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



Dissotis johnsfoniana Bak. f. Trans, Linn. Soc. Bot. II. 4: 14. pi. 2, f. 13-17. 

 1894; Gilg in Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 2: 16. 1898. 

 Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain, west slopes, common on open rocky slopes, 

 shrub 1-1.5 m. high, leaves often purplish, flower deep blackish-purple, 1680 m., 

 June 21, 1946, 16402; Luchenya Plateau, on dry grassy edges of forest, shrub 

 about 1.5 m. high, branches erect, numerous, leaves rugose, flowers very deep 

 purple, 1900 m., July 7, 1946, 16716; Chambe Plateau, common in secondary for- 

 est growths, shrub 2 m. high, leaves purplish above, pale green beneath, flowers 

 rich dark purple, calyx and filaments red, 2000 m., July 9, 1946, 16768; west 

 slope, plentiful on open rocky slopes, shrub 1.5-2 m. high, flowers deep purple, 

 very showy, 1850 m., July 18, 1946, 16861. Portuguese East Africa and 

 Nyasaland. 



The first three cited numbers agree with the type of this species in the Brit- 

 ish Museum Herbarium in having glabrous receptacles. Brass 16861, however, 

 has a few bristles round the apex of the receptacle, near the insertion of the se- 

 pals; it thus forms a transition to the following variety, and argues in favour of 

 its being no more than a variety. 



Dissotis johnstoniana Bak. f. var. strigosa Brenan, var. nov. 



A typo differt receptaculo extra setis appressis simplicibus superne albidis 

 basi incrassatis saepe purpurascentibus ubique satis dense munito, necnon caulis 

 nodis et foliis longius crebriusque strigosis. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Chambe Plaieau, frequent on rocky grass 

 slopes, shrub about 2 m. high, leaves rugose, yellowish beneath, calyx and fila- 

 ments red, petals dark velvety purple, 2100 m., July 9, 1946, 16757 (TYPUS va- 

 rietatis); Tuchila Plateau, shrub 1.2-2.4 m. high, 1830 m., Sept. 1901, /. M. 

 Purves 104 (Herb. Kew.). 



The type sheet of D. johnstoniana has, together with the typical plant, a por- 

 tion of the stem, showing receptacles, that is referable to var. strigosa. The new 

 variety seems to differ from the type in a greater tendency to bristle-production, 

 affecting most parts of the plant. Wherever the type has short bristles, there is 

 a tendency for them to be longer and denser in the variety; and the receptacle, 

 instead of being glabrous, is densely beset with appressed setae. 



The new variety differs from D. whytei Baker in the laxer inflorescence, larger 

 receptacles, and in that the receptacles are clothed with setae, not with some- 

 what elongate conical emergences. From D. polyantha Gilg it differs again in 

 the much larger receptacles and flowers and the very different indumentum on the 

 leaves, especially in lacking the long crisped hairs that densely clothe the lower 

 surface of the leaves of D. polyantha. 



Dissotis canescens (Graham) Hook. f. in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 2: 453. 1871. 

 Osbeckia canescens Graham, Bot. Mag. pi. 3790. 1840. 

 Osbeckia incana E. Mey. ex Walp. Repert. 5: 708. 1845-46. 



Dissotis incana (E. Mey. ex Walp.) Triana, Trans. Linn. Soc. 28: 58<> 1871; Gilg. in 

 Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 2: 17. 1898. 



Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, plentiful in marshy situations in Brachystegia 

 woodland, shrub about 1 m. high, flowers pinkish-purple, showy, 1200 m., Sept. 

 26, 1946, 17821. Widespread in southern Africa, extending north to Abyssinia 

 and Nigeria. 



Dissotis candolleana Cogn. in A. & C» DC. Monogr. Phan. 7: 373. 1891; Gilg in 

 Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pfl.-Fam. & Gatt. 2: 19. 1898. 

 Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, on rocky banks of woodland stream, shrub 

 1 m. high, flowers purple, showy, 1400 m., July 24, 1946, 16902. North Nyasa 



