Alteiiianthera.] cvi. AMARANTACEiE (baker and clarke). 73 



Leaves oblong or elliptic, narrowed towards the top. 

 Perianth-segments ^ in. long, mucronate or very 



acute . . . . . . . . 1. A. nodijlora. 



Perianth-segments i^—ijs in. long, not very 



acute . . . . . . . . 2. A. achi/ranthoides. 



Leaves obovate, not narrowed towards the top . 3. A. echinata. 



1. A. nodiflora, R. Br. Prodr. 417. Rootstock often woody. 

 Branches several, procumbent, pubescent or hairy towards the top, 

 6-24 in. long. Leaves \-2\ in. long, oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, 

 narrowed at either end, hardly petioled, glabrate or obscurely hairy. 

 Spikes solitary or clustered in the axils, J- J in. in diam., white, 

 apparently glabrate. Perianth-segments \ in. long, elliptic-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, acute or mucronate, glabrate or with a few very thin 

 simple hairs scattered near the base and on the margins. Staminal 

 tube a short broad cup ; staminodes reduced to minute notched teeth. 

 — Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. i^56 ; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 494 ; 

 A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 219; Aschers. in Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. 

 Aethiop. 175 ; Zarb in Oat. Spec. Bot. Pfund, 33 ; Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. 

 Trop. Afr. 208; Schinz in Bull. Herb. Boiss. iv. Append, ii. 165. A. 

 achyj-anthoideSy i>a,rt\yf Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. Wei w. i. 896. A.sessUia, 

 var. rtodijiora, Gilg in Warb. Kunene-Samb. Exped. 232. 



Upper Guinea. Senegal : M'Bidjem, Thierry^ 222 ! Roger I Senegambia, 

 Heudeloty 130 ! Northern Nigeria : Kuka, Vogel, 61 ! 



Vile ILand. Eritrea, Schtoeinfurth, 226. Abyssinia : Mount Sholoda, 

 Schimper^l^l near Adowa, iS'eAtmj[>er, 1068 ! Galabat: around Matamma, <ScAtoct»- 

 furth, 617 ! 621 ! Sennar, Kotschy^ 287 ! Broun, 854 ! near Khartoum, Brom- 

 field! Kordofan, Kotschy^ 165! Pfund, 210! Darfur, Purdy, 11! Ethiopia, 

 Kotschy, 287 ! White Nile region, Schweinf urth, 944 ! Broun, 1072 ! 



]Lo-wer Guinea Angola : Loaiida, Gossioeiler, 325 ! Mossamedes, Welwitsch, 

 6504 ! 6505 ! near Chihinde, Baum, 52 I 



nXozamb. I>l8t. Portuguese East Africa : Lower Zambesi ; Sena, Kirk ! 

 British Central Africa : Nyasaland ; between Kondowe and Karonga, Whyte ! 

 Shire Highlands, Buchanan^ 384 ! Rhodesia : Ma))ani Forest, Holub ! Batoka 

 Plateau, Allen, 438! 



Also in India, Malaya, and Australia. 



2. A. achyranthoides, Forsk. Fl. jEgypt.-A rah. lix. aiid 28 . Heads 

 in fruit \-\ in. in diam. Perianth-segments yV-yV i^^- long, not 

 mucronate, often triangular at the top; otherwise as A. nodifiora. — 

 Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. i. 890. A. sessilis, R. Br. Prodr. 417 ; 

 Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 357 ; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 495 ; 

 Zarb in Cat. Spec. Bot. Pfund, 33 ; Garcke in Peters, Beise Mossamb. 

 Bot. 503 ; Boiss. Fl. Orient, iv. 996 ; Schinz in Engl, ik Prantl, Pflan- 

 zenfam. iii. lA, 115, and 94, fig. 48, H,in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 174 ; 

 Durand& Schinz, Etudes Fl. Congo, i. 235 ; Schlechter, Westafr. Kautsch. 

 Exped. 287. A. denticulata, R. Br. Prodr. 417; Moquin in DC. Prodr. 

 xiii. ii. 350. A.Jicoides, Beauv. Fl. Owar. ii. 66, t. 99, fig. 1. Illecebrum 

 sessile, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. ii. 300 ; Schumach. Beskr. Guin. PI. 143. 



