PHANEROGAMS— PROFESSOR BAYLEY BALFOUR. 255 



Suffrutex semipedalis v. altior ssepe intricato- et copiose nunc laxe ramosus. Rami breves 

 parvifoliosi, rami elongati flexiles subdecumbentes ssepe 3-pedales foliis majoribus 

 vestiti. Folia parva \-\ poll, longa (incl. petiolo £§ ^ poll.) 2^~xV poll, lata, majora 

 1-lj poll, longa £ poll, lata, crassiuscula coriacea carnosula subglauca siccatione obscura 

 nervo medio subtus obsolete prominulo. Spicce \-^ poll, longee £-£ poll, latse inferiores 

 nutantes superiores ascendentes vix paniculatre, Bractece subaequales latissime ovato- 

 orbiculares villosiusculae albidse. Flores vix -j 1 ^ poll, longi. Sepala vix carinata, exteriora 

 2 oblonga obtusissima, interiora 3 angustiora obtusa. Staminodia filamentis breviora 

 triangulari-linearia acuta truuca tula v. emarginata. Anthercn subrotundse. Stylus brevis ; 

 stigmate minuto. Utriculus subrotundus compressus membranaceus griseus. Semen sub- 

 lenticulare inflatum obsoletissime birostratum margine obtusissimum nitidulum fusco- 

 nigrum. 



Socotra. On the plains about Galonsir. B.C.S. nn. 28, 650. Schweinf. 

 n. 702. Nimmo. 



Distrib. Endemic. 



This species was founded by Moquin upon a fragmentary specimen in herb. 

 Hooker, which belongs to the collection sent by Nimmo and recorded as from 

 the " shores of the Red Sea."* It is undoubtedly as we know it at present, an 

 endemic plant. 



The specific name is hardly applicable to the plant as shown by our 

 specimens. It exhibits some variation in habit ; on the dry plains a dwarf 

 compact woody undershrub with very small thick leaves, (B.C.S. n. 28, 

 Schweinf. n. 702) ; in more favourable localities the branches are long, flexible, 

 and bent to the ground, and bear thinner and much larger glaucous leaves, 

 (B.C.S. n. 650). Nimmo's fragmentary specimen is from one of the dwarfed 

 plants, and Moquin's description is, therefore, incomplete as regards the size 

 of the leaves. 



3. 2&. lanata, Juss. in Ann. Mus. Par. ii. (1803), 131 ; Moq. in DC. Prod, 

 xiii. 2, 303 ; Ach. Rich. Tent. Flor. Abyss, ii. 214 ; Boiss. Flor. Orient, iv. 993 ; 

 Wight Ic. t. 723. 



^.floribunda, Wight To. t. 1776 bis. 



Amarantus aervoides, Hochst. et Steud. in herb. Schimp. Abyss, sect. i. n. 249. 



Nom. Vern. 'Feh (B.C.S.). 



Soeotra. Common near Galonsir and elsewhere. B.C.S. nn. 50, 412. 

 Schweinf. n. 538. Hunter. 



Distrib. Tropical Africa eastward to the Indian Archipelago. 



This widely-spread old world plant is abundant on the maritime plains of 

 Socotra. It is a species of some variation, and Moquin (loc. cit.) names four 

 varieties. Ascherson (in Schweinf. Flor. iEthiop. 174), names two more. But I 

 doubt whether it is possible to determine these varieties with any certainty. 

 Our n. 412, (Schweinf. n. 538), is the commonest type of the species. This 



* See, on page 26, remarks under Hypericum mysorense, Heyne. 



