1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYAS ALAND 



437 



COMBRETACEAE 



Terminalia sericea Burch. ex DC, Prodr. 3: 13. 1828; Engl. & Diels in Engl, 

 Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 4: 20. 1900. 

 Kota-kota District: Kasabula's Village, scattered on open ridges, tree about 

 15 m. tall and 30 cm. in diameter, bark rough, foliage grey, native name (Chin- 

 yanja) napini, 1000 m., Aug. 3, 1946, 17123. Kasungu District: Kasungu, common 

 in Brachystegia woodlands, tree 10-12 m. high and 30-35 cm. in diameter, foliage 

 greyish, grows to a much larger size on moist sandy soil, native name (Chinyanja) 

 napini, 1000 m., Aug. 24, 1946, 17410. Tanganyika Territory to South Africa, 

 very variable. 



Terminalia sp. 



Blantyre District: Blantyre, in Brachystegia woodlands, tree, fruits reddish- 

 brown, 1100 m., June 17, 1946, 16347. Kota-kota District: Chia area, woodlands 

 of dry lake-plain, tree 10 m. high, 480 m., Sept. 6, 1946, 17551. 



Brass 17551 is in my opinion conspecific with rather numerous specimens from 

 Portuguese East Africa (Kirk, s.n., Moramballa, etc.), Nyasaland (Clements 137 f 

 etc.), N. Rhodesia (Trapnell 1464, Micbelmore 609, etc.), and S. Rhodesia (Eyles 

 6394. 7653, 8588, Pardy P. 121/33, etc.). This species is a close relative of 

 T. mollis Laws., which I would look on as a widespread plant, embracing the 

 Rhodesian T. suberosa R. E. Fr. and T. rbodesica R. E. Fr. The plant exempli- 

 fied by Brass 17551 differs from T. mollis in the more slender twigs, smaller 

 leaves, young shoots more shortly tomentose, leaves rarely showing secondary 

 lateral nerves, inflorescences normally shorter than the leaves, etc. These dif- 

 ferences are admittedly not very much, but they seem to work with a rather wide 

 range of material and in my view are specific; the facies of the two species is 

 also different and to distinguish between them in the herbarium is not so difficult 

 as it sounds; there are, however, a few specimens which may be hybrids. The 

 other difficulty is that the differences are mostly derived from fruiting specimens, 

 and I do not feel certain that the rather sparse flowering material is correctly cor- 

 related. What is so badly wanted, here and in other species of Terminalia, is 

 collections made from the same tree at different times of year. Until workers in 

 the field are prepared to take the extra trouble of doing this, they must be pre- 

 pared for vague and uncertain identifications. I am therefore leaving Mr. Brass' 

 specimen unnamed, in the hope that this note may stimulate somebody to collect 

 this species adequately. 



Combretum imberbe Wawra, Sitz.-Ber. Akad. Wien Math.-Naturw. 38: 557. 1859; 

 Engl. & Diels in Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 3: 14. 1899. 



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

 plains, tree to 25 m. high and 70 cm. in diameter, bark hard, deeply fissured, dark 

 grey, leaves greyish-green, native name simbidi, 180 m., Oct. 4, 1946, 17948. 

 Tanganyika Territory to Bechuanaland and the Transvaal. 



The varieties given by Engler and Diels (I.e.) seem to be of little worth. 



Combretum gueinzii Sond. Linnaea 23: 43. 1850; Engl. & Diels in Engl. Monogr. 

 Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 3: 38. 1899. 

 Kasungu District: Kasungu Hill, occasional on dry rocky slopes, tree 7-8 m. 

 high, native name (Chinyanja) pakasa, 1100 m., Aug. 28, 1946, 17455. Anglo- 

 Egyptian Sudan to South Africa. 



Combretum ternifolium Engl. & Diels in Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 3: 

 49. 1899. 



Kota-kota District: Chia area, frequent in dry woodlands of lake plain, tree 

 8-10 m, high, wholly or partially deciduous, flowers usually appearing before the 

 leaves, petals yellow, filaments white, native name (Chinyanja) mpakash, 480 m., 



