170 BOTANY OF CONGO. 



collected in the Nicobar Islands, this would appear to be a 

 variable circumstance. 



Gloriosa superba, L. which seems to be very general along 

 the whole of the west coast of Africa, is considered as a 

 variety of the Indian plant by M. Lamarck. This African 

 variety has no doubt given rise to the establishment of the 

 pecond species of the genus, namely G. simplex, which Lin- 

 naeus adopted from Miller -^ and which Miller founded on 

 the account sent to hira by M. Richard, of the Trianon 

 Garden, along with the seeds of what he called a new 

 Gloriosa, brought from Senegal by Adaiison, and having 

 blue flowers. Miller had no opportunity of determining 

 the correctness of this account ; for though the seeds vege- 

 tated, the plant died without flowering; but he added a 

 character not unlikely to belong to the seedling plants of G. 

 superba, namely the want of tendrils. Adanson himself, 

 483] indeed, notices what he considers a new species of 

 Gloriosa in Senegal,^ but he says nothing of the colour of 

 its flowers, which he would hardly have omitted, had they 

 been blue : that his plant, however, was not without tendrils 

 may be inferred from their entering into the character he 

 afterwards gave of the genus,* as well as from M. Lamarck's 

 account of his variety /3 of G. supei'ba,* which he seems to 

 have described from Adanson's specimens. And as no one 

 has since pretended to have seen a species of this genus, 

 either with blue flowers, or leaves without tendrils, G. sim- 

 plex, which has long been considered as doubtful, may be 

 safely left out of all future editions of the Species Plantarum. 

 As the supposed G. superba of this coast, however, seems 

 to differ from the Indian plant in the greater length and 

 more equal diaineter of its capsule, it may possibly be a 

 distinct species, though at present I am inclined to con- 

 sider it as only a variety. 



Sphenoclea zeylanica, Gcert. I have compared this plant 

 from Congo with specimens from India, Java, China, 



> Gloriosa 2, Mill. Lid. ed. 7. 



" Nouvelle espeoe de Methonioa, Hist. Nat. du Senegal, p. 137. 



^ Mendoni, Fam. des Plant. 2, p. 48. 



* Eiici/o. Method. Botan. 4, p. 134. 



