96 xcviii. ACANTHACE^ (cLARKE). [BlepJmris. 



1. B. boerhaaviaefolia, Pers. Syn. ii. 180. Procumbent, slender, 

 hairy or nearly glabrate. Leaves apparently 4-nate in distant whorls, up 

 to 4i by IJ in. (in Kirk's examples), commonly IJ by h in., frequently 

 small, elliptic, narrowed at both ends, entire, sessile. One-flowered 

 branches sessile, axillary, solitary or clustered ; bract (i.e., the true 

 flower-bract in the axil of which the flower stands) \-\ in., spathulate 

 or spathulate-obovate, rigid, with o strong green nerves, with 7-15 

 glochidiate spines (yV~iV i^- lo^^g) round its head ; bracteoles 0. Posti- 

 cous calyx-segment f-J in. long, 2 inmost calyx-segments about half as 

 long. Corolla },- in. long, or in form B ahyssinica, Hochst., |-1 in. long. 

 Capsule \ in. long, or rather more, 2-seeded. — Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 



26G ; Wight Ic. t. 458 ; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 481 ; A. Rich. 

 Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 150 ; T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. vii. 34 ; Solms 



Laub. in SchweiDf. Beitr. Fl. Aethiop. 107, 243 ; Franch. Sert. Somal. 



53 ; C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. iv. 478 ; S. Moore in Journ. 



Bot. 1880, 230 ; Oliv. in Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, Bot. ii. 345 ; Engl. 



Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr. 381) ; Lindau in Engl, k Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 



iv. 3B. 31G, fig. 12G, B-H, in Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 361), and in Ann. Istit. 



Bot. Roma vi. 75. B. ruhia'folia^ Schumach. Beskr. Gmn. PL 292. 



B. ahyssinica, Hochst. MS. in Schimper 247. B. Togodelia, Solms. Laub. 



in Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Aethiop. 108, 243 ; Lindau in Engl. Pfl. Ost- 

 Afr. C. 309. B. involucrata, Solms Laub. in Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. 



Aethiop. 107. Acanthus maderaspatensis, Linn. Sp. Plant, ed. ii. 892. 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Heudelot, 509 ! Sierra Leone, Afzelius ! Bon ! 

 Scoit-Mliot, 4525 ! Guinea, Thonning ! Lagos, Millen, 50 ! 



Nile Iiand. Eritrea : Aidereso, 4000 ft., Schweinf urth Sf Eiva, 1431 ! Ginda, 

 3200 ft., Schweinfurth Sf Riva, 2130! Abyssinia: Haxnasen, Steudner, 1510! 1530! 

 1531! Tigre; Axum, Schimper, 1492! Adowa, Petit, 328! Mount Sholoda, 

 Schimper, 247 ! Serriro, 800 ft., Schimper, 497 ! Teramne and Mount Sholoda, Eohlfs 

 Sf Stecker ! Wadi Togodeie, Wirjenbery I Samen ; Jaja, Schimper, 352 ! and without 

 precise locality, Tearce I Schimper, 159, 1895 I Somaliland, Mrs, Lort Phillips ! 

 Miss Udith ^Cole ! Riva, 878 !' Kordofan, Rfundy 440 ! British East Africa : 

 Bongo, Schiceinfurth, 21 \ 2700! 2761! "SI omh2i%9, Scott- Mliot, Q\24>\ Kirk! Ribe, 

 Wakefield ! Taita ; Ndi Mountain, Hildebrandt, 2545 ! Maungu Mountain, 2000 ft., 

 Johnston ! 



JtO'weT Guinea. Congo, Smith ! Angola : Huilla, Welwitsch, 5054 ! Loanda, 

 Welwitsch, 5199 ! 5129 ! Ambriz, Monteiro ! 



IVIozamb. Dist. German East Africa: Kilimanjaro, Volkens, 517! Usambara 

 Mascheua, Hoist, 8854! Kwa Mshuza, Hoist, 9130! Tanga, Hoist, 4100! Ugalla 

 Kiver, Boehm, 277 ! and without precise locality, Fischer, 482 ! Portuguese East 

 Africa : near Sena, Kirk ! Zambesi, Kirk ! British Central Africa : Nyasaland ; 

 Tanganyika Plateau, 2000-3000 ft. Whyte ! River Shire, Kirk! and without 

 precise locality. Metier ! Lake Nyasa ; Lukoma (Likoma Island ?), Bellingham ! 



The Abyssinian examples (both of Schimper, Petit, and Steudner) have the flower 

 much larger than in the ordinary weed, and are the B. abyssinica, Hochst. MS. Solms 

 Laubach, in Schweinfurth's Beitr. Fl. Aethiopia, appears to have taken this as typical 

 B. hoerhaaviafolia ; and then to have described as a new species his B. Togodelia 

 which is undistinguishable from the Indian weed. Schweinfurth's 2761 has the 

 bracts with recurved tips, the veins beautifully picked out with brown. 



