854 xcvii. LABiATiE. [Geuiosporum 



This species has much the aspect of the section Spicaria of Meso- 

 sphcerum. 



4. G. Mutamba Iliern, sp. n. 



A perennial herb, rarely flowering;", root tuberous; tuber 

 cylindrical, edible, resembling in taste the common potato and 

 on this account cultivated by the negroes; stems ascending or 

 flagelliform-descending, readily taking root at the nodes, puberu- 

 lous below, pubescent above, minutely glandular ; the sarmentose 

 branches 2 ft. long or more ; the flowering ascending stems 6 to 

 9 in. high ; leaves oval or oblong, obtuse at the apex, obtuse or 

 somewhat wedge-shaped at the base, thinly herbaceous, hispidulous, 

 punctulate, pale yellowish green, remotely serrulate, shortly 

 petiolate or subsessile, 1 to 4 in. long by }^ to 2 in. broad ; flowers 

 about ^ to I in. long, shortly pedicellate, numerous, arranged in 

 narrowly oblong subsessile terminal heads of 1 to 2 in. long or 

 more ; bracteoles among the flowers filiform, .pubescent, -^ to 

 i in. long ; calyx about -^^ in. long, pubescent outside, minutely 

 glandular, shortly 5-lobed, campanulate ; the lobes ovate, nearly 

 equal, ciliate, glabrous inside ; corolla violet-rosy, about \ in. long ; 

 the tube narrowly funnel-shaped, not much curved, i in. long ; 

 the limb bilabiate ; one lip trifid ; the other lip rather longer, 

 obovate, suberect ; stamens 4, exserted, free among themselves, 

 didynamous ; filaments shaggy below, glabrous above ; anthers 

 short ; style exserted, bifid at the apex, glabrous ; the branches 

 short, slender, diverging. 



HuiLLA. — In fields, wild and cultivated, at Lopollo ; with foliage 

 in Feb. and April 1860; fl. August. Native name "Mutamba" or 

 " Tamba " or " I-tamba-jitamba." Xo. 5590. In neglected plots and 

 at the borders of fields, near Lopollo, at an elevation of 5200 ft. ; fl. 

 August 1860. No. 5496. 



In Loanda the name " Mutamba " or " Itamba " is used for Greww 

 caffra Meisn. (Welw. no. 1373), and in the lowlands near the river 

 Quihumbo one of the common names of Gljiphoea greioioides Hook. f. 

 is " Mutamba " ; the " JIutamba " of the Brazilians is a different plant 

 from any of the above. 



The following No. should be compared with this species, but its 

 identity is very doubtful : — 



PuNGO Andongo. — A sarmentose, tomentose undershrub. In bushy 

 rather dry places near Catete ; Jan. to May 1857, but never seen to 

 flower : a"leafy shoot, Feb. 1857. No. 6744. 



4. PLATOSTOMA P. Beauv. ; Benth. ct Hook, f . Gen. PI. ii. 

 p. 1172 {Platy stoma). 



1. P. africanum P. Beauv. Fl. Ow. ii. p. 61, t. 95. f. 2 (1818?). 



Ocymum sylvaticum Thonn. ex Schum. in Dansk. Vidensk. 

 Selsk. iv. p. 44 (1829). Geniosporum Palisoti Benth. Labiat. 

 p. 22 (1832). 



Sierra Leone. — In fl. and fr. No. 5581. 



HuiLLA. — In very elevated rocky places in the Monino country ; 

 young plants, without fl. or fr. April 18G0. Determination quite 

 doubtful. No. 5485. 



