Calathea.'] cxxxi\-. scitamine^ (baker). 327 



Inflorescence on a leaf-bearing stem. 



-Spikes single, erect . . . . . . . 1. C. Mannii. 



Spikes two, deflexed . . . . . . 2. (7. conferta. 



Inflorescence arising from the rhizome, leafless . . 3. C rhizantha. 



1. C. Mannii, Benth. Gen. Plant, iii. 653. Whole plant 6-8 ft. 

 high. Leaves 4 in a tuft at the top of a long stem ; petiole broad, 

 deeply channelled, 6-8 in. long, with a large cylindrical callus at the 

 apex ; blade oblong-cuspidate, moderately firm, glabrous, 6-10 in. long, 

 4-5 in. broad, rounded at the erect apex. Spike single, oblong, erect, 

 sessile in the centre of the rosette of leaves, 2 in. long ; bracts oblong- 

 navicular, distichous, about 4 on each side of the spike, much imbricate, 

 the lower 1^ in. long. Flowers many to a bract, reaching to its tip ; 

 bracteoles lanceolate. Fruit not seen. 



Vpper Guinea. Fernando Po, Mann^ 1173 ! 



2. C. conferta, Benth. Gen. Plant, iii. 653. Stem stiffly erect, 

 above a foot long, bearing leaves at its apex ; petioles deeply channelled, 

 6-9 in. long, with a cylindrical callus at the apex ; blade oblong- 

 cuspidate, moderately firm, glabrous, 6—12 in. long, 2i-4J in. broad, 

 rounded at the base. Spikes 2, crowded, sessile or shortly peduncled in 

 the centre of the tuft of leaves, deflexed, oblong, IJ in. long; bracts 

 oblong-navicular, much imbricate, the lowest 1 in. long. Flowers 

 several to each bract ; bracteoles lanceolate. Sepals lanceolate. Corolla- 

 tube cylindrical, as long as the calyx ; lobes oblong, shorter than the 

 tube. Staminodia rather shoiiTer than the corolla-lobes. Capsule thin, 

 containing 1 oblong black seed. — Phryniwm textile, Ridley in Journ. 

 Bot. 1887, 133. 



Upper Guinea. Cameroon Mountain, 3000 ft., Mann, 2414 ! Ashanti : Assin- 

 Yan-Coomassie, Cummins, 64 ! 



]Lower Guinea. Angola : Golungo Alto ; by streams in the woods of Quisuculo, 

 Welwitsch, 6439 ! 



3. C. rhizantha, A'. Schumann in Engl. Jahrh. xv. 433. Rhizome 

 wide-creeping. Leaves in pairs from the rhizome ; petiole 2 ft. long ; 

 blade oblong-lanceolate, moderately firm, glabrous, 1 ft. long, 3-4 in. 

 broad, deltoid at the base. Spike direct from the rhizome, shortly 

 peduncled, 3-4 in. long ; rhachis slightly flexuose ; internodes J in. 

 long ; bracts oblong, navicular, imbricate, 1 in. long. Flowers in pairs, 

 shortly pedicellate, whitish, reaching to the tip of the bract ; sepals 

 lanceolate, J in. long. Fruit unknown. 



TTpper Guinea. Canieroons : Bipinde, in forest, Zenker ,1128 ! 

 liower Guinea. Gaboon : Munda, Sibange Farm, Soyaux, 84 ! 



12. CANNA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 654. 



Sepals 3, equal, free, lanceolate, persistent. Petals 3, equal, lanceo- 

 late, united in a tube at the base. Staminodia united in a tube at the 

 base, which is adnate to the staminal tube ; lobes petaloid ; anther 



