Achyranthes,'] cvi. amarantace.e (baker and clarke). 63 



1. A. aspera, Linn, Sp. PL ecZ.^i. 204, ed. ii. 295. An erect, 

 hairy herb, 1-4 ft. high. Leaves opposite, petioled ; blade 2-3 in. 

 long, elliptic, narrowed at either end. Spikes in flower 2-4 in. long, 

 dense ; in fruit usually much elongated, up to 12-18 in. long, with the 

 lower flowers distant. Perianth J- J in. long ; segments lanceolate, 

 mucronate, glabrous ; bracteoles J or f the length of the perianth, 

 appearing as simple spines, really springing from a small quadrate 

 or emarginate base. Staminodes quadrate, fimbriate. Ovary obovoid, 

 the top depressed hemispherical granular- tubercular. Perianth in 

 fruit rigidly deflexed close to the rhachis, becoming very hard. — 

 Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 814 ; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 493 ; A. 

 Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 215; Garcke in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 

 503 ; T. Thoms. in Speke, Nile, Append. 646 ; Oliver in Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. xxix. 141; Aschers. in Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Aethiop. 172; Boiss. 

 Fl. Orient, iv. 993 ; Schinz in Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iii. lA, 112, 

 and 94, fig. 47, D, E, in Bull. Herb. Boiss. iv. Append, ii. 165, in v. 

 Append, iii. 66, in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 173 ; Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. 

 Trop. Afr. 208 ; Durand k Schinz, Etudes Fl. Congo, 234 ; Durand t 

 De Wild, in Comptes-rendus Soc. Bot. Belg. xxxvi. 85 ; Hiern in Cat. 

 Afr. PI. Welw. i. 893 ; Lopr. in Engl. Jahrb. xxx. 12, t. 1, fig, G-J ; 

 Gilg in Baum, Kunene-Samb. Exped. 232, 433. 



Upper Guinea. Senegal, Sieher, 57 ! JRoger, 26 ! Goldl Coast : Assin Yan 

 Kumassi, Cummins, 175! Southern Nigeria: Ikirun, MiUson, 119! Lagos, 

 Millen, 101 1 



Nile ]Land. Eritrea : various localities, Hildehrandf, 652 ! Steiidner, 658 ! 

 Schweinf urth Sf Riva, 94, 177, 231, 1025 ! 1053, 1156, 1646. Gala bat : Matamina, 

 Schweinfurth, 646 ! Abyssinia : various localities, Schimper, 193 1 209 ! 1234 ! 

 Quartin-Dillon ^ Petit ! Salt ! Somaliland : various localities, Mrs. Lort 

 Phillips ! Miss Edith Cole ! Hildebrandt, 1520 ! Donaldson Smith ! Sennar, 

 Schtveinfurth, 644 ! White Nile, Petherich I Kordofan, Kotschy, 415 ! Pfnnd, 

 286 1 876 ! Darfur, Purdy, 6 ! Blue Nile, Muriel, 32 ! Bro^in, 724 ! Khartoum, 

 Broun^ 476 ! Bahr el Jebel, Muriel, 71 ! Bahr el Ghazal ; Nuer Country, Speke 

 Sf Grant ^ 768 ! Moru : Neangara, Mnrie ! Uganda : various localities, Scott-Mliot, 

 6942 I 7248 ! 7753 ! James 1 Mahon ! Brown, 66 ! Bagshaive^ 242 ! 457 ! British 

 East Africa : various localities, Thomas, 74 ! Whyte ! Gregory ! Powell, 13 ! 



IiO'virer Guinea. Lower Congo : near the moutli, Smith, 7 ! Stanley Pool, 

 Bens, B, 28 ! Angola : various localities, Wehvitsch, 6492 ! 6499 ! 6510 ! 6530 ! 

 6530b ! 6547b ! 6548 ! 6576 ! German South-west Africa : Hereroland, Belck, 43, 

 Fleck, 491, 532, 561 ; Rehobotli, Schinz, 12, Fleck, 175a. 



Soutb Central. Congo Free State : Mtowa, Descamps. 



Mozamb. Blst. Zanzibar, Hildehrandt, 1150! German East Africa: 

 Kilimanjaro, Volkens, 678 ! 1390 ! Amboni, Hoist, 2694a I Kwa Mshuza, Hoist, 

 9086 ! Mininga, Speke Sf Grant, 184 I Usambara, Hoist, 8719 ! Portuguese East 

 Africa : east coast of Lake Nyasa, Johnson, 144 ! Lower Zambesi, near Sena and 

 at Shupanga, Kirk! British Central Africa: near Lake Moero, Carson, 7! 

 Rhodesia ; Tamafopa, Holub ! 



An abundant weed in the hotter parts of the Old World. 



Var. /3 argentea, C. B. CI. ; leaves silky strigose beneath with white hairs, often 

 silvery ; perianth frequently smaller than in the type. — A. argentea. Lam. Encycl. 

 i. 545; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 493; Hook. f. in Journ. Linn. Soc. vii. 214; 

 Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 315 ; Zarb in Cat. Spec. Bot. Pfund, 33 ; Engl, in 

 Hans Meyer, East Afr. 368. 



