280 BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



Anew species allied to T. involucrata, Jacq. (Ic. Ear. i. 18, t. 190 ; Mull. Arg. 

 in DC. Prod. xv. 2, 943), an eastern species of considerable distribution, and also 

 to the tropical African and Arabian T. mitis, Hoclist, (in herb. Schimp. Abyss, 

 sect, ii. n. 517 ; Mull. Arg. in DC. Prod. xv. 2, 942), but marked out from these 

 and other species by its dicecism, the palmately-cleft calyx of the female 

 flowers, and by its style and seeds. 



Its sting is extremely irritant, rapidly producing large blisters. 



Order LXX. URTICACE^. 



A very large order of plants of varying habit spread through the warmer 

 and temperate regions of the world. Five genera occur in Socotra. Two are 

 found nearly all over the warmer regions of the globe, one is chiefly spread in 

 America and tropical Africa, one has a distribution from south Europe through 

 Africa and Asia, and the fifth is known, out of Socotra, only from Australia and 

 the Cape of Good Hope. 



1. DORSTENIA. 



Dorstcnia, Linn. Gen. n. 158 ; Benth. et Hook. Gen. PI. iii. 366. 



A genus of about fifty species chiefly found in America and tropical Africa. 

 Two species only are Asiatic, one occurring in Arabia, and the other in India. 



D. gigas, Schweinf. in Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin. xii. (1883), 95. Tab. XCV. 



Cauleseens caudice crassissimo camoso ramoso ; foliis oblanceolatis bullatis ; receptaculo orbicul- 

 ari margine 6-8-radiato. 



Planta crassa 2-5-pedalis flavo-lactescens caudice tuberoso globoso cortice albo breviter et cand- 

 elabrifoi miter ramosa, ramis crassis tessalatim cicatricosis glabris. Folia ad apices ramulor- 

 um tantum manentia in planta adulta 6 poll, longa 1 poll, lata in juvenilibus 1£ poll. 

 longa /. poll, lata oblanceolata srcpe lateraliter curvata versus apicem contracta obtusa v. 

 acuta deorsum in petiolum brevissimum gradatim attenuata margine obscure crenulata re- 

 voluta membranacea plusminusve bullata delicatim venulosa venulis rubris subtus subtiliter 

 pubescentia ; petiolus crassus supra concavus obscure puberulus. Stipules minutre subulatse 

 v. squamiformis. Hypantlwdia in axillis supremis solitaria, pedunculis |-§ poll, longis 

 erectis validis breviter pubescenti-velutinis, parte superiore florigera orbicnlari § poll. diam. 

 margine velutina radiata radiis brevibus obtusis 6-8 inrcqualibus plerumque alterne 

 majoribus. Flores masculi foemineique intermixti. Fl. $ — Stamina 2 filamentis mem- 

 branaceis acuminatis exsertis. FL $ — Ovarium globosum breviter stipitatum album ; 

 stylus subulatus, stigmate acuto. Fruetus ignotus. 



Socotra. In crevices and rocky places on the hills. B.C.S. n. 038. 

 Schweinf. n. 737. 



DTSTRIB. Endemic. 



