514 cxxxiv. sciTAMiNEiE (baker)4 [Tholia. 



1. T. coerulea, Ridley in Journ. Bot. 1887, 132. Root-leaves 

 lanceolate-acuminate, 10 in. long, an inch broad, with a long broad 

 sheathing petiole. Stems slender, 5-7 ft. long. Panicle lax, with few 

 branches, J ft. long; lower branch-bracts not leafy; branchlets flexuose; 

 •oater flower-bract grey-violet, ovate-lanceolate, J in. long; inner ovate, 

 obtuse. Flowers blue. Sepals ovate, obtuse. Dorsal petal lorate, 

 obtuse, 1^ in. long, much larger than the two others. Staminiferous 

 lobe of the androecium lanceolate, obtuse ; lip lanceolate, from a tri- 

 angular base. Seed oblong, \ in. long. 



Iiower Guinea. Angola: Pungo Andongo ; in marshes by the River Cuanza, 

 Welwitsch, 6444 ! 



No specimen iu the Kew Herbarium. 



2. T. 'Welwitschii, Ridley in Journ. Bot. 1887, 132. Root-leaves 

 ovate, glaucous, 9 in. long, 3 in. broad, with a petiole 1 ft. long, sheath- 

 ing the stem iii the lower part. Stem 3-5 ft. long. Panicle lax, 

 leafless, not very compound ; final branchlets slightly flexuose, 2 in. 

 long; outer flower-bract subacute, f in. long; inner rather longer, 

 oblong, acute. Flowers purple. Sepals ovate, obtuse. Dorsal petal 

 ligulate, obtuse ; lateral shorter, lanceolate, obtuse. Staminiferous 

 lobe of the androecium cuneate ; anther with a long stipes. Fruit 

 globose. 



X»o\(rer Guinea. Angola : Cazengo ; rather rare in damp places between 

 Cacula and Dalatanda, Welwitsch, Q4Aii\ Pungo Andongo; in marshes in the woods 

 of Mutollo, Welwitsch, 6445 ! 



No specimen in the Kew Herbarium. 



3. T. geniculata, Zmn. Sp. PI. ed. ii. 3. Whole plant 5-6 ft. high. 

 Root-leaves with long petioles, sheathing the lower part of the stem ; 

 blade ovate or oblong, acute, rounded at the base, moderately firm, 

 glabrous, very variable in size, often 1 ft. long, 4-6 in. broad ; petiole 

 with a glabrous cylindrical callus at the apex, J-1 in. long. Panicle 

 very large and lax ; lower branches often subtended by reduced leaves ; 

 rhachis very flexuose ; flower-bracts oblong, scariose, glabrous or 

 hairy, J-1 in. long. Flowers in pairs reaching to the tip of the 

 bract, shortly pedicellate. Calyx very small. Petals oblong, obtuse. 

 Staminodia usually obovate, violet, much longer than the petals. 

 Capsule obovoid, \ in. long. — Rose, Scit. t. 45 ; Horan. Prodr. 10 ; 

 Peters, in Mart. Fl. Bras. III. iii. 142, t. 38, fig. 2. Maranta geniculatcCj 

 Lam. lUust. i. 9. 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Seudelot, 665 ! Sierra Leone : in rice fields 

 about Mahela, Scott-Elliot, 4054! Falaba, Scott-Elliot, 5098 ! Dahomey : Godome, 

 Newton, 161 Lagos; Yoruba; Abeokuta, Jrmw^, 152 ! 158! and without precise 

 locality, Moloney ! Millen ! Niger Territory : Nupe, Barter ^ 1024 ! Hauga, Krause I 

 Cameroons : Yaunde, Zenker Sf Standi, 198 ! 608 ! 



irile Iiand. British East Africa : Jur ; Jur Ghattas, Schweinfurth, 1791! 

 Niamniam ; Gumango Hill, Schweinfurth, 2873 ! 



Also through Tropical America from Florida to Brazil. 



