346 Lii. COMBRETACE^, [Combretum 



opposite or sub-opposite, often ternate, upper ones sometimes 

 alternate, elliptical, narrowly acuminate at the apex, but little 

 attenuated at the base, unequal especially the lower ones at the 

 base, rigidly and thinly coriaceous, deep-green above, paler 

 beneath, 2| to 5 in. long by | to 2 in. broad, those of the barren 

 branches softly whitish-silky (turning reddish-brown in drying), 

 those of the flowering branches more or less smooth and glabrescent ; 

 petiole rather longer than usual in the genus, ranging up to 1 in. 

 or more ; flowers tetramerous, sessUe or subsessile, crowded in 

 dense clusters arranged in axillai-y and terminal spikes forming 

 oblong or pyramidal more or less leafy panicles, scarlet or 

 blood-red, brilliant ; bracteoles minute, narrow, shorter than 

 the ovary, quickly caducous; calyx i to i in. long; calyx-limb 

 elongate-campanulate, silky-pubescent oiitside, pubescent inside ; 

 teeth from a deltoid base acute and bearded at the apex ; petals 

 very broadly ovate or suborbicular, always but very little attenuated 

 or apiculate at the apex, shortly exceeding the calyx-teeth, over- 

 lapping on the margins, glabrous or nearly so; stamens 8, 

 moderately exserted, scarlet like the petals ; style rather firm, 

 erect, shorter than the filaments. 



PuNGO AxDONGO. On a red-clay soil in the thickets of Cabanga, 

 sparingly ; fl. Jan. 1857. No. 4301- In bushy places on rich ferru- 

 ginous clay at the borders of primitive forests near Quibanga, rather 

 rare ; fl. Jan. and Feb. 1857. No. 4365. 



This species is nearly related to C. virgatum Welw., from which it 

 differs by the oblong calyx, smaller bi'acteoles, less permanent tomentum 

 on the foliage, etc. 



12. C. elseagnoides Klotzsch in Peters, Mossamb. Bot. p. 73 

 (1862) ; Laws, in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. ii. p. 426. 



MossAMEDES. — A bush or small tree 8 to 12 rarely 15 feet high, 

 with the habit and clothing of an Eheagmis : stem much branched 

 from the base ; branches divaricate, spinescent when old ; wood 

 excellent, very hard, durable, tenacious : branchlets compressed, many 

 abortive and passing into elongated straight spines, the younger ones 

 as well as the lower face of the leaves and young parts clothed with 

 discoid ferruginous or at first silvery scales after the fashion of Elmagnus. 

 In shrubby sandy places on the right bank of the estuary of the river 

 Bero (Garganta do Rio Bero) at Boca do Rio, 9 or 10 geographical miles 

 from the ocean, amongst tall bushes, sporadic ; leafy branches without 

 either fl. or fr., July and 10 August 1859. Nos. 4283, 4387. 



In the absence of flower and fruit it is impossible absolutely to 

 confirm this determination. 



13. C. truncatum Welw. ex Laws, in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. ii. 

 p. 427 ; non Engler, quod C. Oliverianum Engl. 



Bengdella. — A tree of moderate size, with a spreading broad leafy 

 head ; leaves rounded, obtuse, scaly on both faces ; fruit proportion- 

 ately rather small, scaly all over, truncate at the base ; seed hexagonal, 

 angles obtuse but fairly prominent. In wooded sandy maritime 

 situations between the city of Benguella and the river Catumbella : 

 fr. June 1859. No. 4372. 



