232 cxviii. TiiYMEL^ACE^ (pearson). [Lasiosiphon. 



without precise locality, Buchanan, 428! 1248! Rhodesia: Matopo Hills, Miss 

 Qibbs ! 



Also in South Africa. 



L. Kraussii, »s thus defined, is an extremely variable species. The principal 

 variations are seen (1) in the length and breadth of the leaves and involucral bracts ; 

 (2) in tlie hairiness of the stems and leaves (the extreme forms beiitg very hairy and 

 glahrous respectively); (3) iti the lobing of the petals, which present all gradations 

 between entire and completely bisected organs. An examination of the tro^jical and 

 South African specimens shows that these variations occur in plants from the same 

 area, and to some extent, indeed, in the same plant. Therefore, in the absence of any 

 recognisable correlation of differential characters a subdivision of tlie species is 

 impossible, and it seems tliat no practical advantage is gained by keeping up the 

 varieties proposed by Meisner. 



A specimen recorded by Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. i. 925 as "apparently 

 an undescribeil species of Gnidia, related to Arthrosolen jlavus, Hendle," is more 

 probably a form of Lasiosiphon Kraussii. It was collected in Angola: Huilla; in 

 billy places about Lake Ivantala, WelwHsch, 6480 ! 



9. L. Rivse^ //. //. W. Pearson. Arborescent : the many- 

 flowered branches terete, clothed with yellow tomentum, later glab- 

 rescent. Leaves shortly petioled, lanceolate, acuminate, acute, entire, 

 covered with a white silky tomentum when young, at length glabres- 

 cent, subcoriaceous, 1-1 j in. long, \-\ in. broad. Heads terminal, 

 dense, 80-100-flowered ; involucral bracts 7-8, spreading or reflexed 

 during flowering ; very densely covered with a white silky tomentum, 

 about equal in length to the flowers ; peduncle leafy. Flowers 5- 

 merous. Calyx-tube terete, clothed very densely with long spreading 

 silky hairs J-J in. long ; lobes oblong, rounded at the apex, silky 

 beneath, glabrous within, yellow. Petals delicately membranous, 

 linear, about J lin. long. Fruit crowned with silky hairs. — Gnidia 

 Rivce, Gilg in Ann. Istit. Bot. Roma, vi. 98. 



Wile Xiand. Somaliland : between Jaribule and Hars, Ruspoli Sf Riva, 189; 

 between liidduma and Alghe, among herbs and shrubs, Ruspoli Sf Riva, 1239. 



10. Ii. Passargei, //. H. fV. Pearson. Flowering stems erect, 

 more or less branched, 4-8 in. high [Passarge) ; branches densely clothed 

 with silky- velvety pubescence. Leaves oblong or lanceolate-oblong, 

 acute, sessile, coriaceous, clothed on both surfaces with dense silky 

 velvety pubescence, \-\ in. long, 2-3 lin. broad. Heads solitary, 

 terminal, many-flowered (40-50) ; involucral bracts G, similar to the 

 leaves or broader and more densely pilose, equalling the flowers in 

 length. Flowers 5-merous, yellow {Passarge). Calyx-tube cylindric, 

 densely silky-tomentose, J-J in. long ; lobes oblong, deeply emarginate 

 (? always), with white silky pubescence on the outside, about 1^ lin. 

 long, I lin. broad. Petals very thin, linear, emarginate or more or less 

 deeply divided (sometimes to the base), about J as long as the sepals. — 

 Gnidia Passargei, Gilg in Engl. Jahrb. xxiii. 206. 



Upper Guinea. Cameroons : Ngaumdere, 4000 ft., on the burnt savannahs, 

 Passarge, 126 ! 



