66 cvi. AMARANTACE.E (baker AND CLARKE). [Achyvanthea, 



bracteoles 2, subulate. Stamens connate into a short tube ; staminodes 

 strap-shaped, irregularly fimbriate.— Lopr. in Malpighia, xiv. 432. 



X^ozamb. Dlst. German East Africa : Usambara ; Magamba Forest, Hoist, 

 3800. 



17. ACHYROPSIS, Hook f. in Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 36. 

 Perfect flower solitary, supported by 2 small bracteoles. Perianth- 

 segments glabrous, muticous, often 4. Stamens often 4 ; anther- 

 cells 2, elliptic; filaments linear to the base; interposed staminodes 

 quadrate. Ovary ovoid, glabrous; style linear ; stigma small ; ovule 1, 

 on a basal funicle. Utricle ovoid ; seed ellipsoid ; embryo curled. — 

 Leaves opposite, shortly petioled. Spikes narrow, cylindric ; perianths 

 in fruit spreading (not reflexed). Much smaller in leaves and flowers 

 than any species of Achyranthes or Fandiaka. 

 Species 4, in Tropical and South Africa, 

 Fruit spike apparently glabrous, the rhacliis hairy. 



Spikes shortly peduncled, axillary, and terminal . 1. A. leptostachya. 



Spikes all terminal 2. A.fruticulosa. 



Fruiting perianth overtopped by wool . . . Z. A. laniceps. 



1. A, leptostachya, Hook. f. in Benth. et Hook.f. Gen. PI. iii. 3G. 

 Erect, 1-2 ft. high, sparsely hairy. Leaves 1 by J in. Spikes axillary 

 and terminal, 1-2 by \ in., straw-coloured, dense, apparently glabrous, the 

 rhachis hairy. Perianth yV-yV in. long. — A. alba, Hook. f. in Benth. 

 et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 36. Achyranthes leptostachya, E. Meyer ex Meisn. 

 in Hook. London Journ. ii. (1843), 548. A. alba, Moquin in DC. Prodr. 

 xiii. ii. 311 ; Schinz in Engl, k Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iii. lA, 112. 



Mozamb. Sist. Matabeleland : Shasha River, ^o/m6 .' 

 Frequent in South Extratropical Africa. 



2. A. fruticulosa, C. B. CI. A small shrub; branches divided, 

 spreading, hardly 6 in. long. Leaves J in. long, opposite, oblong, silky 

 white beneath. Spikes all terminal on the branches, 1 in. long, nearly 

 J in. broad, straw-coloured, dense, apparently glabrous, the rhachis 

 hairy. Perianth J in. long, conic, subacute at the tip. 



irile Xiand. British East Africa : Kukui, Kaessner, 1011 ! 



This species, from the larger subacute perianth, is allied to the CA^eAcht/ranthex 

 avicularis, E. Meyer, from which it hardly differs except in habit, its woody base 

 and short spreading branches. 



3. A. laniceps, C. B. CI. Stems slender ; branches opposite, erect, 

 thinly hairy, with long internodes. Leaves opposite, linear, J-IJ by 

 J in., thinly hairy, attenuate at the base, shortly petioled. Spikes in 

 fruit J by J in., dense, cylindric, the glabrous perianths embedded in 

 dense white wool ; solitary at the top of long branches, or peduncles (as 

 there is rarely a leaf at the top). Perianth in fruit scarcely yV in. long, 

 enclosing the utricle ; segments elliptic, green, muticous. 



Mozamb. Blst. Nyasaland : Tanganyika Plateau, at Fort Hill, 3500-4000 ft., 

 Whyte I 



This is in ripe fruit, so that I have not been able to see the staminal tube. 



