 6-12 in. long, 

 3-5 in. broad. Flowers 1-2 in. diam., solitary or two together, on pedicels 

 1-2 in. long, from nodes on the branches of a previous year; at first white, 

 changing to dull yellow veined with red. Pedicel with 1 or 2 coriaceous, 

 rotundate or ovate bracts. Sepals 4-5 lines long, very obtuse and but 

 slightly wavy. Outer petals obovate-lanceolate, with a crisped martjin, about 

 1 in. long, narrowed to the base ; inner petals rotundate or orbicular, about 

 7-8 lines diam. Fruit globose, nearly 3 in. diam., either without longi- 

 tudinal ribs or faintly ridged ; pericarp thick, coriaceous and somewhat 

 woody. 



Upper Guinea. Fernando Po and Prince's Island, 3Ian7i ! 



5. M, stenopetala, Oliv. A small tree or shrub, flowering before the 

 leaves are fully developed. Leaves obovate or obovate-oblong, obtuse or 

 rounded at the extremity, on short pubescent petioles (not seen fully grown). 

 Flowers numerous along the slender naked twigs, usually from nodes on the 

 branches of the previous season. Pedicels slender, straight, 4-6 lines long, 

 with a small obtuse bract near the middle. Flowers yellow. Sepals very 

 shortly connate, ovate-oblong, obtuse, 2| lines long. Outer petals widely 

 spreading, ly-2 in. long, tapering from the middle, which is about 2 lines 

 broad, slightly wavy ; inner petals at first erect or connivent, 2^-4 lines 

 long ; lamina ovate-rotundate, obtuse, setose-pilose on the inner face, abruptly 

 narrowed into a linear-oblong claw equalling or exceeding it in length. 

 Stigma obtuse. 



Mozamb. Distr. Rapids of the Shire, Dr. Kirk ! West of Lake Nyassa, Livingstone 

 Expedition I 



An imperfect fruit, apparently of a Monodora, collected by Dr. Kirk in 1861, labelled from 

 the Shire Rapids, is in the Kew Museum and probably belongs to this species. It is some- 

 what (obliquely) ovoid or slightly narrowed at each end ; the pericarp coriaceous aud rugose. 



In the Kew herbarium and Museum there are fruits belonging apparently to three undc- 

 scribed species of Monodora; — 



1. Niger, Barter. Globose, about 8 in. diam., without ribs or striae and with a compa- 

 ratively thin pericarp. 



2. Zambesi, Kirk. Also globose, about 1 \ in. diam., and marked with raised ribs, which, 

 however, may be due to shrivelling. 



3.? Rovuma, Meller. Pressed fruits and leaves. The fruit apparently ellipsoidnl ; the 

 pericarp thin, 2-3 in. long. Leaves coriaceous, glabrous, 3-5 in. long. This may possibly be 

 il/. stenopetala, or perhaps not a Monodora at all. 



