BarleHa.'] xcviii. acanthace.e (clarke). 145 



glabrous or with a few simple stiff erect white or fuscous hairs. Inter- 

 petiolar spines J-| in. long, rigid, acicular, simple, 2 opposite or often 

 ?) or 4 (1 or 2 of the succeeding pair developed) ; bracts next the calyx 

 similar to the spines, terete or somewhat trigonous at the ba.se. Inflor- 

 escence reduced nearly to a simple spike, short or long, frequently with 

 solitary flowers in the lower distant axils, but sometimes with 2-flowered 

 racemes. Posticous sepal h in. long, elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, usually 

 mucronate, glabrous or nearly so, erect in fruit ; anticous segment 

 sometimes quite entire (not distinctly 2-nerved), sometimes with 2 

 lanceolate mucronate teeth one-sixth the length of the segment. Corolla 

 yellow, 2-lipped ; tube (cylindric part) hardly J in. long ; posticous 

 lip of 4 connate segments J-1 in. long; anticous segment clawed, 

 shorter. Filaments glabrous; pollen globose, honeycombed. Capsule 

 J-| in. long, ovoid-conic, beaked, 2-seeded. — Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 237; 

 T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. vii. 28 (only as to non- African plants) ; 

 S. Moore in Journ. Bot. 1880, 2G5; C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. 

 Ind. iv. 482; Lindau in Engl. Jahrb. xviii. 03, t. 1, fig. 29, and in 

 Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iv. 3 B. 314, fig. 105 C, fig. 100 B, 

 fig. 125 E, and in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 300 partly. B. Ilystrix, Linn. 

 Mant. 89, not of A. Rich. B. p'ionitoides^ Engl, in Engl. Jahrb. 

 x. 262 ; Rumph. Herb. Amb. vii. 22, t. 13. 



Nile Iiand. British East Africa : Ribe to Galla country, Wakefield ! Tana 

 liiver, Thomas, 16! 



Iiower Guinea. Angola: Loaiida, Welwitsch, 5067! 5138! 5190! Anibriz, 

 Wehvitsch, 5141 ! Monteiro ! Hereroland : Karribib, 3200 ft., Marloth, 1430 ! 



XMEozamb. Bist. British Central Africa : Nyasaland ; Blantyre, Buchanan ! 



Also in Tropical Asia. 



This plant is much cultivated, and spreads as a weed ; the iiowers vary from 

 orange-yellow to cream-colour. The form called B. prionitoides differs by its long 

 simple spikes, and is common in India, As to the synonymy, B. Hystrix, Linn., is 

 founded wholly on Rumph. Herb. Amb. vii. t. 13, a Malayan plant which can be no 

 other than B. PHonitis, Linn., under which, moreover, the identical plate of Rumphius 

 is quoted. The type example of B. Ilystrix in Linnaeus' own herbarium is exactly 

 B. prionitoides, Engl. 



2. B. proxima, Lindau m Ann. Istit. Bot. Roma vi. [1890] 72. 

 Leaves oblong, 1 by ^ in., sparsely hairy. Interpetiolar spines ^ in. 

 long ; often 3 or 4. Filaments of fertile stamens minutely hairy. 

 Ovary minutely hairy ; otherwise as B. Prionitis. 



•stile land. Somaliland : Ogaden Desert, Riva, 253, 299, 344, 366 ! 



3. B. diacantha, Xees in DC. Prod. xi. 238 partly. Interpetiolar 

 spines up to J-1 in. long, often paired. Floral leaves obovate- lanceolate, 

 spine-tipped, rigid. Posticous sepal J in. long, ovate, acuminate or 

 spine-tipped; otherwise as B. Prionitis.—A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abys^. ii. 

 144, not of Solms-Laub. B. Prionitis, T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. vii. 

 28 mainly. B. Marghilomanoi, Schweinf. et Volk. Liste PI. d. Somalia, 

 16, and in Ghika, Pays des Somalis, 210. 



