1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



447 



Lefebvrea brevipes Engl, ex Wolff in Mildbr„ Wiss. Ergebn. Deutsch. Zentr.-Afr. 

 Expo 1907-8 2: 600. 1913. 

 Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, tall, simple, apparently annual, aromatic herb 

 2-2.5 m. high, leaves bipinnate, lower ones 50-60 cm. long, one terminal com- 

 pound umbel and about 3 to 6 axillary from upper nodes, 1430 m., May 30, 1946, 

 16083. Tanganyika Territory to Nyasaland. 



Caucalis pedunculata Bak. f. Trans. Linn. Soc. II. Bot. 4: 15. 1894. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, common locally in open grasslands, 

 perennial herb, taproot thick, fleshy, aromatic, young flowering shoots now ap- 

 pearing after burning of the grass, flowers greenish, 2300 m., Aug. 11, 1946, 

 17175. Kota-kota District: Chenga Hill, frequent in low open Brachystegia wood- 

 land, perennial herb to 40 cm. high, rootstock large, fleshy, young shoots flower- 

 ing after burning of the grass, flowers yellow-green, 1600 m., Sept. 9, 1946, 

 17592. Uganda to Nyasaland and S. Rhodesia. 



Brass 17592 apparently represents genuine C. pedunculata with deltoid leaves 

 with 4-6 pairs of pinnae and rather broad segments, while 17175 is a form with 

 oblong leaves with numerous (8-13) pinnae and narrower segments. Intermediates 

 occur between these extremes and, pending further observations, I prefer to treat 

 both as forms of a single species that is variable in leaf-shape, indumentum, etc. 



Caucalis incognita Norman, Jour. Bot. 72: 205. 1934. 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, grassy, moist edge of rain-forest, herb of 

 weak reclining habit, stem one, about 80 cm. long, flowers greenish, 1450 m., 

 June 3, 1946, 16190.* Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, com- 

 mon in moist openings in forest, herb, ascending, aromatic, flowers greenish, 

 1820 m., July 1, 1946, 16575. Mountains of East Africa from Abyssinia to 

 Nyasaland. 



ARALIACEAE 



Schefflera polysciadia Harms in Engl. Pflanzenw. Ost-Afr. C: 297. 1895. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, epiphytic in montane forest of escarp- 

 ment, shrub 2-3 m. high, stems several from a common base, long and weak, not 

 branched, flowers and fruit purple, 2100 m., Aug. 17, 1946, 17278 Kenya, 

 Uganda, Belgian Congo, Tanganyika Territory, now recorded for the first time 

 from Nyasaland. 



RUBIACEAE 30 



Crossopteryx febrifuga (Afz. ex G. Don) Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 381. 1849. 

 Rondeletia febrifuga Afz. ex G. Don, Gen. Syst. 3: 5l6 1834. 



Crossopteryx kotschyana Fenzl in Endl. & Fenzl, Nov. Stirp. Dec. Vindob. 46. 1839; 

 Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3s 44. 1877. 



Kota-kota District: Chia area, flood-banks of streams on lake-plain, tree 10 m. 

 high, native name (Chinyanja) nkundanguluwe, 480 m., Septo 3, 1946, 17518. A 

 variable and widely distributed species in tropical Africa. 



Pentas longiflora Oliv. Trans, Linn. Soc. II. Bot. 2: 335 (1887) var. nyassana 

 Scott Elliot, Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 32: 433- 1896. 

 Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, frequent in Brachystegia woodlands, only one 

 fertile plant seen, herb 60 cm. high, flowers whitish, 1500 m., June 5, 1946, 

 16264*; ibid., occasional in grassy secondary growths in rain-forest clearings, 



*° Agathisanthemum, Kohautia, Oldenlandia, and Pavetta by Dr. C. E. B. Bremekamp, 

 Botanisch Museum, Utrecht; Rothmannia and Rubia by A. A. Bullock, Royal Botanic Gar- 

 dens, Kew; Pentanisia by B. Verdcourt, East African Agricultural and Forestry Research 

 Organization, Nairobi, Kenya. 



