86 



NA TURE 



[November 22, 1894 



iimpart of cliffs borders the upper plateau of Milanji, which is 

 elevated about 6000 feet above the sea-level, and is ol consider- 

 able extent, thouRh split up into various portions by ravines and 

 precipices. In the centre of the plaleau peaks rise to a further 

 height of 3500 feet, thus giving Milanji a total elevation of 

 nearly 10,000 feet above the sea-level.' 



Mr. Alexander Whyte, the naturalist attached to the 

 staff of Mr. H. H. Johnston, C.B., M.B.M. Commissioner 

 and Consul-General, who usually resides at Zomba, made a 

 botanical excursion to Milanji in 1S92, and obtained a good 

 series of the mountain-plants. An account of this collection, 

 prepared by the officers of the Botanical Department in the 

 British Museum, is given in a recently issued part of the Botanical 

 Transactions of the Lionean Society. 



photograph, and kindly lent to us by the Linnean Society. The 

 timber is of a pale reddish colour, of excellent quality, and easily 

 worked. The bark on the old trees is of great thickness, consist- 

 ing of layers which are .innually shed .ind renewed. The foliage 

 recalls that of the juniper, while the fruits or cones, which are 

 crowded from four to six together on short lateral shoots, are 

 about three-quarters of an inch long, and from that to one inch 

 wide when open. They consist of four thick woody scales, 

 united below, spreading above, and bearing at their bases on 

 the internal surface a number of small winged seeds. 



Examination of the specimens sent home has shown that we 

 are here dealing with a new species of WidJringtonia, a small 

 genus of conifers allied to the cypress and juniper. Mr. Whyte's 

 discovery has considerable scientific interest, from the fact that 





The Milanji Qyfmi(Wi(Uiringt0Hia wliyUi). 



'■'^> 



Among the many plants new to science discovered by Mr. 

 Whytc, and descrilwd in this memoir, one is of special interest, 

 owing to its importance from an economic point of view. 

 ' In his exploration of the mountain, Mr. Whytewas much im- 

 prei«ed with "a large cypress," which formed the most striking 

 feature of the upper plateau. One prosirate trunk, and thai by 

 no means the largest seen, measured 140 feet in length, with a 

 [liameter of sJ feet at six feet from the l).vse, and had a clean, 

 ^raight stem of ninety feet. In other coses long straggling 

 nchcs are given off nearer the base, as shown in the accom- 

 'ing ligure, pre|)ared by Mr. Worlliinglon Smith from a 



• KoulM and Dislricia in Soulhtm Nyasaland," by llcnrain L. 

 , RE, liiocrapli. Jtiurn., November iSjj. 



.0. I30S. VOL. 51] 



it extends the geographical r.mge of the genus, hitherto known 

 only from South Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius, itito 

 tropical .Mrica ; and his name has been fittingly associated with 

 the plant, which will henceforth be known .as WulJiinglonia 

 :i'hyUi, 



Its nearest ally, W. jiiiii/'eroidts, is found in the Ccderberg 

 Mountains, Cape Colony, where, according lo a note by 

 I'arlalore in Dc Caiidollc s PioJromuS (vol. xvi. part 2, p. 442), 

 it once formed large forests, but is now rare. 'I'hc Milanji 

 species is also threatened with extinction ; in this case by the 

 buih-fires, the devastating effects of which, .Mr. Whytc says, it 

 is deplorable to witness, and which reach even the lofty and 

 almost inaccessible plateau. These fires, originating during the 



