208 CLii. ALisMACE^ (wright). [AUsma. 



The Great Rift Valley, 399. A. arcuatum, Michalet in Bull. Soc. bot. 

 France, i. (1853) 312. A. Plantago, var, arcuatum, Durand & Schinz, 

 Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 486. 



Xrile Xiand. Kordofan : El Rahad, Pfund, 525 (ex Zarh). Eritrea : Adi 

 Ugri, near Godofelassi, 6400 ft., Schweinfurth, 140. Abyssinia : Shireh province^ 

 Quartin-Dillon, 8^ Schimper (ex A. Richard), by tiie side of water, from 5200— 

 8500 ft., Schimper, 204 and 1538 (ex JEngler). British East Africa : Leikipia 

 Plateau, in the Guaso Nairotia, Gregory ! 



Very widely distributed, but absent froni South America. 



2. A. paraassifolmm, Bassiin Linn. Syst. ed. 3, 230. Rhizome 

 short, oblique ; root-fibres long, thick ; stolons long, slender. Leaves 

 broadly ovate, cordate, coriaceous, acute or obtuse, |-4J in. by J-6J in., 

 7-15-nerved, marked with pellucid lines ; petiole up to 20 in. long. 

 Scape erect, 20-39 in. high, panicled above; flowers 3 in each verticil ; 

 pedicels 9-12 lin. long, erect; gemmae sometimes present; bracts 

 lanceolate, acuminate, acute, many-nerved, 3 lin. long. Sepals broadly 

 ovate, obtuse or emarginate, many-nerved, 2 lin. by IJ lin., patent 

 during flowering, afterwards erect and sheathing the fruit. Petals 

 broadly ovate, longer than the sepals, irregularly dentate. Stamens 

 6-9 ; filaments complanate ; anthers extrorse, nearly basifixed, about 

 half as long as the filaments. Carpels 9-12, obovoid, scarcely laterally 

 compressed, dorsally 3-5-ribbed, the ribs becoming less prominent in 

 fruit ; epicarp thin ; endocarp almost woody ; style aristate. Seed- 

 testa thin, striate. — Kunth, Enum. iii. 150; Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. vii. 

 29, t, 56 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 186 ; Buchen. in Abhandl. naturw. Yer. 

 Bremen, ii. (1871), 482; Micheli in DC. Monogr. Phan. iii. 35, 952; 

 Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 560 ; Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 

 486. 



xrile Siand. Britifh East Africa : Jur ; Jur Ghattas, Schweinfurth, ser. iii., 

 222 ! Bahr-el-Ghazal, Schtceivfurth, 1166 (ex Micheli). 



Also in Europe, India, Queensland and Madagascar. 



The style is much shorter in fruit in the tropical African specimen seen, than in 

 those from other localities. 



3. A. oligococcum, F. Muell. Fragm. i. 23. Rhizome short, 

 bearing many stout rootlets. Leaves radical, membranous, broadly 

 ovate-cordate, 2|-4J in. long, 2-3 in. wide, obtuse, basal lobes approxi- 

 mate; primary nerves 11-13, prominent beneath, secondary parallel, 

 remainder anastomosing ; pellucid dots scattered ; petiole 8-30 in. long, 

 transversely septate within ; submerged leaves thinly membranous, 

 narrower than the aerial, scarcely cordate. Scape erect, paniculate 

 above, much longer than the leaves, terete, transversely septate within ; 

 bracts free, lanceolate, acute, leafy, the lower 1 in. long. Flowers 3 in 

 each verticil ; pedicels longer than the bracts, slender, after flowering 

 divaricate -patent. Sepals IJ lin. long, ovate-oblong, obtuse, after 

 flowering patent. Petals 3 lin. long, ovate-lanceolate, unguiculate, 

 shortly acuminate, white. Stamens 6, 1 lin. long ; filaments com- 

 planate ; anthers ovate, emarginate at either end. Carpels 6, broadly 



