98 . BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



levitcr lobata) £ poll, longa: | poll, lataj. Florcs feminei solitarii vel rarius geminati. 

 Staminodia lanceolata puberula ^ 6 poll, longa. Stylus subfiliformis i poll, longus 

 Palioicultts fructiferus satis gracilis leviter flexuosus f-2 poll, longus. Fructus glaber 

 leviter verrucosus inferne leviter attenuatus obtususque 2 poll, longus f poll crassus. 

 Semina (immatura) ovoidea leviter compressa distincte marginata utrinque levia basi 

 minute bidenticulata f - poll, longa ^— £ poll. lata. 



Nom. Vern. Daclisliana or Dichshani (Schweinf.). 



Socotra. A species spread over the island. B.C.S. n. 281. Schweinf. 

 nn. 502, 541, 640, 647. 



Distrib. Endemic. 



This dioecious plant M. Cogniaux has kindly determined and described for 

 me. The female plant we did not obtain, but Schweinfurth sends two 

 specimens of it (nn. 541, 747), and it is to this form the native name as given 

 by him is applied. He labels them as probably Coccinea, upon which Cogniaux 

 remarks — " Cette plante a assez le porte d'un Coccinea ; mais elle parait bien 

 le pied femelle des nn. 502 et 640, qui ne peuvent se rapporter a ce genre, 

 car ils ont les fleurs males a examines entierement libres et ins^re'es au milieu 

 du tube du calice, tandis que les Coccinia ont les examines inserts au fond du 

 tube au centre de la fleur, et les filets soud^s en colonne." Our specimens have 

 no flowers. 



An interesting find, in view of the distribution of the genus, which has but 

 two other representatives, as yet known from limited areas in tropical Africa. 



2. MOMOEDICA. 

 Momordiea, Linn. Gen. n. 1090 ; Benth. et Hook. Gen. PI. i. 825. 



A genus attaining its maximum of development in Africa, but a few species 

 are dispersed over tropical and sub-tropical regions of both old and new 

 worlds. One of the Socotran species is an old world one, now introduced in 

 America, the other is cosmopolitan in the tropics. 



1. M. Balsamina, Linn. Sp. 1433 ; Ser. in DC. Prod. iii. 311 ; Hooker in 

 Oliv. Flor. Trop. Afr. ii. 537 ; Boiss. Flor. Orient, ii. 757 ; Clarke in Hook. 

 Flor. Trop. Ind. ii. 617; Cogn. in DC Monog. Phanerog. iii. 439; Lamk. 

 Illustr. t. 794, f. 1. 



Socotra. Near Tamarida. B.C.S. n. 698. 



Distrib. Africa, Asia, and Australia ; also America where it is introduced. 



2. M. Charantia, Linn. Sp. 1433 ; Ser. in DC. Prod. iii. 311 ; Hook. fil. 

 in Oliv. Flor. Trop. Afr. ii. 537 ; Clarke in Hook. Flor. Brit. Ind. ii. 616 ; 

 Cogn. in DC. Monog. Phanerog. iii. 436, 



var. abbreviata, Ser. in DC. Prod. iii. 311 ; Cogn. in DC. Monog. 

 Phanerog. 437. 



