Commel'hia.] cxliii. commelixace/E (clarke). 01 



|-i in., linear, slightly dilated at the very base. Peduncle exserted 

 J-:i in, from the leaf-sheath. Spathe IJ in. long, 1^ in. broad, ovate- 

 triangular, acute, purple-green ; margins free. Cymes paired in each 

 spathe, upper with many flowers. Sepals ^ in. long, elliptic, nearly 

 free. Corolla in the dried state purple-blue. 



Mozamb. Dist. British Central Africa : Kambolo, south-west of Lake Tan- 

 ganyika, 5000 ft., Nutt ! 



TIk' examples of this call to mind the large Mexican C. ellipfica, H. B. A, K., 

 but tlie h'aves are totally unlike. 



68. C. Holubii, C. B. Clarke. Nearly glabrous. Stems 5 in. 

 long, with 2 leaves and 1 spathe each. Leaves 4 by J— i in., linear, 

 slightly wider at the base. Peduncles exserted J-1 in. from the leaf- 

 sheath, nearly glabrous. Spathe | in. by | in., ovate-lanceolate, acute, 

 very nearly glabrous, pale yellow-brown in the dried examples ; margins 

 free or obscurely connate at the base. Flowers numerous, some exserted 

 entirely from the spathe. Petals J in. long, appear to have been pale 

 violet. Two fertile anthers intensely blue in the dried state. Capsule 

 about ^ in. long, square, 4-seeded. 



IUXozamb. Dist. Britisli Central Africa : Ehodesia ; Leshumo Valley, Holuh 

 715! 



P'rom the imperfect capsule, this almost certainly belongs to the Section Disseco- 

 rrrrpuf--. 



(;9. C. senegalensis, Linn, ex Gat. Ort. Bot. Xapol. 1845, 22 

 {name only) ; Durand db Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 421). 

 Upper Guinea. Senegal? 



4. POLYSPATHA, Benth. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. 

 PI. iii. 849. 



Sepals P), small, concave. Petals 3, white, 2 very long-clawed. 

 Stamens l> fertile, 3 sterile with dissimilar rudimentary anthers. 

 Ovary sessile, 2-celled, with one ovule in each cell. Capsule 2-oelled, 

 loculicidally 2-valved. Seeds half-ellipsoid; hilum vertical; embryo 

 stega opposite the hilum. — Cymes few-flowered, scattered along simple 

 (rarely branched) elongate axes springing from the axils of the upper 

 leaves and sometimes piercing their sheaths ; spathes ovate, folded flat, 

 sessile, each enclosing one cyme. 



Kndemic, monotypic. 



1. P. paisiculata, Benth. in Hook. Xiyer Fl. 543. Stem 'i-^l ft. 

 long, trailing or weak, often rooting at the lower nodes, undivided hut 

 in one example throwing several weak stems from the rooting node. 

 Leaves G by 21 in., broadly elliptic, acuminate at either end, quasi- 

 petioled, glabrate above, pubescent beneath; lower leaves smaller, 

 sometimes reduced to sheaths. Panicle of l-G .branches, -each 3-G in. 

 long, pubescent; spathes J in. long, about J in. apart, pendent in fruit. 



