1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYAS ALAND 



451 



Tricalysia jasminiflora (Klotzsch) Benth. & Hook, ex Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. 

 Afr. 3: 124. 1877. 



Rosea jasminiflora Klotzsch, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. 1853: 502, 1853. (not 

 seen; ref. from Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 2: 293. 1861.) 



Chikwawa District: Chikwawa, one example in Acacia albida woodland, shrub 

 1.5 m. high, branches several, erect, flowers greenish-white, 200 m. t Oct. 3, 1946, 

 17917. Nyasaland and Portuguese East Africa. 



Tricalysia pachystigma K. Schum. Bot. Jahrb. 33: 347. 1903. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, frequent among rocks in Brachystegia 

 woodland, tree 4-6 m. high, 1400 m., July 26, 1946, 16953. 



Pentanisia schweinfurthii Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. \fr. 3: 131. 1877; Verdcourt, 

 Bull. Jard. Bot. Brux. 22: 254. 1952. 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, common on hard open ground in woodlands, 

 10-15 cm. high, the thick rather fleshy stock goes deep into the ground, flowers 

 blue, very attractive, 1400 m., May 28, 1946, 16042. Kota-kota District: Nchisi, 

 occasional on hard bare ground, perennial herb about 10 cm. high, flowers blue, 

 1400 m., Aug. 1, 1946, 17081*; ibid., in Brachystegia woodlands, perennial herb 

 15-30 cm. high, young shoots flowering after burning of the grass, flowers bright 

 blue, 1350 m., Sept. 9, 1946, 17575. Belgian Congo, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 

 Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika Territory, Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland, N. 

 and S. Rhodesia, Angola, and Nigeria (Bauchi Plateau). 



This species is widespread and common on elevated grasslands liable to fir- 

 ing, or in open grassland. It is not the same as P. prunelloides (Klotzsch ex 

 Eckl. & Zeyh.) Walp. or any of its varieties. 



Polysphaeria lanceolata Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 128 (1877) var. pedata 

 Brenan, var. nov. 



Inflorescentiis plerumque manifeste pedunculatis, pedunculis circiter 5—18 

 mm. longis. 



PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA: Mocambique Province, Manica & Sofala District; Lower 

 Umswirizwi River, an evergreen shrub with white flowers, 300 m., 190 5, C. F. M. Swynner- 

 ton 74 (Herb. Kew.). Zambesia Province, Quelimane District: Lugela-Mocuba, Namagoa 

 estate, a large bush or shrub growing along streams, attractive, with large waxy-white 

 flowers and dark green shining leaves, common, 60-120 m., Nov. 1944, Mrs. H. G. Faulkner 

 (Herb. Kew.); ibid., Aug. 15, 1949, Mrs. H. G. Faulkner (Herb. Kew.); ibid., a large bush 

 growing by streams, common, flowers creamy-white, Dec [without year], Mrs. H. G. Faulk- 

 ner (TYPUS varietatis in Herb. Kew.). 



NYASALAND: Cholo District: Cholo, common in undergrowth of rain-forests, tree 3-5 

 m. high, fruit subglobose, fleshy, black, 1100 m., Sept. 29, 1946, 17874. 



All the gatherings made by Mrs. Faulkner are under the same number, 222. 

 The last-cited and type-gathering consisted of two sets of specimens, one set 

 with inflorescences sessile or shortly pedunculate (the peduncle up to about 4 

 mm. long) and resembling, except for greater robustness, ordinary P. lanceolata; 

 the other set with all or nearly all the inflorescences pedunculate (the peduncle 

 5-18 mm. long). With dissection I can find no other difference between these 

 plants, and I am compelled to consider the ones with pedunculate inflorescence 

 as no more than a variety of P. lanceolata. 



Mrs. Faulkner writes on the two sets mentioned above: "Both types from same 

 area of river, but different plants. I have not observed the two types on one plant, 

 but the types often grow close together; they appear to be equally common." 



This of course means that S. Moore's sections of Polysphaeria, Ephedranthae 

 and Cladanthae, based on whether the inflorescence is sessile or pedunculate 

 (see Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 37: 307. 1906) are untenable* I had up till now adopted 

 them as series (see Kew Bull. 1949: 85. 1949). 



