578 lxv. beqoNiace^ (hooker). [Begonia, 



20. B. asplenifolia, Hook.f. in A. DC. Prod. xv. pt. 1, 392. Mon- 

 oecious. Stem rigid, slender, erect, 12-18 in., from a creeping woody 

 rootstock, dichotomously branched ; branches strigosely hirsute at the 

 tips, as thick as a sparrow's quill. Leaves alternate, subsessile, 1-2^ 

 in., oblong-lanceolate in outline, pinnatisect, lobes 5—7 on each side, 

 erecto- patent, distant, narrow, linear-obovate, decurrent at the base, 

 lobulate, 1-5-toothed, teeth tipped with a cilia, rachis and ribs strigose- 

 hairy, segments sparsely setose above, glabrous except the midrib 

 below. Stipules deciduous, oblong, long-ciliate. Cymes in the upper- 

 most axils, 1 -few-flowered, and all male; pedicels very short; brac- 

 teoles lanceolate, laciniate. Male fl. : Sepals 2, suborbicular, J in. dia- 

 meter. Petals 0. Anthers 10-14, oblong, obtuse ; filaments connate 

 at the base. Female fl. : Solitary (always ?) in axils below the male. 

 Sepals as in the male. Petals 0. Ovary 3-gonous ; styles 3 ; stigmas 

 capitate sinuous. Capsule £ in. long, hairy, on a curved short pedicel, 

 rhomboid, faces ribbed between the wings, dehiscing longitudinally ; 

 wings 3, membranous, with rounded, ciliate angles, cellular, whitish ; 

 placentas entire. 



Upper Guinea. Top of Mount Naveya, iu the Sierra del Crystal, Gaboon river, 

 Mann! Fl. July. 



21. B. Annobonensis, A. DC. Prod. xv. pt. 1, 315. Monoecious. 

 Stem succulent, very stout, with broad stipular scars at the nodes. 

 Leaves petioled, 3-3| in. by 1J in., very obliquely falcate, ovate-cordate, 

 acute, 2-crenate, palmately 5-6-nerved, glabrous and shining above, 

 beneath with very sparse membranous scales ; petiole stout, 1-1 J in., 

 with a few stout setae and a whorl of reflexed fimbriate scales at the 

 apex; stipules \ in., oval, acute, very membranous, deciduous. Pe- 

 duncle axillary, shorter than the leaves, much elongate in fruit, bearing 

 an irregular corymb of pedicelled flowers. Male fl. : Sepals 4, two 

 outer suborbicular, J in. diameter ; two inner smaller. Anthers orbi- 

 cular-oblong, obtuse, longer than the filaments which are inserted on a 

 small torus. Female fl. : Sepals 5, subequal. Styles 3, very short ; 

 stigmas forked, branches 6hort, thick ; papillose band continuous. Ovary 

 3-gonous, 3-celled. Capsule J in. long, membranous, 3 r gonous, 6- 

 winged, broader and truncate upwards ; dehiscence longitudinal ; wings 

 short, very variable, those opposite the septa smaller, inserted lower 

 down ; placentas 2-partite. 



Upper Guinea. Annobon Island, Dr. Curror! 



22. B. rostrata, Welw. ms. Monoecious, annual, erect. Stem 1-2 

 ft., slender or stout, sometimes as thick as the middle finger, cylindric. 

 Leaves long-petioled, 3-6 in. by 1|-2J in. very obliquely ovate- 

 oblong, long-acunamate, with a reniform base completely on one side, 

 deeply broadly doubly crenate-toothed, membranous, covered with few 

 lono- soft scattered hairs, shining when dry ; petiole as long as the 

 blade, with a whorl of hairs at its apex. Stipules small ovate, hair- 

 pointed, deciduous. Cymes often springing from every axil, very much 



