1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



461 



River, scattered on sandy beaches, herb 1 m. high, flowers purple, 180 m., Oct. 

 6, 1946, 18018. For distribution see below. 



I have not seen the original specimens of Linzia glabra var. laxa, which are 

 presumably now destroyed, but Steetz's description leaves no reasonable doubt 

 that he intended our plant. Although some intermediates do occur, var. laxa 

 seems generally quite a well-marked variety, with smaller narrower capitula often 

 on longer peduncles and a usually lax inflorescence. In the Kew Herbarium there 

 are numerous specimens of the variety — too numerous to cite in detail here — 

 ranging from Tanganyika Territory in the north to Zululand in the south. Judging 

 from collectors' notes, var. laxa seems decidedly addicted, as Steetz originally 

 pointed out, to cultivated fields, and sandy and marshy ground by rivers and lakes. 



Vernonia aurantiaca (O. Hoffm.) N. E„ Br. Kew Bull. 1909: 116. 1909. 



Gongtothamnus divariojitus Steetz in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 342. 1863; non Ver- 

 nonia divaricata Sw. 1806. 

 Gongrothamnus aurantiacus O. Hoffm. Bot. Jahrb. 30: 433. 1901. 

 Vernonia vitellina N. E. Br. Kew Bull. 1909: 117. 1909. 



Mombera District: 30 miles S. of Njakwa, common on termite mounds in Bracby- 

 stegia woodland, shrub 3-5 m. high, subscandent, flowers orange, showy, 1220 

 m., Aug. 9, 1946, 17141. Chikwawa District: Chikwawa, in dry brushy forest of 

 river-plain, subscandent shrub 3 m. high, flowers orange, 200 m., Oct. 2, 1946, 

 17903,* Kenya to Bechuanaland. 



Vernonia aurantiaca represents the form with shortly peduncled capitula and 

 ovate to oblong acute phyllaries; while V. vitellina has heads on longer peduncles 

 and lanceolate very acute phyllaries. I find so many gradations between these 

 extremes that I do not consider that they can be kept as distinct species. 



Vernonia shirensis Oliv. & Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 291, 1877. 



Vernonia leptolepis Bak. Kew Bull. 1898: 147. 1898; non O. Hoffm. in Engl. 

 Pflanzenw. Ost-Afr. C: 405» 1895. 



Zomba District: Zomba, frequent on slopes of hills in Brachystegia woodland, 

 shrub 1 m. high, flower-bracts green, upper white, florets white, 1100 m., May 26, 

 1946, 16027,* Kota-kota District: Ncbisi Mountain, occasional in shrubberies 

 bordering rain-forest, shrub 1.5 m. high, robust, leaves greyish beneath, upper 

 bracts white, lower green, flowers very pale pink, 1600 m., July 31, 1946, 17059, 

 Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, occasional in rain-forest regrowth, shrub 1.5 m. 

 high, upper bracts white, lower green, florets white, 1200 m., Sept. 21, 1946, 

 17701, Belgian Congo, Nyasaland, N. and S. Rhodesia. 



I do not think that V. leptolepis is more than a glabrescent form of V. shiren- 

 sis Oliv. & Hiern, and prefer to treat the two as conspecific. 



Vernonia sp. nr. tolypophora Mattf. Bot. Jahrb. 59 (Beibl. 133): 6. 1924. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, one specimen seen on forest edges, 

 shrub 1.5 m. high, erect, sparsely branched, flowers purple, later white, 2300 m., 

 Aug. 11, 1946, 17174, 



Brass 17174 has broader appendages to the phyllaries than in V. tolypophora, 

 which was described from southwestern Tanganyika Territory. A specimen with- 

 out number in Herb. Kew. collected by Whyte in N. Nyasaland is apparently the 

 same as Mr Brass* specimen, but further material is wanted. 



Vernonia polyura O. Hoffm. Bot. Jahrb. 30: 422. 1901. 



Mlanje District: Likubula Gorge, frequent in Brachystegia woodlands, tree 

 4-6 m. high, leaves crinkled, very pale dull green, bitter, used in native medicine* 

 flowers purple, 840 m., June 20, 1946, 16374, Kasungu District: Kasungu; Ka- 

 sungu Hill, frequent on rocky slopes, tree or shrub 4-7 m. high, flowers dry, ap- 



