Poli/gala] xiv. polygalace/e. 43 



Huilla. — A slender herb, with the habit almost of Salomonia Lour. ; 

 leaves bright green, scattered, subpatent-erect ; flowers rose-purple, 

 almost globose when fully developed ; keel 4-8-fimbriate at the apex ; 

 capsule circular, scarcely or shortly emarginate ; seeds clothed with 

 hairs curved down at the apex. Scattered and nearly always in com- 

 pany with species of Xyris and dwarf Cyperacem, by rivulets, near the 

 great lake of the Hippopotamus (Lagoa de Ivantala), at an elevation 

 of 5000 ft. ; fl. and fr. March 1860. No. 1021. 



2. P. spicata Chodat, I.e., ii. p. 221, t. xxiii. fig. 36, 37. 



Huilla. — A graceful little herb 1 ft. high ; stems erect, filiform, 

 variously branched, sparingly leafy ; leaves, especially the lower ones, 

 lanceolate, flat, not subulate ; bracts and bracteoles.scarious- whitish, 

 soon deciduous ; flowers milky-white-greenish, drying quite pale 

 sulphur-coloured, arranged in long spikes ; the three outer sepals 

 ovate-acuminate, white ; wings obovate-oblong, attenuate towards the 

 base into a short claw, milk-white, soon turning pale sulphur-yellow, 

 three times as long as the outer sepals and as the capsule ; capsule 

 ovate-orbicular, apiculate not emarginate at the apex, quite smooth, 

 without any marginal line ; seeds shortly ellipsoidal, beset all over 

 with whitish rather rigid somewhat curved hairs ; caruncle very small 

 or even obsolete. In marshy grassy situations, at the margins of 

 forests, near Lopollo, in company with species of Gladiolus, Drosera, and 

 Eriocaulon, abundant ; fl. and fr. Nov. and 3 Dec. 1859. No. 1027. 



3. P. persicarisefolia DO. Prodr. i. p. 326 (1824); Oliv. I.e., 

 p. 129, part. ; Chodat, I.e., i. p. 127, ii. p. 331, tab. xxvii. fig. 22, 23. 



Bumbo. — Branches and racemes very patent ; interior sepals ovate- 

 orbicular ; bracts persistent. Leaves flaccid and softly puberulous. In 

 less dense thickets, at the base of Serra da Xella, at altitude about 

 1800 ft. above the sea ; very sporadic ; fl. and fr. Oct. 1859. No. 1028. 



4. P. Gomesiana Welw. ex Oliv., I.e., p. 126 ; Welw. Sert. p. 14, 

 t. 4 j Chodat, I.e., ii. p. 336, tab. xxvii. fig. 32—34 (1893). 



Huilla. — Pollen- grains spherical or ellipsoidal, longitu dinal ly costate- 

 striate, sometimes throwing out pollen-tubes even while the anther is 

 unopened. Not uncommon in damp meadows amongst high grass by 

 streams near Lopollo, at an elevation of 3000 ft. ; fl. and fr. Feb. and 

 March 1860. No. 1032. A perennial herb, 3 to 5 ft. high, slightly 

 branched ; leaves lanceolate, deep-green ; flowers handsome, very 

 crowded, arranged in long panicled racemes, very pretty purple-violet, 

 persisting for a long time. Much the most beautiful of all known 

 species of the genus. In moist situations by the streams near Lopollo 

 and Humpata, fl. Jan. to April 1860. Coll. Carp. 10. 



5. P. arenaria Willd. Sp. PI. iii. p. 880 (1800) ; Oliv. Fl. Trop. 

 Afr. i. p. 128 (maximd parte); Chodat, I.e., i. p. 127, ii. p. 337, 

 tab. xxvii. fig. 35, 36 (1893). 



Several different forms are included in the following : — 

 Golungo Alto. — In exposed sandy places alongside the banks of the 

 river Luinha, by no means frequent ; fl. and fr. June 1855. No. 993. 

 On grassy slopes of Serra de Alta Queta, fl. March 1856. No. 998. 

 An annual herb ; branches ascending ; flowers white-greenish ; leaves 

 dimorphic, those on the primary stem elliptic-lanceolate, those on the 

 branches linear-lanceolate or quite linear ; in the more elevated pastures 

 of the Queta mountains above Camilungo, but not frequent ; fl. 1855. 

 No. 998J. Simple or variously branched ; in neglected cultivated places 



