226 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN [Vol. 8, No. 3 



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The reduction of H. ricinoides is on the authority of Harvey and Hochreutiner, 

 who both consider it and H. ricinijolius conspecific. I am indebted to the authori- 

 ties of the Vienna Herbarium for kindly loaning the type-specimen of H. ricini- 

 jolius, which is in Herb. Drege; and to the University Professor of Botany, 

 Trinity College, Dublin, for what is presumably the type-specimen of H. natali- 

 tius from Herb. Harvey. Type or isotype material of the other names mentioned is 

 at Kew. 



It should be noted that Hochreutiner's sinking of H. natalitius under H. viti' 

 folius L. var. heterotrichus (DC.) Hochr. is quite wrong, as is shown by examina- 

 tion of the type-specimen of Hibiscus heterotrichus DC, received on loan from 

 Geneva. 



Mr. Brass' specimen is the first evidence for the occurrence of H. vitifolius 

 var. ricinijolius in Nyasaland; it should be looked out for in Tanganyika Terri- 

 tory, where it surely must occur. However, it appears to be a scarce plant S. of 

 Uganda, only once or twice collected in each territory. It is possible that it oc- 

 curs outside Africa, since there is a specimen from the Island of Timorlaut, in 

 the East Indies, that obviously comes very close to H. vitifolius var. ricinijolius 

 but the specimen is so poor that it would be unwise to be certain. 



STERCULIACEAE 



Sterculia quinqueloba (Garcke) K. Schum. Bot. Jahrb. 15: 135. 1892; in Engl. 

 Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 5: 104. 1900. 



Cola quinqueloba Garcke in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 1: 130. 1861. 



Chikwawa District: Chikwawa, characteristic tree of woodlands on stony 

 ridges, tree 10-15 m. high and to 0.6 m. in diameter, deciduous and now leafless, 

 the smooth grey bark of trunk and branches make the tree very conspicuous, 

 native name mgoza, 300 m., Oct. 5, 1946, 17993* Tanganyika Territory to Portu- 

 guese East Africa and Angola, 



Sterculia africana (Lour.) Fiori, Agr. Colon. Ital. 5: suppl. 37. 1912. 

 Tripbaca ajricana Lour. Fl. Cochinchin. 577. 1790. 



Sterculia tripbaca R. Br. in Benn. PI. Jav. Rar. 228. 1844; K. Schum. in Engl. Monogr. 

 Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 5: 105. 1900, pro parte. 



Chikwawa District: Lower Mwanza River, plentiful in open forest of river- 

 plains, tree 20-25 m. high and to 1 m. in diameter, deciduous, now leafless, bark 

 pale yellowish-green, peeling in thin papery flakes, flowers yellow streaked with 

 red, native name (Chinyanja) njali, 180 m., Oct. 4, 1946, 17950. Kenya to Portu- 

 guese East Africa and Nyasaland, with varieties extending to Eritrea, Socotra, 

 and Hejreroland (fide K. Schumann). 



Dombeya Cav. subg. Dombeya (subg. Eudombeya K. Schum.). 



The four gatherings made of this subgenus belong to a complex of species 

 with more or less lobed leaves and large flowers, extending from South Africa to 

 Uganda and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The taxonomy of this group is at present 

 chaotic; it is hard to say if we are dealing with a few very variable species or 

 whether there are numerous closely related ones. The herbarium-material at pres- 

 ent available is insufficient to decide. Therefore, although the specimens col- 

 lected by the Expedition do not exactly square with authentic material of any of 

 the species here at Kew, I have felt it better to refer them to their apparent near- 

 est affinities rather than describe new species of very doubtful value. Until much 

 more material is available, and especially collections made to show the range of 

 variety within populations, a satisfactory classification will be difficult to attain. 



