480 



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



of A. brachyphylla are scarcely erose~ciliolate at the apex, as they are in A. 



vernayi. 



Melanthera scandens (Schumach. & Thonn.) Brenan, comb. nov. 



Buphthalmum scandens Schumach. & Thonn. Beskr. Guin. PI. 392. 1827; non Buphthal- 

 mum scandens Veil. Fl. Flum. 8: 132. 1830-31? 

 Lipotriche brownei DC. Prodr. 5: 544. 1836. 

 Melantbera brownei (DC.) Schultz-Bip. Flora 27: 673. 1844. 



Kota°kota District: Benga, west shore of Lake Nyasa, plentiful in moist de- 

 pressions behind beach, herb 1—1.5 m. high, flowers yellow, 470 m., Sept. 2, 

 1946, 17501. Widely distributed in tropical Africa. 



The earliest epithet is provided by Buphthalmum scandens Schumach. & 

 Thonn. and I am grateful to the authorities of the Botanical Museum at Copen- 

 hagen for sending on loan to me the good and unmistakeable type of this. Vel- 

 lozo's B, scandens was published in the eighth volume of the Flora fluminensis, 

 all of whose volumes bear the same date, 1827, which is also the year of publi- 

 cation of Schumacher and Thonning's B. scandens. Prima facie it would seem 

 unlikely that the eleven weighty volumes of the Flora fluminensis were all got 

 out in 1827, and that this suspicion is well-founded is confirmed in Rodriguesia 

 3: 77 et seq. (1937). In a letter dated 14 January 1950 from Fr. Thomaz 

 Borgmeier, O.F.M., of the Revista de entomologia, Rio de Janeiro, to Dr. Alicia 

 Lourteig, he writes [translated!: "From the documents I have at my disposition, 

 I see that in November 1829 there arrived at Rio de Janeiro the plates belonging 

 to the first volume of the Flora fluminensis. Thereupon there was prepared a 

 prospectus announcing the publication of the work. The rest of the plates ar- 

 rived between 1830 and July 1831. But it is not possible for me to state the 

 exact date of each delivery." 



From this it is clear that B„ scandens Veil, was not published at least before 

 1830-31, and that it is a later homonym of B u scandens Schumach. & Thonn e , 

 which must accordingly be taken up for the African plant. 



Spilanthes mauritiana (Rich, ex Pers.) DC. Prodr. 5: 625. 1836; A. H. Moore, 

 Proc. Am. Acad. 42: 541. 1907. 

 Acmella mauritiana Rich, ex Pers. Syn. PI. 2; 472. 1907. 

 Spilanthes acmella sensu auct. afr.; non 5". acmella (L.) Murr. 



Kota-kota District: Benga, west shore of Lake Nyasa, occasional on sandy 

 beaches, prostrate herb, flowers yellow, 470 m., Sept. 2, 1946, 17489. Tropical 

 and South Africa, Madagascar, and the Mascarenes. 



This has been much confused with the Asiatic plant hitherto called S. acmella 

 (L.) Murr., the right name for which is S. paniculata Wall, ex DC; see Koster & 

 Philipst>n, Blumea 6: 349-354 (1950). 



Guizotia scabra (Vis.) Chiov. Ann. 1st. Bot. Roma 8: 184. 1903 (Pirotta, FL 

 Eritrea). 



Veslingia scabra Vis. Nuov. Sagg. Acc. Sci. Padova 5: 269. 1840. 



Guizotia schultzii Schultz-Bip. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 407. 1848; Oliv. & 



Hiem in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 385. 1877. 

 Guizotia nyikensis Bak. Kew Bull. 1898: 153. 1898. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, Nchena-chena Spur, common and con- 

 spicuous in open grasslands, herb 60-80 cm. high, somewhat v.iscid, flowers yel- 

 low, 2000 m., Aug. 20, 1946, 17363. Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, abundant 

 in marshy hollows in Brachystegia woodland, herb 1 m. high, flowers yellow, 

 showy, native name (Chinyanja) sosogi, 1200 m., Sept. 26, 1946, 17822. Widely 

 distributed in tropical Africa. 



I cannot distinguish G. nyikensis Bak. from G. scabra. 



