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MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN [Vol. 8, No. 5 



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Cantuffa exosa Gmel. Syst. Nat. 2: 677. 1791. 

 Acacia stellata (Forsk.) Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 1078. 1806. 



P terolobium lacerans R. Br. in Salt, Abyss. App. 64. 1814, homen nudum. 

 Pterolobium exosum (Gmel.) Bak. f. Leg. Trop. Afr. 621. 1930; Wilczek, Fl. Congo 

 Beige 3: 256. 1952. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, scrambling over marginal trees of rain- 

 forest, shrub 10 m. high, fruit red, conspicuous, 1500 m., July 29, 1946, 17023. 

 Widespread in tropical Africa, with very close relatives in Arabia and further 

 Asia. 



By the kindness of the authorities of the Botanical Museum of the University 

 of Copenhagen, I have been able to examine some of Forskal's types, including 

 that of Mimosa stellata. He described his new species as follows: "foliis gemi- 

 nis, pinnatis, 9-jugis: spinis stellatis, ternis; duabus apice recurvis. Kurmae." 

 The type consists of two sheets: the first, which I consider must be taken as the 

 lectotype, consists of a lateral flowering shoot with an attached leaf whose 

 prickles agree with Forskal's description, also of two detached fragments in very 

 young fruit; the second sheet has a leafless flowering shoot and a detached leaf 

 with narrower leaflets than that on the first sheet; as this latter leaf has but two 

 prickles at each pinna°junction it does not affect the interpretation of Forskal's 

 species. The whole of the first sheet and probably the second (the detached leaf 

 possibly excepted) are unquestionably the plant that has been known as Pterolo- 

 bium exosum (Gmel.) Bak. f. or P. lacerans R. Br. The first sheet shows clearly 

 the imbricate aestivation of the buds, the comparatively few stamens, and the 

 important wing beyond the single seed of the developing fruits, not to mention the 

 characteristic foliage, inflorescence, indumentum, and prickle-arrangement. The 

 type can be readily matched among specimens from N. E. Africa, e.g. Pappi 160 

 from Eritrea. 



It will be by now clear that Forskal misinterpreted the pinnae of a bipinnate 

 leaf as whole leaves, but this mistake was soon put right by Vahl and Willdenow. 



The new combination made above is thus necessary. I have given only the 

 most important synonyms; others may be found in Bak. f. Leg. Trop. Afr. 621 

 (1930). He does not mention Mimosa stellata or Acacia stellata, but Chrxstensen 

 in Dansk Bot. Arkiv 4 (3): 29 (1922) accepts Acacia stellata as a valid name, 

 with A. glaucophylla Steud. as a possible synonym. 



Cassia petersiana Bolle in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 13. 1861; Bak. f. Leg. 

 Trop. Afr. 633. 1930; Steyaert, Fl. Congo Beige 3: 508. 1952. 

 Blantyre District: Blantyre, in Bracbystegia woodlands, shrub z m. high, 

 brown-pubescent, flowers yellow, showy, 1100 m., June 18, 1946, 16355. Kota- 

 kota District: Nchisi Mountain, occasional on edges of rain-forest, tree or shrub 

 3-5 m* high, flowers yellow, fruit unripe, 1650 m., July 31, 1946, 17054. Anglo- 

 Egyptian Sudan and Abyssinia to the Transvaal. 



Cassia singueana Del. Cent. PI. Afr. Voy. Meroe 28 (1826) var. glabra (Hutch, ex 

 Bak. f.) Brenani Kew. Bull. 1949: 77. 1949. 



Cassia goratensis Fresen. var. glabra Hutch, ex. Bak. f. Leg. Trop. Afr. 634o 1930. 



Kasungu District: Kasungu, sporadic in Bracbystegia woodland, tree or shrub 

 3-5 m. high, flowers yellow, native name devi-devi, 1000 m., Aug. 25, 1946, 

 17415. The species widespread in tropical Africa, the variety in Nyasa- 

 land, N. and S. Rhodesia, and (according to Baker f. I.e.) in Kenya Colony. 



Cassia grantii Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 2: 279. 1871; Bak. f. Leg. Trop. Afr. 639. 

 1930. 



Kota-kota District: Chia area, on disturbed ground in dry sandy woodlands of 

 lake-plain, herb, branches prostrate, flowers yellow, 480 m., Sept. 6, 1946, 17549. 

 Kenya, Tanganyika Territory, Nyasaland, Portuguese East Africa, and Angola. 



