Eriocaulon.'] uliv. eriocaule.k (brown). 237 



lyre-shaped. Sepals 2, usually equal, v-rj lin. long, ^ lin. broad, lineur- 

 sigmoid, acute, subacute, or obtuse, glabrous, whitish ; keel as broad as 

 the sides of the sepal. Petals 2, very unequal, linear, subobtuse, whitish, 

 glabrous ; the longer 1 lin. or rather more long, y^^- lin. broad, much 

 exceeding the sepals, twisted at the middle ; the shorter J-^- lin. long. 

 Male flowers shortly pedicellate. Sepals 2, equal, J- J lin. long, \ lin. 

 broad, elliptic-oblong, obtuse, concave, whitish. Petals minute, \-\ 

 lin. long, subulate. Stamens 4 ; anthers black. Seeds ellipsoid, with 

 a flat side, light reddish-brown, with a yellowish reticulation. 



JmO-wbt Guinea. Angola : Uuilla ; in spongy places formed by Algse on the 

 higher parts of Morro de Lopollo, 3800-5500 ft., Welwitsch, 2446 ! 



A minute and very distinct species, well characterised, as Dr. Handle observes, by 

 its dense habit and the long protruding petal of the female tiower. 



2. E. pumilum, Afzel. ex K'Ornicke in Linncea^ xxvii. 621. Plant 

 1-2J in. high. Leaves tufted, 3-6 lin. long, ^-J lin. broad, linear- 

 subulate, very acute, flat, glabrous, 3-nerved. Peduncles 8-14 to a 

 plant, 1-2;^ in. long, acutely 3-4-angled, setaceous, glabrous, their 

 sheaths 7-8 lin. long, oblique at the apex, glabrous. Heads monoecious, 

 few-flowered, glabrous, including the involucre 1-2 lin. in diam. 

 Involucral-bracts radiating beyond the flowers, i-lj lin. long, ^-J lin. 

 broad, oblong, obtuse, or acute, glabrous, scarious, white, shining. 

 Flowering-bracts \-\ lin. long, obovate-oblong, concave, obtuse or sub- 

 acute, glabrous, white. Receptacle glabrous. Female flowers 7-0, 

 very shortly pedicellate. Sepals 3, free, unequal, about J lin. long, 

 yV-YTF ^^^- broad, linear, acute, glabrous, white. Petals 3, inserted 

 higher than the sepals, unequal, J lin. long, ^-J lin. broad, linear or 

 linear-spathulate, one rather larger and subspathulate, ciliate along the 

 middle part (hairy within, ex Kornicke), white, with a black gland near 

 the apex. Male flowers 1-2, central, pedicellate. Sepals 3, lanceolate, 

 more or less connate, subacute, glabrous, membranous, white. Petals 

 minute, unequal, pilose, with a black gland on the inner face. Anthers 

 black. Seeds ^ lin. long, ellipsoid, brown. — Durand ik Schinz, Conspect. 

 Fl. Afr. V. 503 ; Ruhland in Engl. Jahrb. xxvii. H4. E. pulchellum, 

 Kornicke in Linnsea, xxvii. 622 ; Ruhland in Engl. Jahrb. xxvii. 84 ; 

 Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 503. 



Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone, Afzelius ! 



I cannot, from the description given, distinguish E. pumilum from E. pul- 

 chellum ; the only differences assigned are, that the bracts of E. pumilum are 

 shghtly larger, and the involucral bracts slightly narrower and longer than in 

 E. pulchellum, and are acute instead of obtuse. The two supposed species were 

 mixed in Afzelius' Herbarium. I have only seen E. pulchellum, a small and very 

 distinct species. 



3. E. xeranthexuoides. Van Heurck d- Mull. Arg. in Van Ueurck, 

 Obs. Bot. 103. Plant small, stemless. Leaves in a radical rosette, 

 1-1 J in. long, 1-1 J lin. broad, flat, linear, tapering to a subobtuse point, 

 many-nerved, glabrous. Peduncles numerous, 1-2 in. long, obtusely 

 4-5-angled, glabrous, their sheaths 4-6 lin. long, acute, very oblique at 



