Octolepis.] cxviii. TnY5H:LyEACE.4: (pearson) 253 



1. O. decalepis, Oilg in Engl. Jahrh. xxviii. 14i\ A low 

 shrub with glabrous grey-browii branches. Leaves oblong or obovate- 

 oblong, long-acuminate and acute or rounded at the apex, narrowed 

 towards the base, entire, papery, glabrous, paler beneath, with vena- 

 tion very prominent beneath, J3-r)J in. long, 1-2 in. broad ; petiole 

 thick, pilose, ;5-4 lin. long. Flowers white, f)-merous, axillary, usually 

 solitary, rarely in pairs; pedicel 1J-- lin. long, densely silky- hairy. 

 Sepals ovate, broadly imbricate, acute, grey-silky-hairy above, more 

 densely so beneath, 1^-2 lin. long, 1 lin. broad at the base. Petals 

 bifid to the base ; lobes rectangular, J as long as the sepals, densely 

 grey-silky-hairy on the margins, elsewhere on both sides sparsely and 

 shortly pilose. Stamens 1-lj lin. long; filaments somewhat flattened, 

 villous on the edges; anthers small. Ovary very densely pilose, 4- or 

 5-celled ; stigma o-lobed. Fruit (hardly mature) globose, ^ in. 

 in diam. 



Upper Guinea. Liberia : Cxraiul Bassa, Fishtown, in moist bushy shady 

 places 16 ft. above the- sea, Dinklage, 1741 ; 1860; 2044! 



2. O. nodosericea, Gilg in Emjl. Jahrh. xxviii. 14o. A shrub 

 3-5 ft. high ; branches yellow-tomentose when young, later glabrous, 

 longitudinally striate. Leaves obovate-oblong or obovate-lanceolate, 

 shortly and broadly acuminate at the apex, narrowed towards the base, 

 sometimes subrotund, entire, membranous, glabrous above, silvery with 

 short adpressed hairs beneath, with venation prominent above and 

 beneath, 2-J-4| in. long, |-lf in. broad ; petiole thick, densely yellow- 

 tomentose, about 2 lin. long. Flowers 4-mei'Ous, whitish-yellow, 

 solitary or sometimes in pairs at the very prominent densely yellow- 

 silky-villous nodes ; pedicels much shortei' than the flowers, very 

 densely yellow-silky-villous. Sepals ovate, imbricate, acute, subglab- 

 rous within, densely yellow-silky-villous without. Petals -I, bifid to 

 the base, free, J as long as the sepals, densely pilose, fimbriate along 

 the margin. Filaments as long as the petals ; anthers ovate-oval. 

 Ovary small, very densely silky-villous ; style very short, scarcely 

 exceeding the indument ; stigma thick, capitate. 



Upper Guinea. Cameroous; underwood in the shady forest near Kribi, 

 30 ft. above the sea, Zenker, 823. 



o, O. Dinklagei, Gily in Engl. Jahrh. xxviii. 14:'). A shrub 

 6 ft. high, with grey branches, glabrous when young, with very 

 numerous lenticels. Leaves obovate-oblong or obovate, sparingly pilose 

 beneath when young, later glabrous, papery, long and abruptly 

 acuminate-acute, usually rounded at the base, entire, paler beneath, 

 with venation more prominent beneath, 4-7i in. long, H-'H in. broad ; 

 petiole thick, densely silky-villous when young, at length calvescent, 

 2-4 lin. long. Flowers dimorphic, 4-merous, few, white, in axillary 

 fascicles at the densely yellow-silky-hairy nodes ; bracteoles very small, 

 silky ; pedicels as long as the flowers, shortly pilose. Sepals free to 

 the base, triangular-ovate, broadly imbricate, densely and shortly pilose 

 on both sides, very shortly fimbriate, expanded during flowering. 



