Cochlospermum.'\ xiii. BIXINE.^ (oliver). 113 



Leaves divided more than halfway to the base, eeiitral lobe more or less 

 narrowed below ; more or less pubescent beneath ; segments diver- 

 gent, not overlapping at the base 2. C. niloticum. 



Leaves glabrous, divided more than halfway (three- fourths or more) to 



the base ; segments usually more or less overlapping at the base . . 3. C angolciise. 



1. C. tinctorium. Rich, in Fl. Si^neg. 99. /, 21. A small tree or 

 shrub, 5-6 ft. lii<^h, with numerous puberulent leafy slioots, usually given oil' 

 from a low stock. Leaves peliolate, palminerved, of roundish outline, with 

 a cordate base, 5- or 3-lobed, pubescent and paler beneath, at len|^th pla- 

 brcscent and shining above ; lobes rounded or ovate-oblonij, obtuse or acute, 

 serrulate or obsoletely sinuate-dentate. Leaves 2^-3^ in. long, 3-5 in. 

 broad ; petioles |-2 in. long. Flowers 1 to nearly 4 in. diam. Bracts 

 scale-like, linear, 1-3 lines long. — C. Platichoni, Hook. f. Fl. Nigrit. 268. 



"Upper Gui^iea. Quorra, " very common on a rocky soil," Barter ! T. Vogel ! Niger, 

 Dr. Baikie I Near Niaral, in the Province of Cayor and N'Denout in N'Boro, Scnegambia 

 (Richard). 



Nile Iiand. (Schweinf. and Asch. Enum.) 



2. C. niloticum, Oliv. Shoots at length glabrous. Leaves soon gla- 

 brous above, divided nearly to the base (three-fourths or more) into 3 or 5 

 linear-oblong segments, the central lobe slightly narrowed to its base, or 

 obovate-oblong, obtuse or scarcely acute. Leaves, in the Kew^ specimen, 1-1 \ 

 in. long, 2-2-^ in. broad. Petioles about \ inch. Sepals nearly or quite 

 glabrous. Flowers and inflorescence as in C. tinctorium. 



Nile Iiand. Madi, Speke and Grant ! 



The plant referred to C. tinctorium by i)rs. Schweinfurth and Ascherson may be the same. 



3. C. angolense, /F(?/ttJ. 7W55. A tree, attaining a height of 10-20 ft., 

 with a trunk about 9 in. diam. at the base. Branches divaricate. Leaves rather- 

 coriaceous, deeply divided (three-fourths or more) into 5 lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, acuminate segments, serrulate above or nearly entire ; glabrous on 

 both surfaces or the nerves obsoletely pubescent beneath ; the segments 

 usually slightly overlap each other at the base. Larger leaves 6-7 in. broad, 

 3^-4 'in. long, central lobe about lj-\^ in. broad ; petiole 2-4 in. long. 

 Flowers few together (about 3), 3-4 in. diam., deep yellow. Pedicels 

 puberuloi\s, 1 in. long. Sepals nearly or quite glabrous. Anthers dehis- 

 cing by a single minute terminal slit. Ovary densely and softly villous. 

 Fniit about 3 in. long and 2 in. diam., broadly ellipsoidal or obovoid, depressed 

 at the top, separating when ripe into 4 thin, coriaceous, striate, puberulous 

 valves. Seeds reniform, black and shining, enveloped in a deciduous cotton. 



liower Cruinea. Angola, distr. Goluugo Alto. Frequent on dry, stony declivities 

 between Sange and Camilungo; flowering in February and March, Dr. Weiicltsch ! 



The Borotuto of the natives, who use the bark in fabricating a coarse cordage. This 

 species is very closely allied to C. Gillivrai, Benth., growing iu Queensland, Austnilia, 

 differing in the villous ovary and some minor characters. 



2. BIXA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 125. 

 Flowers hermaphrodite. Sepals 5, much imbricated, deciduous. Prtals 

 5, large, imbricate. Stamens indefinite, with short, oblong, somewliat tetra- 

 gonous anthers, dehiscing by 2 pore-like, transverse slits at the top (really 



