Bumatia.] clii. alismace^e (weight). 213 



minute, ventral, rostrate ; pericarp coriaceous. Seed broadly oblong ; 

 testa membranous ; embryo curved ; radicle thickened at the end. — 

 An erect, acaulescent, scapigerous, marsh herb. Leaves long-petioled ; 

 lamina linear, or elliptic-lanceolate, acute ; nerves 7-1) with very slender 

 oblique branches. Panicle verticillately branched, :^>-bracteate at the 

 nodes, male lax with slenderly pedicelled globose 6owers, female 

 contracted with much smaller subsessile flowers. 

 Endemic, monotypic. 



1. B. enneandra, Micheli in DC. Monogr. PJuin. iii. 81. Leaves 

 lanceolate, rarely oblong, acute at both ends, 5-8 in. long, 7-18 lin. 

 broad, membranous, with 7-0 weak nerves ; petiole 5-1 G in. long, com- 

 planate. Scape erect, longer than the leaves; male panicle I^-IG in. 

 long, female 8-10 in. long ; bracts membranous, lanceolate, up to 1 in. 

 long ; bracteoles small ; pedicels up to 5 lin. long. Sepals 3, broadly 

 ovate, obtuse, of the male erect, of the female patent but erect after 

 flowering, lJ-2 lin. long. Petals small, present ic the male flowers 

 only. Aclienes discoid, dorsally 3-ribbed. Seed slightly rugose. — Engl. 

 Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 94; Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 488. 

 ^^is?>i« e?27iea?i6?ra, Hochst. in Flora, 1842, Beibl. 133. Echinodorus % 

 enneander^ A. Br. in Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Aethiop. 295, 309. 



STile Kand. Kordofan : at the edges of th,3 stagnant pools near Arashkol 

 Mountain, Kotschy, 192! British East Africa: Jur ; near Jur Ghattas, 6VAM.-fi«- 

 furth, 2128 ! 2287 ! 



Mozamb. Slst* British Central Africa : Matabeleland ; Libanani Forests 

 and Flats, Holul ! 



7. WISNERIA, M. Micheli ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 1007. 



Flowers monoecious, minute. Perianth-segments membranous, 3 

 persistent, or 5-6 in 2 series, the 3 outer equal or 2 smaller, concave 

 and persistent, 2 or 3 inner much smaller and deciduous. Male flower : 

 Stamens 3 ; filaments subulate ; anthers basifixed, 2-celled, dehiscing 

 longitudinally. B-udiment of ovary subulate. Female flower : Staminodia 

 setaceous. Carpels 3— G, ovoid ; style none or terminal and subulate ; 

 stigma minute ; ovule solitary, basal, anatropous. Achenes subglobose, 

 broadly oblong or ellipsoid, compressed or turgid, obscurely costate, 

 obtuse or beaked by the persistent style ; pericarp thin or luther thick. 

 Seed oblong or subglobose ; testa membranous ; embryo horseshoe- 

 shaped ; radicle thickened. — Acaulescent, scapigerous, marsh or water 

 herbs. Rhizome short, bearing thick root-fibres. Leaves long- 

 petioled, with the lamina more or less expanded ; midrib evident. 

 Scape erect, unbranched ; bracts united into truncate membranous 

 campanulate sheaths surrounding the scape ; male flowers in the upper 

 part of the scape, pedicellate, several subtended by 2-3 membranous 

 lacerate bracteoles ; female flowers in the lower part of the scape, 

 ebracteolate. 



Species 3, one in Malabar, another in Madagascar, and lh»' following iji Tropical 

 Africa. 



VOL. VIII. ^^ 



