Vemonia.] lxxiii. composite: (Oliver and hiern). 275 



14. V. vlolacea, 0. SfH. exOliv. in Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. xxix. 

 p. 91. An erect branching herb 2-3 ft. high. Branches ascend- 

 ing, siibangular, striate, appressedly pubescent. Leaves alternate, 

 obovate- oblong, rounded at apex, base blunt, subsessile, crenate- 

 dentate, with few scattered hairs on both sides especially towards the 

 base beneath or glabrate, up to 8 in. long by 1|^ in. broad or more. 

 Capitula hemispherical, many-flowered, |-f in. wide, solitary terminat- 

 ing numerous erect naked striate puberulous peduncles 1-3 in. loner. 

 Scales of involucre 3-4-seriate, lanceolate or inner narrowly lanceolate- 

 oblong, thinly tomentose outside, acutely apiculate, purplish towards 

 the tip, subappressed. Receptacle alveolate glabrous. Achenes 

 usually tetragonous, setulose, turbinate. Pappus duplex ; outer 

 squamiform, squamae narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, denticulate ; inner 

 setiform violaceous, scabrid. 



Wile Xiand. Madi, fl. December (Journ. App. p. 637, Vernonia, n. 7), Speke 

 and Grant ! common, in woods. 



15. V. olnerascens, 8ch. Bip. in. Schiueinf. Fl. ^thiop. 162. A 

 much branched shrub of 1-3 ft., branches terete covered when young 

 as well as the leaves with white short appressed pubescence mixed with 

 small sessile glands (the hairs attached by the middle). Leaves alter- 

 nate, obovate-spathulate, rounded or obtuse at apex,- attenuate at base, 

 sessile, venation obscure, entire or with a few teeth, ^-^ in. long by 

 Y^-^ in. wide. Capitula about 10-flowered, of a rich purple or 

 maroon colour, campanulate, scarcely ^ in. wide, on pedicels xV~i ^^• 

 long, in diffuse axillary and terminal dichotomous cymes 1-4 in. wide. 

 Scales of the involucre pluriseriate, lanceolate to oblong, apiculate, pu- 

 bescent with greenish midrib above, lower smaller. Receptacle nar- 

 row, glabrous. Corolla purple, gradually narrowed. Anther- base 

 obtuse. Achenes with 8-10 obscure ridges, with ascending setae, very 

 minutely pulverulent-glandular below the setae. Pappus duplex, bar- 

 bellate, outer very short. — V. spathulata, Hochst. in Hb. Schimp. 

 Abyss., 1854, 2133, non Schultz Bip. 



Srile Xiand. Abyssinia, alt. 3-4000 ft., flowers in August, Schimper ! 



Occurs also in North-West India. 



Very like V. atriplicifolia, Jaub. et Spaoh, but differs by the outer pappus being 

 setaceous not linear-squaniiform ; Vatke in Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschrift, 1875, p. 323 unites 

 the two species. 



16. V. cinerea, Less. ; DC. Prodr. v. p. 24. An erect herb, 

 branched above, 2-5 ft. high. Stem terete, striate, more or less shortly 

 pubescent. Leaves alternate, from ovate to obovate, apex acute or 

 rounded, cuneate or attenuate at base into a short petiole slightly 

 dilated at base, serrulate-dentate or subentire, puberulous or subscabrid 

 above, paler pubescent and veined beneath, 1-2 in. long by ^-1 in. 

 wide. Capitula campanulate, ^ in. wide, about 15-flowered, on slender 

 pedicels :J— 1 in. long, in axillary and terminal many-headed cymes. 

 Scales of the involucre lanceolate-linear, very acute, pluriseriate, pu- 

 bescent and with minute glands, not appressed, ultimately reflexed ; 

 outer filiform, patent. Receptacle convex, glabrous. Corolla-tube 



