Hesperantha.] cxxxvi. iridE/E (baker). 349 



jjale-green, J— | in. long, hiding the inner valve. Perianth-tube slender, 

 erect, J in. long ; segments oblong, rather shorter than the tube, the 

 inner white, the outer flushed with claret-red on the outside. Anthers 

 I in. long; filaments very short. Style-branches ^ in. long. Ovary 

 small, turbinate. — Handb. Irid. 147; Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. 

 Afr. 174. Ixia petiiia^m, A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 309. Geissoi'hiza 

 abyssinica, Klatt in Linnaea, xxxiv. 71 G, non R. Br. 



Wile Iiand. Abyssinia, Quart in- Dillon Sf Petit, 116 ! 



Var. unifiora, Baker. Much dwarfer, with narrower leaves and a single flower. — 

 Hesperantha nniflora, Hnchst. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 309. Ixia hoch- 

 sf^tteriana, A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 309. 



Wile I.and, Abyssinia: Semen; Mount Bachit, 6000-11,000 ft., Schimper^ 

 1239! Begemeder; Mount Guna, 11,000 ft., Schimper, 1182! 



3. H. Volkensii, Harms in Engl. Jahrh. xix. Bdhl. 47, 28. 

 Corm very small, globose. Produced leaves 3, sub-basal, narrowly linear, 

 erect, firm, glabrous, 1 ft. long, 1 lin. broad. Stem very slender, as 

 long as the leaves, with a reduced sheathing leaf at the middle. Flowers 

 about 3 in a very lax spike ; outer spathe-valve oblong, green, J-| in. 

 long. Perianth-tube h in. long, erect, funnel-shaped in the upper half ; 

 segments oblong, | in. long, the inner white, the outer tinged with 

 claret-red on the outside. Stamens half as long as the perianth-limb ; 

 anthers large, linear. Style-branches \ in. long. — H. kilimanjaricay 

 Rendle in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxx. 402. 



nXozamb. I>lst. German East Africa : Kilimanjaro; Mamba, 8800 ft., Fo^^tn*, 

 783 ! above Morang, to 10,000 ft., Taylor ! 



7. DIERAMA, K. Koch; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 70n. 



Perianth-tube short, cylindrical, dilated at the throat ; segments 6, 

 eubequal, oblong, spreading. Stamens inserted at the throat of the 

 perianth-tube, equilateral; filaments short; anthers linear, basifixed. 

 Ovary oblong, 3-celled ; ovules many, superposed ; style filiform, exserted 

 from the throat of the perianth-tube, with short spreading entire clavate 

 branches. Capsule oblong, small, membranous, loculicidally 3-valved. 

 Seeds small, globose or angled by pressure. — Rootstock a large corm. 

 Leaves many in a basal rosette, long, linear, rigid, strongly nerved. 

 Flowers in panicled spikes ; spathe- valves lanceolate, membranous. 



A genus of 2 species, both South African, only one extending into Tropical Africa. 



1. D. pendula, Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. xvi. 99. Corm large, 

 globose ; tunics of parallel fibres produced above its neck. Basal leaves 

 5-0, linear, rigid, lJ-2 ft. long. Stem including the inflorescence 2-4 

 ft. long. Spikes several, cernuous, with the flowers crowded towards 

 the top ; spathe-valves lanceolate, acuminate, | in. long, membranous, 

 brown or dotted with brown. Perianth white or pale or dark-purple ; 

 tube cylindrical, ^-h in. long ; segments oblong, twice as long as the 

 tube. Stamens half "as long as the perianth-limb. Style-branches -^V in. 



