94 cvii. CHENOPODiACEyE (baker AND clarke). \^Ba8ella. 



12. BASEIiLA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 70. 



Flowers 2-sexual. Perianth urn-shaped, fleshy; lobes 5, short, 

 incurved over the fruit. Stamens 5, inserted near the top of the 

 perianth-tube. Ovary ovoid, free; stigmas 3, linear; ovule 1, on a 

 short basal stalk. Utricle globose, thin ; seed erect, subglobose ; 

 embryo spiral, with hardly any albumen. — Twining much-branched 

 herbs. Leaves alternate, ovate, entire. Spikes axillary, peduncled, 

 elongating ; bracteoles 2, united into a 2-lipped cup, adnate to the 

 perianth. Flowers white or rose or violet. 



Species 2, in Asia and Africa. 



Petiole 1-2-1^ iu. long \. B. alba. 



Petiole ^ ill. long . . . . . . . . 2. B. paniculata. 



1. B. alba, Linn. Sp. PL ed. i. 272, ed. ii. 390. Glabrous, 

 branched, several feet long, or the cultivated forms yards long, succu- 

 lent ; stems green or red. Leaves long-petioled, 2-4 in. long, ovate or 

 cordate ; in dry weather the plant is often nearly leafless. Spikes 1-G in. 

 long, sometimes branched. Fruits V in. in diam., globose, red, white, 

 or black. — Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 223 ; Yolk, in Engl. & 

 Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iii. lA, 12G, fig. 73, A-F. B. rubra, Linn. Sp. PI. 

 ed. i. 272, ed. ii. 390 ; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. v. 20. B. nigra, 

 B. cordifolia, B. ramosa, Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 223, and B. 

 japonica, B. htcida, Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. 224, not of others. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone : cultivated at Kukuna, Scott-Elliot, 4664 ! 

 Canieroons : Ciinioroon Mountain, 1000 ft,, Mann, 1250 ! 



ITile Ziand. Abyssinia : Begemeder -, Sanka Herr, Schimper, 1447 ! and 

 witlioui precise locality, Floivden. Niamniam : at Xabambisso Kiver, «S'cAn'ei;{/«;*^//j 

 3040! 



ZiO'wer Guinea. Island of St. Thomas, Mann, 1088 ! 



Mozamb. Dlst. German Eitst Africa: Kilimanjaro; Marangu, GOUO ft,, 

 Volkens, 739 ! Usambara : Kwa Mshuza, Hoist, 9072 ! 



Extensively cultivated as a '• spinach." 



2. B. paniculata, Volk. in Engl. Jahrh. xxxviii. 81. Glabrous, 

 twining. Leaves succulent (in the dried examples almost horny), shortly 

 petioled, ovate, \\ in. long, 1 in. wide, acute. Flowers small, spiked, 

 becoming white ; spikes forming lax panicles. Sepals ovate, adnate at 

 the base with the corolla. Petals broadly oval, connate at the base. 



XVIozamb. Slst. German East Africa: Usambara, Eajle.r, 1515. 



Order CVIIL PHYTOLACCACE^. (By J. G. Baker, 

 with additions by C. II. Wright.) 



Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual. Perianth inferior, herbaceous 

 or coriaceous, rarely coloured, 4-5-partite, regular or nearly so ; seg- 

 ments e(|u;il or unequal, imbricate. Stamens 4-5 or many, usually 



