1953] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYAS ALAND 



227 



Dombeya sp. nr. dawei Sprague, Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 37: 501. 1906; et burges- 

 siae Gerr. ex Harv. & Sond. Fl. Cap. 2: 590. 1862. 

 Zomba District: Zomba, occasional on roadsides and in old fields, herb 2-2.5 

 m. high, flower delicate pale pink, 1000 m., May 26, 1946, Shortridge 16026. 



Dombeya sp. nr. nyasica Exell, Jour. Bot. 77: 166. 1939. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, frequent in moist gullies in Brachystegia 

 woodland, shrub 1.5-2 m. high, flowers pink, showy, 1400 m., July 25, 1946, 

 Brass 16929. 



Mr. Brass' specimen differs from the isotype of D. nyasica, which was col- 

 lected between Kota-kota and Dowa, only in the more acuminate leaf-lobing. Fur- 

 ther material will probably prove this to be a variable character. 



Dombeya sp. nr. platypoda K. Schum. in Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 5: 

 29. 1900. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, plentiful in shrubberies bordering lower 

 montane forest, shrub about 2 m. high, flowers pale pink, 1600 m., July 26, 1946, 

 16973. 



Differs from the type of D. platypoda, which was collected at Fwambo in N. 

 Rhodesia, in the densely pubescent peduncles and young stems. 



Dombeya sp. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, edges of juniper forest, shrub 3-4 m. 

 high, leaves greyish, flowers pink, showy, 2250 m., Aug. 11, 1946, 17183. 

 The affinity of this specimen is doubtful. 



Dombeya Cav. subg. Xeropetalum (Planch.) K. Schum. 



Dombeya rotundifolia (Hochst.) Planch. Fl. Serres 6: 225. 1850-1851; Harv. in 

 Harv. & Sond. Fl. Cap. 1: 221. 1859-1860; K. Schum. in Engl. Monogr. 

 Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 5: 35. 1900. 

 Xeropetalum rotundifolium Hochst. Flora 27: 295. 1844. 



\Dombeya spectabilis (non Boj.) Mast, in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 1: 227. 1868, p.p., 

 quoad spec. Meller. J 



Dombeya multiflora Planch, var. vestita K. Schum. in Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. 

 & Gatt. 5: 34. 1900, p.p., quoad spec. Meller & Buchanan 52 et Nichols., verisim. 

 etiam spec. omn. nyass. et mossambic. 



Blantyre District: Limbe, frequent in Brachystegia woodland, tree 8 m. high, 

 bark rough, flowers delicate pale pink, an attractive species, native name (Chin- 

 yanja) mato, 1000 m., Oct. 1, 1946, 17885. Uganda to South Africa. 



Dombeya shupangae ["mupangae"] K. Schum. in Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & 

 Gatt. 5: 39. 1900; corr. Sprague, Jour. Bot. 59: 349. 1921. 

 Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, occasional in rain-forests, tree 10 m. 

 high and 25 cm. in diameter, semi-deciduous, flowering branchlets usually leaf- 

 less, flowers pink, 1400 m., July 27, 1946, 16982; ibid., occasional in rain- 

 forested gullies in Brachystegia woodland, tree 4-10 m. high, flowers delicate 

 pinkish-white, 1350 m., Sept. 9, 1946, 17577. Tanganyika, Nyasaland, and Portu- 

 guese East Africa. 



A comment on the orthography of the specific epithet seems desirable. The 

 generally accepted spelling of the type-locality, in Portuguese East Africa, is 

 Shupanga. Schumann misread the locality on the label of the type-specimen as 

 Mupanga; the spelling on this label appears to be Chupanga, and at first sight 

 there appears a case for altering the epithet to **chupangae**\ but Kirk in his 

 correspondence used the spelling Shupanga, and it seems likely that the label it- 

 self has a misspelling of the locality. I therefore leave Sprague's correction as it 

 stands. 



