]4 CXLII. XYRIDE.E (bROWx). [Xf/7'is. 



minutely toothed. Arms of the staminodes very short, with brush-like 

 tufts of long yellow hairs. — Thunb. Fl. Cap. ed. Schult. 81 ; Vahl, 

 Enum. ii. 206 ; Willd. Sp. PL i. 255 ; Roem. & Schultes, Syst. Veg. i. 

 -552 ; Kunth, Enum. iv. 24 ; Nilss. in Ofvers. Vet. Akad. Forhandl. 

 Stockh. 1891, 154 ; and in Svensk Vet. Akad. Handl. xxiv. no. 14, 40 ; 

 Durand ik Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 4l>0 ; Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 133 ; 

 N. E. Br. irt Dyer, Fl. Cap. vii. 6 ; Rendle in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. ii. 68. 

 X. capeiisis, Thunb., var. nilagirensis, Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr. 

 154. A', reptans, Rendle in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. ii. 68. 



irile Iiand. Abyssinia : Begemeder ; in swamps on the plain of Jan Meda, 

 8700 ft., Schimper, 1519 ! 



lower Guinea. Angola : Huilla ; in boggy places near the banks of the River 

 MurapuUa ; Welwitsch, 2473 ! near the chief stream of Morro de LopoPo, Welwitsch, 

 2459 ! 



Also in South Africa. 



Var. medullosa, X. E. Brown. Peduncle 5-7^ in. long, very slender, ^-^ lin. 

 thick, with a well developed pith, not in the least hollow. Spike 2 lin. long, about 

 1^ lin. thick, ovoid, 2-4-flowered. Lateral sepals Ii lin. long, ^ lin. broad, oblan- 

 ceolate, acute; keel neither ciliate nor scabrid. 



Mozamb. Dlst. German East Africa ; without precise locality, Hannington ! 



I can find no character to distinguish X. reptans, Rendle, from X. capensis, 

 Thunb. The leaves are longer than usual, but in that respect it is very similar to 

 Baur's specimen (598) of X. capensis^ from Bazeia, in Tembuland. A specimen 

 collected by Scott- Elliot (6962) in Nandi, British East Africa, at an alt. of 7000- 

 8000 ft., is probably a form of X. capensis, but the leaves appear to be more fleshy 

 than usual. The plant is about 4 in. high. 



The variety medullosa may prove to be a distinct species, but (with the exception 

 of the peduncle being very slender and having a very distinct pith) 1 can find no 

 character in the dried state to distinguish it from X capensis. All the specimens I 

 have had the opportunity of examining of X. capensis have a hollow stem. 



8. X. nivea, Welw. ex Rendle in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. ii. 69. Tufted, 

 slightly bulbous at the base. Leaves 3-5 in. long, including the J-1 in. 

 long sheath, \ lin. thick, filiform-subulate, stiff, erect, flex nose, glabrous. 

 Peduncular-sheath l|-lf in. long, produced into a short leaf-like point 

 at the apex. Peduncle 5-10 in. long, J-J lin. thick, slender, wiry, 

 flexuose, subterete, faintly angular, glabrous. Spike 2J-3 lin. long and 

 about as thick, subglobose, few-flowered. Bracts 1 J-2 lin. long, IJ-lf 

 lin. broad, broadly elliptic or suborbicular, very obtuse, entire, coriaceous, 

 with submembranous margins, 3-5-nerved, dark brown, with paler mar- 

 gins, slightly shining. Lateral sepals If lin. long, J lin. broad, sigmoid- 

 lanceolate, acute (or obtuse if flattened out) ; keel light brown, very 

 minutely ciliate from the base to f the way up ; interior sepal bright 

 reddish-purple. Corolla-lobes obovate-elliptic, concave, finely toothed, 

 ** white" {Welwitsch). Staminodes pilose. Anthers f lin. long. 

 Capsule obovate. Seeds ellipsoid, pointed, red. 



Zaoixrer Guinea. Angola : Huilla ; in scarcely damp, sunny, wooded places 

 between LopoUo and Monino, Welwitsch, 2468 ! 



The filiform leaves, white flowers, and minutely ciliate lateral sepals, easily distin- 

 guish this species from its allies. 



