156 



subsessile, straight or slightly curved, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 

 obtuse at the apex, rounded, truncate or subcordate at the base, 

 2J-6 in. long, 1-2 in. broad, margin wavy, in a young state pubescent 

 on both surfaces, the upper surface eventually becoming glabrous 

 and shining. Panicles axillary, many-flowered, 6-8 in. long. 

 Sepals 4-5, ovate or ovate-oblong, connate at the base. Petals 4-5, 

 oblong-spathulate. Staminal tube urceolate, about half as long as 

 the petals, 5-lobed above ; lobes 2- toothed, bearing an anther 

 between the teeth. Discus fleshy, cupular. Ovary 5-celled ; 

 ovules several in each cell ; style short, cylindric ; stigma discoid. 

 Capsule erect, oblong, 3-4 in. long, splitting septic iclally into 

 5 valves from the apex downwards ; valves joined by a fibrous 

 network ; central column 5-angled. Seeds about 5 in each cell, 

 winged below. 



Vernac. names. — Tonam (Katagum, Dalziel) ; Alu (Togoland, 

 Tropenpflan. x. 1906, Beihefte, p. 253). 



Jebba, Nupe in N. Nigeria ; S. Nigeria. 



Described as possessing a very pretty wood ; found in the dry 

 open forests of S. Nigeria (Thompson, Col. Rep. Misc. No. 51, 

 1908, p. 63). Yields a dark coloured gum saleable at a low price 

 (Dunstan, Col. Rep. Ann. No. 601, 1909, p. 43). 



CHAILLETIAGEAE. 

 Chailletia, DC. 

 Chailletia toxicaria, G. Don ; Fl. Trop. Afr. I. p. 311. 



Vernac. names. — Meme (Kafogo, Sierra Leone, Scott Elliott) ; 

 Manunk (Sierra Leone, Smythe) ; Magberi (Mendi, Sierra Leone, 

 Renner) ; Manak (Timne, Sierra Leone, Renner). — Ratsbane ; 

 Broke-Back. 



Found throughout West Africa. 



The seeds of this plant are used in West Africa, Sierra Leone 

 more particularly, for destroying rats. They are sold in Freetown 

 Market (Smythe, Herb. Kew). The plant is also regarded as 

 being one of the sources of the many mysterious poisons used in 

 West Africa. It is a common form of punishment, ordeal and 

 means of revenge. The poisons find their best use in the de- 

 struction of obnoxious animals, but in certain cases, Tephrosia 

 Vogelii (q.v.) for instance, they can be used to obtain food by 

 poisoning fish, &c, without any serious effects. 



According to Dr. Renner it is used amongst the Timnes and 

 Mendis to poison well-water and streams which supply hostile 

 villages. Domestic animals poisoned by it rush about in great 

 excitement, as if in severe pain, they vomit and drag their hind 

 legs, which ultimately become paralysed (Journ. African Soc. 

 Oct. 1901, p. 111). On a specimen collected by Dr. Kirk, an 

 antidote for this poison is said to be a pint of water (Herb. Kew). 



A chemical and physiological examination of the fruit, con- 

 ducted by Dr. Power and Messrs. Tutin and Dale, at the Wellcome 

 Chemical Research Laboratories, shows that it contains no alkaloid, 

 cyanogenitic glucoside or soluble proteid, to which its highly 

 poisonous properties could be attributed. It has been found that it 



