4i60 iiXXiii. composite; (oliver and fiiEkN). [Sonchite. 



8. S. melanolepis. Fresen. in, Mm. Senchenb. iii. 76 (1839). 

 Perennial, shrubby below, much branched, about a foot high. Leaves 

 narrowly runcinate or (in the variety) linear and entire, glabrons, glau- 

 cescent, sessile, more or less auriculate at the base, ranging up to 3 in. 

 long. Capitula carapanulate-oblong, dark, f-^ in. long, 20-25- 

 flowered, actually or obsoletely tomentose and often black-setose at 

 base, on short pedicels 2-3 together at the ends of the slender shoots. 

 Inner involucral bracts about 8, linear, obtuse, nearly glabrous, 

 somewhat compressed, smooth, about 10-striate, -^ in. long, drab- 

 brown. Pappus ^ in. long, soft, white. — A. Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. p. 4i67. 



Xrile Xiand. Abyssinia, Schimper! Riippell/ 



9. S. rarifolius, 0. 8c H. An erect twiggy perennial from thick 

 shrubby sometimes woolly crown, 1-2J ft. high. Stems slender, gla- 

 brous, dichotoraous ; branches at an acute angle. Leaves few, lanceo- 

 late, glabrous or puberulous, entire or aculeate-denticulate, J-| in. 

 long, sessile. Capitula narrowly cylindrical, -^-f in. long, about 8- 

 flowered, on slender pedicels in a much branched cyme. Inner involu- 

 cral bracts linear, obtuse, 6-8. Achenes linear, scarcely compressed, 

 smooth, J in. long, about lO-striate, narrow, pale brown. Pappus 

 l-J in. long. 



ITpper Guinea. Niger Expedition, at Nupe, Barter ! 

 Mozamb. Distr. Zomba and East end of Lake Shini^a, Mdler ! 



117. LAUNJEA, Cass, in Diet. Sc. Nat. xxv. p. 321 (Microrhynchusy 

 Less. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. ii. p. 528.) 



Capitula homogamous, ligulate. Involucre campanulate oblong or 

 cylindrical ; bracts in many rows, imbricate, usually with scarious 

 margins, the inner ones subequal, the outer ones shorter. Receptacle 

 flat, naked. Ligule truncate, 5-dentate at the apex Anther-base 

 sagittate, auricles acute or shortly setaceous-acuminate. Style-branches 

 slender. Achenes narrow, not compressed, 4-5-costate, truncate at 

 the apex. Pappus copiously setose, fine, white, smooth, deciduous in 

 one piece. — Glabrous herbs with mostly radical leaves and yellow 

 , flowers. 



A genus of about 20 species, extending from South Africa and the Canary Islands 

 to India. 



Bhahdntheca Rueppellii, Schultz Bip. in Scliweinf. et Aschers. Enum. p. 286, name 

 only, from Abyssinia, is unknown to us. 



Rhahdolhcca chondrUloidcs, Schultz Bip. /. c. i.e. Sonchus chondrilloides, Sibth. Fl. 

 Graec. viii. p. 67, t. 791, is given as common to Egypt and Nubia ; it occurs also in 

 other parts of the Mediterranean region, but we hare seen no specimen from Tropical 

 Africa. 



L 1.. bellidifolia, Cass, m Bid. Sc. Nat. xxv. p. 321 (1822). A 

 glabrous flagelliform perennial herb with long slender simple or occa- 

 sionally branched prostrate stems from the rosulate crown of the root, 

 often rooting at the nodes. Leaves spatlmlate or oblanceolate, fasci- 

 culate with elongated nodes and often two small scale-like leaves at 



