186 XLIII. CONNARACEiE. 



a scarlet velvet. There are two or three species which have a- 

 habit very similar to that of the gerais Averrhoa of Oxalideee. 

 The scarlet velvet which clothes the fruits of some species excites 

 in the skin the same strong itching as nettles cause ; this stinging 

 is clue to the presence of bristles similar to those which occur in 

 Mucuna and in some species of Euphorbiacea?. (See Welwitsch, 

 Apontamentos, p. 565, n. 156.) 



The fruits of Sabongo supply an aromatic drug, which the 

 natives of Hungo, a country on the confines of the distinct of 

 Golungo Alto, bring to the markets at Loanda ; they are in 

 much request by the negro population, who prepare from them 

 various stomachic remedies ; the fruits seem to be always threaded 

 in the form of a rosary, and each rosai-y is sold at the price of 

 from 50 to 150 milreis, according to their greater or less abund- 

 ance in the market. The fruits appeared to Welvvitsch to belong 

 to a tree of the family of Connaracese, but he had no opportunity 

 of ascertaining their origin ; the people of Hungo, however, assured 

 him that they were furnished by a large and very leafy tree. 

 (See Welwitsch, Synopse Explic. p. 29, n. 65.) They probably 

 to Xylopicrum cethiojncum in Anonacefe, and are repre- 

 in the collection by Coll. Carp. 186. 



1. EOUREA Aubl. ; Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. p. 432. 

 Bi/rsocarjms Schum. & Thonn. ; Benth. & Hook, f.. I.e., p. 431. 



1. R.coccinea Hook. f. ex Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. p. 290(1849). 



Byrsocarpus coccineus Schum. & Thonn. Guin. Plant, p. 226 

 (1827); Baker in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. i. p. 452. B. 2nm,iceus 

 Schum. & Thonn., I.e., p. 227. B. parvifolius Plancb. in Linntea 

 xxiii. p. 412 (1850). 



GoLTJNGO Alto. — A shrub or bush, 4 to 6 ft. high, standing erect or 

 climbing, branched from the base, the stems spreading rod-like branches 

 and branchlets slender and beset with crowded purple-brown lenti- 

 cels, flowering in October without leaves and again in March with 

 leaves, very elegant especially in the fruiting state. Leaves very 

 sensitive, deciduous, impari-pinnate ; leaflets alternate, small, elliptical, 

 herbaceous-subpapery, reticulate, shortly petiolulate. Flowers small, 

 agreeably scented, arranged in axillary solitary or grouped racemes, 

 laedunculate ; pedicels jointed, elongated, bearing one bract. Calyx- 

 segments 5, imbricate in estivation, subovate-orbicular, concave, 

 ciliolate at the margin, furnished at the apex with a hairy mane, 

 scarcely patent, herbaceous-green. Petals 5, sessile, milk-white, twice 

 longer than the calyx, inserted below the torus, convolute in aestivation 

 (sinistrorsely as seen from within). Stamens 10, coalescent at the base 

 into a short disk-shaped cup, the alternate ones, namely those opposite 

 the petals, much longer than the others ; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing 

 longitudinally. Styles 5, quite free from the base upwards, elongated, 

 thickened and densely bearded at the base, erect, tipped by the capitate 

 not bifid stigmas. Fruit oblong, J in. long, cylindrical, scarlet, shining, 

 pendulous, tardily dehiscing, resembling in shape and colour the berries 

 of Capsicum Corruirim. Seed solitary. Not uncommon by the elevated 

 thickets about Camilungo, Bumba, Sange, etc.; fl. Sept., Oct., Dec, 

 March, and sometimes in May ; fr. Dec. and May. No. 4622. A 



