554 lxiv. cucurbttace^: (hooker). [Rhaphidiocystis. 



erect subulate lobes; ovules very numerous, on 3 placentas. Fruit 

 oblong-, crowned with the persistent perianth, covered with spreading" 

 needle-like bristles, dry internally when ripe. Seeds numerous, ovoid, 

 compressed, margin obtuse ; testa coriaceous. — Climbing-, slender, gla- 

 brous or hispidulous, Tropical African shrubs. Leaves on slender 

 petioles, ovate, deeply cordate, acuminate. Tendrils undivided. Flowers 

 rather large, yellow, on slender pedicels. 



Branches glabrous or puberulous 1. JR. Mannii. 



Branches woolly 2. B. IVelwitschii. 



1. R. Mannii, Hook.f. I.e. Stem climbing- extensively, g-labrous or 

 puberulous, very slender, angular. Leaves 3-4 in. long-, very mem- 

 branous, brown when dry, basal sinus short, rounded, more or less 

 distinctly 3-5-lobed, lateral lobes small, terminal elongate-triangular, 

 acuminate, obscurely distantly toothed, both surfaces slig-htly and 

 shortly hispid ; petiole very slender, ciliate upwards. Male n. : Not 

 seen. Female fl. : 2-3 tog-ether, on short peduncles that lengthen much 

 in fruit. Ovary narrow-oblong-, ^ in. long, hispid with (when dry) 

 ferruginous hairs. Calyx-tube campanulate, lobes recurved, pectinately 

 branched, throat with a ring- of hairs. Fruit subsessile or long-pedun- 

 cled, \ in. long, densely clothed with stiff articulate ferruginous bristles. 

 Seeds broadly obovoid, J in. long*. 



Upper Guinea. Fernando Po, alt. 2000 ft., Mann ! 



2. R. Welwitschii, Hook.f. I.e. A lofty climber. Branches rather 

 stout, peduncles, petioles, and tendrils densely clothed with soft woolly 

 hairs, when young these and all other parts merely pubescent. Leaves 

 2—4 in. long and broad, broadly ovate-cordate or nearly rounded, 3-5- 

 angled or -lobed, minutely toothed, pubescent above, beneath when old 

 densely clothed with pale brown woolly matted hairs; petiole stout, 

 1 in. long. Tendrils stout. Male fl. : Shortly peduncled, solitary or 

 few. Calyx hispid ; lobes short, pinnatifid. Corolla f in. diameter, 

 apparently 5-lobed to below the middle. Female fl. : Peduncle with 

 sometimes a foliaceous orbicular toothed bract at the base. Ovary 

 globose, hispid. Calyx- tube above the ovary campanulate, hispid. 

 Corolla campanulate, 5-lobed to the middle Fruit (immature) almost 

 globose, densely clothed with rufous articulate shining bristles; peduncle 

 1-2 in. Seeds very broadly obovoid. 



Lower" Guinea. Angola, dense forests, Sierra de Alta and Sobati de Mussengua, 

 Dr. Wdwitsch! 



Dr. Wei wits h observes that the plant varies much in pubescence, but little in the 

 foliage ; I find the calyx-lobes to vary in amount of incision. 



23. STAPHYLOSYCE, Hook. f. ; Benth. et Hook. f. 

 Gen. Plant, i. 828. 



Monoecious ? Flowers shortly spiked. Male : Calyx turbinate ; 

 lobes 5, short, recurved, remote. Corolla 5-lobed to the middle, lobes 



