Veronica.] xcn. scrophulariace.e (hemsley and skan). 861 



branches decumbent. Leaves opposite or the upper alternate, shortly 

 petiolate, ovate or ovate-orbicular, 3-5 lin. long, 3-1J lin. broad, trun- 

 cate, rounded or slightly cuneate at the base, serrate or serrate-crenate 

 chiefly from the middle to the apex, prominently 5-nerved on the under- 

 side ; petiole \- \\ lin. long. Flowers axillary, solitary ; peduncles 

 very slender, 2-5-2- nn - long. Calyx scarcely more than 1 lin. long in 

 flower, up to 2-|- lin. long in fruit, divided in the median plane into 2 

 deeply bifid ciliate segments which are slightly cordate at the base ; 

 lobes acute, entire or 1- or 2-toothecl. Corolla about f lin. long; upper 

 and lateral segments elliptic, broader than the lower segment. Style 

 scarcely J lin. long Capsule suborbicular, very much compressed, 

 emarginate, ciliate, If lin. long, 2 lin. broad. Seeds cochleate, rugose, 

 about -| lin. in diam. — Flora, 1851, 659. 



Wile Land. Eritrea : near Saganeiti, 7200 ft., Schweinfurfk Sf Siva, 806 ! 

 Abyssinia: Saraen, Eilppell ; and without precise locality, Sc/iimper, 335! 



V.fiUformis, A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 127, from Mount Sholoda, near Adowa, 

 in Abyssinia, Quartin-Dillon, we have not seen, but we suspect that it is the same as 

 the above species, though the peduncles are said to be much longer. The description 

 will not do for V.filiforniis, Smith, a species from the Caucasus and Asia Minor, 

 with which Richard identified it. 



Imperfectly known species. 



10. V. Gunae, Schweinf. in Engl. Hochgehirgsfl. Trop>. Afr. 380. 



Nile Land. Abyssinia : on Mount Guna, at the source of the Reb River, 

 10SOO ft., Steudner, 811. 



Allied to V. glandidosa and V. Mannii. The branches are decumbent, with 

 small shortly stalked roundish-obovate leaves. 



37. MELASMA, Berg. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Cen. PI. ii. 966. 



Calyx campanulate, 10-ribbed, 5-lobed, enlarged, inflated and dry in 

 fruit, angular ; lobes erect, equal, valvate. Corolla tubular-cam- 

 panulate, much longer than the calyx, not marcescent, 5-lobed ; lobes 

 imbricate. Stamens 4, didynamous or nearly equal, included ; anther- 

 cells parallel, distinct, apiculate or acuminate. Disk annular, fleshy. 

 Ovary glabrous. Style clavate or flattened, persistent, exserted from 

 the calyx. Capsule included in the calyx, loculicidal. Seeds very 

 numerous, linear-cuneate or clavate, straight or curved, truncate at the 

 unequal ends, 1-lf lin. long ; outer testa transparent, very coarse- 

 celled, about three times as long as the nearly central nucleus. — Coarse, 

 hispid or hairy, erect, apparently not parasitic herbs, 2 or 3 ft. high. 

 Leaves opposite, or alternate in the inflorescence, sessile or nearly so, 

 entire or toothed, usually larger than in the leafy species of Alectra. 

 Inflorescence usually loose. Flowers relatively large, solitary in the 

 axils of the leaves or bracts, distinctly pedicellate ; pedicels often long ; 

 bracteoles 2, variously placed. — Velvitsia, Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. 

 Welw. i. 771. 



