Marua.] IX. CAPPARIDACEyE (OLIVER). g5 



the calyx-tube. Ovnry ovoid or ellipsoidal, 2-locular owin:^ to the mcclin'r 

 of the placentary plates ; ovules about 6, strictly parietal o^ inserted upon 

 the spurious dissepiment ; stigma sessile. Fruit not seen. 



Mozamb. Distr. 6°-7° S. lat., 38°-39^ E. long., Speke atid Grant ! 



4. M. acuminata^ Ollv. Extremities slender, glabrous. Leaves 3- 

 foliolate or the upper simple ; leaflets petiolulate, rather coriaceous, ovate or 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, often tipped with a rather long slender mucro, 

 base rounded or obtuse, glabrous ; central leaflet usually larger, 2-3 in. 

 long, \-\\ in. broad. Petiolules often 2-3 lines. Flowers" in axillary 

 corymbose racemes towards the ends of the branches. Pedicels slender, 

 about 1 in. long ; bracts minute, subulate. Calyx-tube tubular below ; free 

 margin of the disk toothed, very short. Petals 0. Columnar torus e(|ual- 

 ling or exceeding the calyx-tube. Ovary ellipsoidal or oval, 1-celled, with 2 

 placentas, each with about 10 ovules in 2 rows ; stigma sessile. Fruit not 

 seen. 



Mozamb. Distr. Rovuma river, Dr. Kirk ! 



5. M. oblongifolia. Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. 32. A shrub or small tree, 

 the branches slender, glabrous smooth or minutely scabrid-pubendous. Leaves 

 simple, rather coriaceous, oblong to narrow linear-obloiig, obtuse or some- 

 times retuse, often mucronate, glabrous, 1^-3 in. long, 4-9-lines broad. Petiole 

 1-3 lines. Flowers in terminal racemes or corymbs or terminating short lateral 

 shoots, the lower flowers in the axils of leaves, the bracts of the upper minute 

 or obsolete. Calyx-tube tubular, rather shorter than or sometimes exceediiifr 

 the oval rather acute lobes. Petals narrow-oval, clawed. Free disk-margin 

 or very minute, toothed. Columnar torus exceeding the calyx-tube. Ovary 

 linear l-celled with 2-multiovulate placentas; stigma sessile. Fruit in- 

 terrupted or torulose, not exceeding 1 in. in length in our sj)eclmens, on a 

 gynophore of ^~\\ in. — Eich. Fl. Abyss. Ic. 6. Niebuhria ohloiKj'ifuUa., DC. 

 Prod. i. 244. M. angustifolia, Rich, in Fl. Seneg. 29. t. 8. 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Perrottet ! 



North Central. Kouka, E. Vogel ! 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, Schimper ! Roth ! "White Nile, Speke and Grant ! Khartoum, 



Br own el I ! 



Very nearly allied to the Indian M. arenaria. Hook. f. et Thorns. {Niebuhria arenaria. 

 DC. ; Capparis heteroclita^ Roxb.), differing in its rather longer calyx-tubc. 



6. M. sethiopica, Oliv. An erect, virgately-branched, glabrci^cciiL 

 shrub. Leaves subovate-elliptical to oblong, acute or obtuse, mucronate, 

 glabrous excepting the puberulous midrib on the upper face, the larger 3-4- 

 in. long. Flowers corymbose, disposed in lax, leafy panicles ; pedicels and 

 calyx densely puberulous. Segments of the calyx elliptical. Petals shorter, 

 suborbicular, mucronate, shortly clawed. Stamens 2-23- times longer than 

 the calyx. Ovary ellipsoidal, at length subglobose, glabrous ; ovules 3 G. 

 Berry coriaceous, subglobose, obtusely apiculate. Stipes ecjualling or exceed- 

 ing the pedicel. — Niebuhria ccthiopica, Fenzl in Wicn. Sitzungsb. li. (Kxtr. 4). 



Nile Land. Sennar, Kotschj ! 



I have not seen this plant. The above dcsoription is taken from Dr. Fcnzl's memoir, 

 entitled 'Diagnoses prajvise Peraptadis Stirp. iEthiop. novaruui.' 



