42 cvi. AMARANTACE.E (baker AND clarke). [Sericoccynui. 



tropical. Lopriore says that ,S'. pnngent, Fenzl, has glabrous brown branches (l)ut 

 the South African examples have not), and makes ^S*. leucoclada, Lopr., a new- 

 species because it has white-silky branches. 



2. S. capitata, Jloquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 308. A harsh, 

 small, nearly glabrous shrub, repeatedly branching ; branches alternate. 

 Leaves all alternate, J-1 by yV in., linear, obtuse. Inflorescences ter- 

 minal, short-peduncled ; spikes cylindric, l-lj in. long, or subcapitate. 

 Perianth J in. long, greatly overtopped by the long straight hairs on 

 its segments. Staminodes very short, obtuse. Ovary glabrous ; style 

 long. — Schinz in Engl, ct Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iii. lA, 107. Calicorema 

 capitata, Hook. f. in Benth. k Hook. f. Gen. PL iii. 31, 35; Schinz in 

 Bull. Herb. Boiss. v. Append, iii. 60. uErua (Arthrcerua) Fechuelii, 

 O. Kuntze in Jahrb. Kcinigl. Bot. Gart. Berlin, iv. 272. 



Iiower Guinea. German South-west Africa : Hererolaiid ; Xamib, Flecks 

 677, jAiederiiz, 3, SfapffI Jlehoboth, Fleck, 876. Dammaraland, Fen I 

 Also in .Soulh Africa. 



I inperfectly known S2)ecies, 



3. S. ? alternifolia, C. 11. CI. Leaves petioled, alternate, elliptic or 

 oblanceolate, 4 by 'i in. Inflorescences 2 in. long; partial inflorescences 

 of 3 fertile and 4 sterile (short-aristate) flowers. Perianth J in. long. 

 Staminodes (intermediate processes of the staminal tube) wanting. 

 Ovary obovoid, glabrous; style linear, with 2 short branches. In 

 fruit, the thorny points of the stei-ile flowers grow out and the partial 

 inflorescence becomes very hard. — Centema alternifolia, Schinz in Bull. 

 Herb. Boiss. iv. 41J». 



Moxamb. I>lst. German East Africa : South Masai Steppe, Stuhlmann, 4287 ! 



The fruits of this plant are ^ in. in diani., s})in()se, tliC bracteoles very rigidly 

 in)ited with tlie fertile iteriantli — iu a word, typically that of Centema. The 

 broad leaves and curved branches do not suit Centema. As there are no stami- 

 nodes, it cannot be piit into Centema without setting tliat i)oint aside, which would 

 necessitate a reconstruction of the existing sdieme of AniiiraMthactous genera. 

 Perha])s the most feasible resource might be to make it a mouotypic genus, next to 

 Sericocoma. 



D. CYATHULA, Lour, (partly) ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 31. 



Partial inflorescences of clustered fertile and sterile flowers; bracts 

 of the sterile or rudimentaiy flowers ending (some of them) in strong 

 hooked spines. Inflorescences globose, cylindric or linear, dense, or 

 interrupted at the base. Perianth with long flne hairs ; segments 5, 

 lanceolate, often mucronate. Filaments 5, with interposed staminodes ; 

 anthers 2-celled. Ovary obovoid, glabrous ; style longer than the ovary ; 

 stigma very small ; ovule 1, suspended from a basal funicle. Capsule 

 thin ; seed ellipsoid, flattened ; embryo curved. — Herbs or small 

 shrubs, hairy. Leaves opposite, entire, elliptic-ovate or obovate. 

 Inflorescences terminal. 



Species 15, in the warmer parts of Africa, Asia, and South America. 



