1954} 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



465 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, only one example on edge of rain-forest, 

 herb 2 m. high, flowers yellow, apparently an annual, 1650 m., July 31, 1946, 

 1705 3. Widely distributed in tropical Africa. 



Blumea aurita (L, f.) DC. ex Wight, Contr. Bot. India 16. 1834; DC. Prodr. 5; 

 449. 1836. 

 Conyza aurita L. f. Suppl, 367. 1781. 



One piece mixed with 17932 [Epaltes alata (Sond.) Steetz var. serratifolia 

 (Steetz) Meikle & Brenan, q. v.] from Chikwawa District, Lower Mwanza River, 

 collected on Oct. 3, 1946. Tropics of the Old World. 



Blumea lacera (Burm f) DC e ex Wight, Contr. Bot. India 14. 1834; DC. Prodr. 5: 

 436. 1836. 

 Conyza lacera Burm. f. FL Ind. 180. 1768. 



Kota-kota District: Kota-kota, in old gardens, herb 1.2 m. high, flowers purple, 

 460 m., Aug. 7, 1946, Shortridge 17395. Tropical Africa and Asia; also in S. 

 America (? introduced). 



Laggera alata (D. Don) Schultz-Bip. ex Oliv. Trans. Linn. Soc. 29: 94. 1873. 

 Erigeron alatum D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 171. 1825. 



Conyza alata Roxb. Hort. Beng. 61. 1814, nomen nudum; Fl. Ind. ed. 2. 3: 430. 1832, 

 cum descr. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, common in Brachystegia woodland, per- 

 ennial herb 50-80 cm. high, aromatic, viscid, flower-heads nodding, flowers pur- 

 ple, 1400 m., July 24, 1946, 16892; ibid., fruiting specimen of 16892, in Brachy- 

 stegia woodland, 1400 m., July 25, 1946, 16924,* Widespread in tropical Africa 

 and Asia, and decidedly variable. 



Laggera brevipes Oliv. & Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3? 327. 1877. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, in Brachystegia woodland, perennial herb 

 50 cm. high, leaves viscid, aromatic, flowers purple, heads erect, 1400 m., July 

 24, 1946, 16893. Kenya to Angola and S. Rhodesia. 



Epaltes alata (Sond.) Steetz 17 var. serratifolia (Steetz) Meikle & Brenan, comb, 

 nov. 



Epaltes umbelliformis Steetz var. serratifolia Steetz in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 

 454. 1863. 



Chikwawa District: Lower Mwanza River, common on sandy beaches, aromatic 

 herb to 1 m. high, stoloniferous, viscid, flowers purple, native name ligira, 180 

 m., Oct. 3, 1946, 17932. E. alata and its variety have a wide distribution in E. 

 Africa from the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to the Cape, and also occur in the French 

 Sudan and Chari. 



This variety has been frequently misidentified in herbaria as E. umbelliformis 

 Steetz, but a comparison between Steetz 1 descriptions of his f. vulgaris and var, 

 serratifolia will show that typical E. umbelliformis is so close to E. alata as to 

 not to be worth separating, even as a variety. For the main distinguishing char- 

 acters of var. serratifolia reference may be made to Steetz* description; though 

 none appear really constant, specimens may conveniently be sorted into those 

 showing marked tendencies towards one or the other. 



Brass 17932 was at any rate partly mixed: see Blumea aurita (L. f.) DC. ex 

 Wight. 



^Epaltes alata (Sond.) Steetz in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 452. 1863; Ethulia alata 

 Sond. Linnaea 23: 60. 1850; Epaltes umbelliformis Steetz incl. f. vulgaris Steetz in Peters, 

 Reise Mossamb. Bot. 452, 453. 1863. 



