Xi/ris.] cxLii. XYRIDE^ (brown). la 



Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 133 ; N. E. Br. in Dyer, Fl. Cap. vii. 6. X platycavUs, 

 Poir. Encycl. viii. 820 ; Roem. & Schultes, Syst. Veg. i. 551 ; Kiinth, 

 Enum. iv. 18; Nilss. in Ofvers. Vet. Akad. Forhandl. Stockh. 18!)1, 

 153. X nitida, Willd. ex Dietr. Sp. PI. ii. 372. not of Nilsson. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone : Mahela, in marshy ground, Scott-Elliot^ 3931 ! 

 Lagos, Millen, 152 of 1894 collection ! Barter, 20200 ! Yoniba, Millson ! 



JtOvreT Guinea. Congo, Smith ! 



AKozamb. Blst. Zanzibar, Kirk ! Hildebrandt, 1045 ! Bojer ! German East 

 Africa : Zanguebar, Kirk f between the coast and Uyui, Tat/lor ! Portuguese East 

 Africa : Quilimane, Scott ! 



Also in South Africa, the Mascai-ene Islands, and Tropical America, 



This species differs from all the others in its flattened 2-edged peduncles, and 

 straw-coloured globose spikes. 



6. X. zombana, S. E. Br. Leaves and peduncular-sheath 

 not seen. Peduncle more than 1 ft. long, 1-1 J lin. thick, terete or 

 slightly compressed (flat in the dried state), hollow, with a large cavity, 

 striate, glabrous. Spike 3-4 lin. (in fruit up to 6 lin.) diam., subglobose, 

 many-flowered. Bracts 2J-3 lin. long, '2-2^ lin. broad, rather thin and 

 somewhat papery in texture, elliptic-oblong, very obtuse, sometimes 

 faintly keeled at the apex, concave or somewhat boat-shaped, brown, 

 passing into yellowish-brown at the base, nerveless or faintly 3 -nerved 

 near the apex, glabrous, not ciliate. Lateral sepals 2J-2J lin. long, 

 § lin. broad, boat-shaped, acute, transparent yellowish - brown ; keel 

 very narrowly winged, entire, not ciliate. Petals 2 lin. long, about 

 \\ lin. broad, cuneate-obovate, slightly toothed. Arms of the stami- 

 nodes about \ lin. long, oblong, with a small brush-like tuft of com- 

 paratively few long yellow hairs. 



Mozamb. Blst. British Central Africa : Nyasaland ; Mount Zomba, 4000- 

 6000 ft., Whyte ! 



The specimens are about a foot long, and consist of the upper part of the peduncles 

 with their flower-spikes only, so that the plant is probably n-2 ft. or perhaps more 

 in height. The peduncles appear to be much less rigid than those of the other 

 African species, as in the process of drying they have become perfectly flat, but when 

 placed in boiling water become nearly terete; they are unusually stout and have a 

 very large central cavity. 



7. X. capensiSy Thunb. Prodr. 12. Rhizome more or less creep- 

 ing. Leaves 1-7 in. long, including the f-2J in. long sheath, ^-IJ lin. 

 broad, linear, acute, glabrous. Peduncular-sheath 1-5 in. long, acute 

 or produced into a leafy point |^-6 lin. long. Peduncle 5-21 in. long, 

 J-| lin. thick, terete or slightly compressed, striate, glabrous, hollow. 

 Spike 2-4 lin. long, 3-5 lin. thick, ovoid, ellipsoid or subglobose, usually 

 several-flowered. Bracts 2-3 lin. long, 1J-2J lin. broad, elliptic or 

 orbicular, obtuse, keeled, concave, thinly coriaceous, entire, not ciliate, 

 3-nerved, glabrous, blackish-brown ; nerves not reticulate at the apex. 

 Lateral sepals 2-3 lin. long, J-f lin. broad, lanceolate, acute, boat- 

 shaped, yellowish-brown, with the keel and apex darker brown ; keel 

 somewhat broadly winged, quite entire and not produced at the apex. 

 Corolla-lobes 1 j-2 lin. long, about 1 lin. broad, cuneate-oblong, obtuse, 



