724 cxxii. EUPHORBiACE^ (hutchinson). [Pkyllanthus, 



lin. broad, rather thinly chartaceous, glabrous on both surfaces, glaucous- 

 green below ; lateral nerves 6-8 on each side, often much branched, 

 distinct on both surfaces, slightly prominent below ; veins distinct and 

 rather lax ; petiole very short and flattened, about J lin. long, slightly 

 and transversely wrinkled on the back, glabrous ; stipules subulate from 

 a broadened base, about 1 lin, long, glabrous. Flowers monoecious, 

 males chiefly in the upper part of the shoots, females in the lower. 

 Male flowers : pedicel about 1 J lin. long, glabrous. Sepals 6, in 

 2 distinct whorls, 3 outer, 3 inner, the outer much smaller, oblong, 

 coriaceous, the inner much larger and ovate, glabrous. Disk-glands 

 6, large, fleshy, suborbicular, minutely pitted. Stamens 3 ; filaments 

 joined into a stout column ; anthers sessile on the top of the column, 

 their tips coherent into a point, their bases diverging. Female 

 flowers : pedicel a little longer and stouter than that of the male. 

 Sepals in 2 distinct series, subequal, ovate, 1 J lin. long, 1 lin. broad, 

 entire, glabrous, 3 outer with fimbriate appendages on the margin 

 at the base. -Disk annular, much twisted and wrinkled, very thick, 

 glabrous. Ovary lobed, smooth ; styles 3, erect, very thick, connate for 

 a little more than half their length, free portion erect or ascending, bifid, 

 glabrous. Capsule 4 J lin. in diam., much depressed-globose, (J -lobed, 

 slightly wrinkled. Seeds 2 lin. long, 1 J lin. broad, with numerous lines 

 of minute tubercles on the back. — Miill. Arg. in DC. Prodr. xv. ii. 351 ; 

 Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. i. 958; Pax in Baum, Kunene-Samb. Exped. 

 282. Diasperus welvntschianus, 0. Kuntze, Rev. (4en. PI. ii. (iOl. 



ItO-wer Guinea. Angola : Piinpo Andongo ; between Quitage and Rumba, 

 Welwitsch, 330 ! Huilla ; near Lopollo, Welwitsch, 331 ! by the Longa River at 

 Mitinesera, Baum, 648 ! Girandougoinbe, Gossweiler, 4065 partly ! Valley of the 

 River Bunja-Cuto, Gossiceiler, 2557 ! 



48. P. Gossweileri, Ilutddnson in Kew Bulletin, 1911, 315. An 

 annual about 1 ft. high ; stem and branches terete, glabrous ; flowering 

 branchlets elongated, up to 6 in. long. Leaves lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, slightly rounded at the base, 3-6 lin. long, 1-1 1 lin. 

 broad, somewhat thick, glabrous and dull on both surfaces ; lateral 

 nerves not visible on either side ; petiole very short ; stipules subulate, 

 \ lin, long. Flowers monoecious. Male flowers 2-3 together in each 

 leaf -axil on the lower part of each branchlet : Sepals 0, obovate-elliptic, 

 rounded at the apex, glabrous, slightly membranous towards the mar- 

 gins. Disk-glands 6, very small, rounded, smooth. Stamens 3 ; fila- 

 ments connate to the top ; anthers free among themselves, cells sub- 

 parallel and dehiscing longitudinally. Female flowers solitary in the 

 axils of the upper leaves; pedicel 1 lin. long. Sepals 6, oblong-elliptic, 

 rounded at the apex, slightly membranous at the margins, 1 J lin. long, 

 I lin. broad, entire, glabrous. Disk rather small and slightly 5-6-lobed. 

 Ovary slightly lobed, smooth; styles ascending, bilobed, not swollen at 

 the apex. Capsule slightly depressed-globose, 2 lin. in diam., smooth. 

 Seeds 1 lin. long, with 8 longitudinal lines on the back. 



Xower Guinea. Angola : Kassuango Kurini, a weedy lierb occurring here 

 and there in open thickets, Gossweiler, 4198 ! 



