Liberia <- 



thine, an alkaloid of great medical value. As they are perfectly 

 glabrous hence known in commerce as " Strophanthiis glabre " 

 ur .V. g/abcr), they cannot well be adulterated or confused with 

 the hairy seeds of other species of Strophanthus. 



S. sarmentosus, A. P. DC, (syn. S. paroissei, Franck.): a tall climbing 

 glabrous deciduous shrub with papery ovate to oblong leaves 

 and small clusters of white long-tailed flowers with pink marks 

 inside and purple scales in the throat (funnel-shaped corolla tube 

 f i in. long, tailed lobes 2 2j in. long) and with horizontally 

 spreading spindle-shaped follicles, 812 in. by almost f in., 

 containing brown silky seeds bearing a plumose awn at one 

 end, the awn 2 3 in. long ; Monrovia, WJiyte \ 



Isonema smeathmannii, Roeiu. and ScJiult. : a more or less hairy climb- 

 ing shrub with narrow stiff rusty tomentose panicles of reddish 

 flowers (corolla tube \ in., lobes in. long) and spindle-shaped 

 brown velvety follicles, 5 6 in. long; Kakatown, \VJiytc\\ Grant's 

 I '"arm by the Si no River, Wliyte \ 



Funtumia africana, Stapf (syn. Kickxia africana, BentJi., Plate 260) : 

 a tree from 15 to 80 ft. high with oblong-acuminate leaves 

 usually with some minute down in the nerve-axils on the under- 

 side, with dense axillary clusters of white or yellowish waxy 

 flowers (over | j in. long in the adult bud, with the lobes \ \ 

 in. long) and spindle-shaped, acutely acuminate divaricate follicles, 

 8 9 in. long, containing numerous plumose seeds resembling 

 those of a Strophautlms, but with the plume of the awn pointing 

 towards the seeds; Sino Basin, Whyte\ Sim, 4! The rubber 

 obtained from this tree is sticky like bird-lime, and therefore 

 worthless. 



F. elastica, Stapf (syn. Kickxia. elastica, Preuss, Plate 261): a tree 

 up to 100 ft. high, similar to the preceding species, but dis- 

 tinguishable by the leaves having on the underside minute pits 

 and no down in the nerve-axils, the smaller flowers (up to \ in. 

 long in the adult bud with the lobes up to \ in. long) and the 

 oblong-clavate very obtuse and woody follicles (6 in. long) ; by 

 the Sino River, about 40 miles inland, Sim ! This is one of 

 the most important rubber trees of Africa, concerning which 

 much information can be found in Schlechter's book JfV.v/- 

 Afrikanischc. Kautschuk-Expedition. The name Kickxia is 

 not applicable to this tree and its African congeners, as it has 



630 



