704 



^ 



Pleomele^ Salisb. 



Pleomele fragrans, N. E. Br. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. VII. p. 440 



[Dracaena fragrans, Gawl.]; Kew Bull, 1915, p. 259. 



IlL — Jacq. Fragm. Bot. t. 2, f. 6; t. 33, f. 1 {Sansevieria 

 fragrans); Bot. Mag. t. 1081 {Dracaena fragrans); Andr. Rep. 

 i. 306 {Alefris fragrans); Redoute, Choix Fl. ii. t. 117 {Aletris 

 fragrans); Gard. Cliron. Aug. 31st, 1901, p. 168 {Dracaena 

 fragrans, var. Lindeni) ; 111. Hort. xxvii. 1880 t. 384 {D. Lindenii). 

 xxviii. 1881, p. 57 {D. Lindeni; Bailey, Cycl. Hort. ii. f. 1345 

 (7). fragrans^ var. Lindenii), 



Oban (Talbot, No, 1412, 1912) in Southern Nigeria; and 

 found in Sierra Leone (Afzelius) and in Chirinda Forest, Gazaland 

 (Swynnerton, Herb. Kew). 



Leaves eaten by rock-rabbits or conies {Hyrax) Gazaland (I.e.). 



Trunk arborescent, up to 20 ft. or more in height; 30 ft. or 

 f>o in height, stems up to a foot or more in diam. Mt. Maruma, 

 alt. 3000 ft. or a shrub about 10 ft. in height, forming dense 

 liandsome clumps here and there throughout the forest (Cliirinda) 

 and a favourite nesting place for forest birds, Gazaland (Swyn- 

 nerton, Herb. Kew and in Journ. Linn. Soc. xl. 1911, p. 214). 



A decorative plant. Cultivated by IMiller at Chelsea Physic 

 Garden in 1768 (Bot. Mag. I.e.); grown to fence in enclosures, 

 French Guinea and Ivory Coast (Chevalier, Bull. Soc. Nat. 

 d'Accl. France, 1912, p. 343 — Dracaena fragrans), 



Dracaenas — including Pleomele etc., are easily propagated b}' 

 pieces of old stem, 1 or 2 ins. long, planted near the surface in 

 light, rich soil, or the young tops may be put in as cuttings and 

 seeds may be sometimes available of arborescent species. 



Aloe, Linn. 



Aloe Barteri, BaTcer; Fl. Trop. Afr. VII. p. 464. 



Vernac names,- — [Zabo, Zabon dafi or Zaboko (Sokoto) ; 



Kabarg 



Kew); Lagos (INIillen, No. 172, 



Herb. Kew); Abinsi and vicinity (Dalziel, No. 853; comm. 

 Imp. Inst. May 1913 — this specimen is incomplete; but it is 

 more than hkely to be this species, Dalziel translates the Hausa 

 name '' Zabo " as ** guinea fowl " — from the white speckhng of 

 the leaves, a description aptly fitting the leaf, which is pale-green 

 with white spots); Yola (Shaw, No. 63, 1909, Herb. Kew) may 

 also belong here — ■'' 5 ft. high and flowers red ") and in Bangui, 

 Territoire du Haut-Oubangui (Chevalier, No. 5245, 1902, Herb. 



Kew). 



Much planted for medical use, Lagos (IVIillen, I.e.); used as 



an ingredient of arrow poison, N. Nigeria (Dalziel, Hausa Bot. 

 Voc. p. 106). " Aloes " of commerce is chiefly obtained from 

 Aloe vera, Lam. of N. Africa, cultivated in Jamaica, Barbados, 

 &c., various species of A loe — spicata, ferox, africana, and 



