﻿824 



TROPICAL AFRICAN SCREW PINES. 



Judging from the description of the fruit, this may very probably be 

 the true P. Candelabrum Beauv. 



G. Giirich (Mittluil. Am , G ,eU. in DeittscK. iv. 248) refers to 

 isolated specimens of P. Candelabrum in the Niger delta, but gives 

 no information as to the nature of the plants. 



2. P. Barterianus, sp. nov. capitulis latissime ovatis vel 

 subrotundis, fructuum singulorum vertice 5-7-angulo, brevissime 

 pyramidali, apioe centrah producto obtuso. 



Hab. Fernando Po, W. Africa, Barter (Mus. No. 2, Kew). 



An inflorescence in the Kew Museum bears several heads, the 

 largest of which measures 5 in. long by 4| in. broad, the smallest, 

 which is nearly spherical, 3£ in. each way. The fruits are charac- 

 terised by the angular shortly pyramidal upper portion rising rapidly 

 in the centre into a prominent blunt apiculus ; the top, including the 

 apiculus, is about i in. long. The pointed fruits distinguish it at 

 once from the neighbouring P. Candelabrum. 



3. P. Welwitschii, sp. n. (PI. 347). Arbor erecta 10-20-pedalia 

 ramis sub capite magno f olioso paucis brevibus subascendentibus ; 

 foliis longis linearibus basi cito superne sensim angustatis, apice 

 fiagelliformi, marginibus et costa dorsali spinosis, spinis magnis 

 acutis margine valde aseendentibus, costa recurvatis; capitulis 

 ovato-ellipticis, matur. lutescentibus ; fructibus singulis subpolli- 

 caribus, siccis cuneiformibus, vertice libero breviter pyramidali 

 umbone obtuso terminato, loculis 1-2. 



Pandanus (Candelabrum Mor. Nigr. ?) Welw. Apont. p. 586, No. 36. 

 Hab. Frequens (ast interrupta extensione) ad ripas fluminis 

 Cuanza prope Candumba, et Ilha Calemba. March, 1857. Vulgo 

 Quicari vel Quitari, Welw. herb. 5770, coll. carp. 1015. 



Trunk 1 ft. in diam. at base 10-15 ft. high, seldom higher than 

 20 ft. Habit, as depicted by Welwitsch, quite different from that 

 of P. Candelabrum. The stem rises erect from the ground with no 



fruit), and terminates in a large leafy head. Leaf If yds. long, 

 14 lines broad at middle, with large sharp-pointed strongly up- 

 curving teeth on the margins, and similar recurved teeth on the 

 back of the midrib. Head of fruits with a vertical diameter of 

 6 in., transverse 3 in. The fruits are 12-14 lines long, 5-7 lines 

 broad in the dry state, and cuneiform in shape, having a larger 

 rounded upper and a narrowing lower portion. The free part is 

 shortly pyramidal, 1\ line long, with a blunt central umbo. They 

 are 1-2-locular, a deep red sclerenchyma surrounding the loculus, 

 forming a thick endoearp which occupies the centre of the fruit, 

 scarcely ascending into the spongy niesocarp in the upper part, and 

 passing into fibres immediately below the seed cavity. 



Described from specimens of leaves and fruit collected by Wel- 

 witsch, and from his notes, with a sketch of the habit. Welwitsch 

 'Vegetabile omnium qua? in Angola inveni, facile 

 eissmium ; and in another note, " The rapidity with which 

 . the thicker shoots will take root in inundated places is made 

 l Cabinda and elsewhere by cutting off from the mainland 



