NO. 5 NEW EAST AFRICAN PLANTS — STANDLEY I9 



SAMBUCUS AFRICANA Standley, sp. nov. 



Caules juniores minute villosuli, vetustiores glabrati ; folia 

 plerumque 5-7-foliolata, foliolis brevissime petiolulatis, serratis, 

 supra glabris vel ad venas obscure puberulis, subtus sparse puberu- 

 lis, lateralibus oblongis vel lanceolato-oblongis, basi oblique rotun- 

 datis, ad apicem abrupte acuminatum vel attenuatum angustatis, 

 foliolo terminali ovato ; inflorescentia cymosa, ampla, ramulis dense 

 ferrugineo-villosulis ; drupae magnae, pyrenis 3, angustis. 



Stems minutely villosulous when young, glabrate in age, the 

 internodes short ; leaves numerous, usually 5-7-foliolate, the petioles 

 4-8 cm. long, the rachis 4-12 cm. long or longer; leaflets very 

 shortly petiolulate, the lateral ones narrowly oblong or lance-oblong, 

 8.5-13 cm. long, 2.5-4.5 cm. wide, obliquely rounded at the base, 

 narrowed to an abruptly acuminate or attenuate apex, the terminal 

 leaflet ovate, rounded at the base, long-acuminate at the apex, all 

 thin, sharply and finely serrate, glabrous on the upper surface or 

 obscurely puberulent along the veins, sparsely puberulent beneath ; 

 inflorescence cymose, flat-topped, at anthesis about 7 cm. broad and 

 very dense, in fruit 8-15 cm. broad, the branches densely ferrugino- 

 villosulous ; pedicels very short, stout ; calyx lobes ovate, acute or 

 acutish, about i mm. long; corolla 4 mm. long; fruit about 7 mm. 

 in diameter, the 3 nutlets 4-4.5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad. 



Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 631698, collected in 

 the bamboo zone, western slopes of Mount Kenia, British East 

 Africa, altitude about 3,000 meters, September 28 to October 7, 

 1909, by E. A. Mearns (no. 1746). No. 1731 from the same 

 region is also this species. Two other collections also belong here : 

 no. 832, from the vicinity of Lake Naivasha, altitude 1,860 to 1,950 

 meters ; and no. 1898, collected along the trail from the Kasorongai 

 River to the Katheroni River, altitude 1,800 to 1,950 meters. It 

 seems probable that the last two specimens are wrongly labeled. 



The only previous report of a Sanibucus from tropical East 

 Africa is found in Engler's Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas.^ That writer 

 lists a single specimen from Abori, which he refers to S. ebulus, 

 the common species of Europe which occurs also in Algeria. Con- 

 cerning his material Engler says : " The occurrence in Abori is 

 most surprising ; but the plant agrees wholly with our species, even 

 to the ovaries which are metamorphosed and enlarged, doubtless 

 as the result of insect work." 



*C: 374- 1895. 



