Boottia.] cxxxi. hydrocharide^e (wright). 9 



4. B. crassifolia, EicU. in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxii. 239. Rhizome 

 thick, obliquely descending, densely covered with ovate scales. Leaves 

 ligulate, lorate, obtuse, attenuated into the petiole, fleshy and sub- 

 coriaceous, 5-7-nerved, 19 in. long, 2-3 in. wide, crisped at the margin. 

 Scape 15 in. long, smooth. Spathe tubular, slightly swollen at the base, 

 6-winged ; teeth very short and obtuse. Sepals lanceolate, obtuse, 6 lin. 

 long, 3 lin. wide. Petals yellow. 



Xiower Guinea. Angola : Mumpulla and Lopolla, Weltoitsch, 6470 ! 



5. B. abyssinica, Eidl. in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxii. 239. Rhizome 

 thick, submerged, emitting numerous long rootlets. Leaves many, thin, 

 lanceolate, obtuse, 15 in. long, IJ in. wide, petiolate. Scape thick, 

 fragile, 9 in. long. Spathe oblong-elliptical, scarcely attenuate at the 

 apex, 2 in. long, about J in. wide, 2-flowered. Sepals lanceolate, obtuse, 

 coriaceous, 9 lin. long, 1^ lin. wide. Petals yellow, slightly longer than 

 the sepals. 



wile Ziand. Abyssinia : Zana, Sckimper, 1452 ! Gazelle River, Schweinfurth, 

 1159 ! 1254 ! Jur Ghattas, Schweinfurth, 2,4^'2>^ \ Madi, Speke and Grant, 696 ! 



Speke and Q-rant's 620^ from the Nile and Schweinfurth' s 3638 from Monbuttu 

 may prove to be a white-flowered form of this species. 



A plant resembling this has been collected by Barter at Nupe (910), which in the 

 absence of perfect flowers is not determinable. 



6. B. xnacranthay Wright. Leaves broadly ovate, rotundate at 

 the base, 3 in. long, 2| in. wide, 9-nerved, smooth ; petiole 6 in. long, 

 slightly sheathing at the base. Scape thick. Spathe tubular, smooth ; 

 teeth 3, triangular, membranous. Sepals ligulate, obtuse, 9 lin. long, 

 1 lin. wide. Petals If in. long, yellow. Styles 3, bipartite, covered 

 with long papillae. Male flowers not seen. 



XVEozamb. Dist. Portuguese East Africa : Quilimane, Scott ! 

 This species is at once recognised by the ovate-rotundate leaves and by the flowers 

 being much larger than in any other species. 



7. THALASSIA, Soland. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 455. 



Dioecious. Male flower on a long pedicel. Perianth 1 -seriate, 

 3-merous ; segments petaloid. Stamens 6 ; anthers long, subsessile. 

 Rudiment of ovary none. Female flower at length stipitate. Ovary 

 with a long beak. Fruit stipitate, globose. Seeds many on parietal 

 placentas. — Submerged marine plants. Rhizome long creeping, annulate. 

 Leaves ligulate. Scapes of both sexes similar. 



A genus of two species, one in the Red Sea and India, the other in the West 

 Indies. 



1. T. Hemprichii, Ehrh. ex Aschers. in Boiss. Flor. Orient, v. 7. 

 Rhizome creeping, with numerous annular scars. Leaves fascicled at 

 intervals, linear, obtuse, 6 in. long, 3 lin. wide. Flowers solitary 

 in diphyllous, axillary (?) spathes. Stamens 6. — Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. 



