342 SIR THOMAS R. FRASER AND MR ALISTER T. MACKENZIE ON 



in 1906, by several follicles and a small quantity of seeds collected by Dr John M. 

 Dalziel, Colonial Medical Officer of Zungeru, Northern Nigeria. As these were 

 supplemented, in 1908, by a large supply of follicles and seeds, also collected by 

 Dr Dalziel. ample material had now been obtained for the purposes of investigation. 



We have to express our obligations to the above colonial officials, and especially 

 to Dr Dalziel, as well as to the Colonial Office in London, by whom the co-operation 

 of several of the above gentlemen and of the Administration of Northern Nigeria 

 was secured. 



In order to obtain official confirmation of botanical identification, the whole, or 

 specimens of each, of the above consignments were submitted to the authorities at 

 the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, and their confirmation, and especially that of 

 Dr Stapf, author of The Flora of Tropical Africa, may be accepted as a guarantee 

 that the seeds used in this investigation were those of S. sarmentosus. 



In addition to the above-mentioned localities, this species of Strophanthus has also 

 been found in Senegal,* Senegambia and Guinea t in West Africa, and a variety of 

 the species, distinguished as S. verrucosus, in Zanzibar and districts adjoining 

 Mombassa and Delagoa Bay in Eastern Africa.]; The plant has also received the 

 names of S. Senegambia, S. pendulus and S. laurifolius. In the Lagos territory, the 

 native name of " Isa- (or Isha-) kekere" has been given to it, that of " Kwankwanni" 

 or " Kunkunni " in the Zungeru district of Northern Nigeria, and that of " Kunna 

 Nombo " (shuttle vine) in the Gambia Colony. 



Follicles. — The follicles, which are generally fusiform in shape and have a shallow 

 bifid apex, were received in a dry state, and either entirely closed or opened in 

 various degrees at their ventral surfaces. In a considerable number (a) the carpel 

 coverings are retained in their natural state ; and in others (b) the epi- and meso- 

 carpels have been scraped off, no doubt to facilitate the drying of the contained seeds. 



(a) The non-scraped follicles are rough on the surface, with fine, longitudinal, linear 

 projections ; and are of an irregularly mixed brown and green colour, the lower parts 

 being chiefly brown and the upper parts chiefly green. In three or four out of 120 

 examined, there was a number of small, slightly elevated, pale brown spots, about \ to 

 4 mm. in length. The follicles vary in dimensions from 180 to 312 mm. (about 7 to 

 12^- inches) in length, and from 20 mm. to 50 mm. (about ^ to 2 inches) in greatest 

 width, the greater number being of or about the larger of these dimensions. The 

 weight varies from 24 to 96 grams (about f to 3f ounces), the usual weight being 

 about 60 or 70 grams (about 2^ to 2^- ounces), although a considerable number are 

 heavier than the latter weights. 



(b) The scraped follicles are of a very pale fawn colour, and many of them have 

 darker longitudinal markings, where the mesocarp has not entirely been removed. 



; * Payrau, Eecherches sur les Strophanthus, 1900, p. 86. 

 t Stapf, Flora of Tropical Africa, vol. iv., 1904, p. 180. 

 I Payrau, loc. cit., p. 86. 



