244 
of view, and they pointed out the characters in which they differed 
from the seeds of Strophanthus. 
From Mr. Olubi's aoe quoted above it would appear that the tree 
was known in Accra as early as 1883 as a rubber tree, and this evidently 
accounts for the sta of seeds sent by Messrs. Bowden & Co., to 
Kew, in 1888, being called Indis-anhibes seeds. 
The vernacular name of the tree is spelt Ire, Iré, Irai, Ireh, and 
Ereh. A similar name “ Ere” occurs in Moloney’s List of Timbers in 
v " $ 
Forestry of 
25-33 feet high and 4 feet in diameter, but no further particulars are 
given. 
The description of Kickxia africana drawn up by Bentham for 
Hookers Icones Plantarum (t. 1276) was based Spon, matier scanty 
material. Dr. Stapf who is engaged in the elaboration of the Apocynacee 
for the Flora of Tropical Africa, has therefore prepared a more com- 
plete description from the fuller material now available 
Kickxia africana, Benth. in Hook. Ic. plant. t. 1276 (1877-79). A 
large glabrous tree, 50-60 feet high with terete branchlets which turn 
black in dying- Leaves 4-9 in. long, 13-3 in. broad, oblong, shortly 
acuminate at both ends, coriaceous, with 8.10 n nerves on each side and 
inconspicuous veins, petiole 2—6 lin. long. Flowers in shortly peduncled, 
bracteate, often many flowered and much contracted cymes, originally 
3 lin. long; bracts small, ovate, acute ; pedicels ie 3 lin. long. 
about 12 lin. long, 5-partite, s segments ovate, with several glands at the 
Corolla salver-shaped, yellow, tube fleshy, constricted at or just 
below the middle, 3 lin. long ; lobes 5-6 lin. long, oblong, overlapping 
to the right, nearly erect in bud, then spreading. Stamens 5, inserted 
above the constriction of the tube and enclosed in it, filaments short € 
broad having a gibbous swelling on the back ; anthers conniving in a co 
. around the e stigma, to which they adhere bya slutinous: ves from di 
base of the anther cells, sagittate, acuminate, tippe a few minute 
hairs, basal tails solid, destitute of pollen, Dise fleshy, Kr 5 ii or more 
or less comate lobes closely serrodnding the ovary to 2 of its height, 
Ovary of 2 free minutely hairy carpels; style filiform; stigma 
capitate, slightly grooved, constricted into a broad, conical apex; ovules 
ulous, numerous in each cell. Follicles about 4-6 in. long, spread- 
ing, thick, spindle-shaped, with two sharp l— ridges, woody. 
Seeds 6-7 lin. long, spindle-shaped, compressed, brown, with a a long 
basal awn (pointing towards the base of the follicle), wed a fine point 
on the other end; awn naked at the base, otherwise covered with 
long reversed silky hairs ; albumen forming a thin or rather thick coat 
around the embryo ; miei contortuplicate and much longer than 
the superior radicle. 
The laticiferous vessels are found i in great numbers in the inner 
-— a zone of bardened tissue and accompanied by cells conati 
tals. 
The habitat of Kickaia africana was stated in the Jcones to be 
est Tropical Africa, Bagroo River, and Fernando Po, Mann 
Ne 817, Bonny, Kalbreyer." It is red that it has a very wide 
. distribution, extending from Sierra Leone to the Goid Coast and d 
the mouths of the Niger to eis Bight. of ' Biafra. How so MÀ 
extend in inland i it is impossible to say. 
e 
