488 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[VW. 8, No. 5 



Centaurea ? praecox .Oliv. & Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 438. 1877; Philipson, 

 Jour. Bot. 77: 231. 1939. 



Kota-kota District: Chenga Hill, sporadic in low open Brachystegia woodland, 

 perennial herb to 60 cm. high, rootstock woody, deeply rooted, young shoots flow- 

 ering after burning of the grass, florets white with purple anthers, 1600 m., Sept. 

 9, 1946, 17595.* Widely distributed in tropical Africa, but not previously re- 

 corded from Nyasaland, though there is at Kew a very poor, leafless Nyasaland 

 specimen that may be C. praecox. 



The separation of C. praecox from C. rhizocephala Oliv. & Hiern seems 

 scarcely possible without mature foliage, which is too imperfectly shown by Mr. 

 Brass' specimen. 



Pleiotaxis pulcherrima Steetz in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 500. pi. 51. 1863; 

 Oliv. & Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 440. 1877; S. Moore, Jour. Bot. 

 63: 44. 1925. 



Blantyre District: Blantyre, in Brachystegia woodland, perennial herb 25-30 

 cm. high, stems several, erect, stem and lower side of leaves greyish, flower 

 faded, colour not. seen, 1100 m., June 17, 1946, 16337. Tanganyika Territory to 

 Angola; new to Nyasaland. 



Dicoma sessiliflora Harv. in Harv. & Sond. Fl. Cap. 3: 518. 1865; Oliv. & Hiern 

 in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 444. 1877; F. C. Wilson, Kew Bull. 1923: 386. 

 1923. 



Blantyre District: Blantyre, in Brachystegia woodland, herb 40 cm. high, flow- 

 ers yellow, 1100 m., June 17, 1946, 16344** Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, 

 occasional in Brachystegia woodland, perennial herb 60-80 cm. high, flowers 

 yellow, outer bracts green with white margins and purple tips, inner bracts white, 

 1400 m., July 24, 1946, 1690L Mpofu, Bua River, herb in Brachystegia woodland, 

 975 m., Aug. 1, 1946, Vernay 17093. The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, southward to 

 So Rhodesia and westward to Nigeria. 



Dicoma pygmaea Hutch. Bot. S. Afr. 526. 1946. 



Kasungu District: Kasungu, hidden among long grass in Brachystegia wood- 

 land, herb 4-7 cm. high, flowers yellowish-green, bracts green with white margins, 

 1000 m., Aug. 26, 1946, 17425. Nyasaland and N. Rhodesia; possibly in Tan- 

 ganyika Territory. 



Gerberia 39 abyssinica Schultz-Bip ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 458. 1848; 

 Oliv. & Hiern in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 445. 1872. 

 North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, sporadic in open grassland, perennial 

 herb 10-15 cm. high, flowering shoots appearing after the burning of the grass, 

 flowers *£>ink, 2400 m., Aug. 11, 1946, 17163*', ibid., plentiful in open grasslands, 

 perennial herb, flowers pink, 2560 m,, Aug. 18, 1946, 17312.* Kota-kota Dis- 

 trict: Chenga Hill, sporadic in low open Brachystegia woodland, perennial herb 

 to 30 cm. high, young shoots flowering after the burning of the grass, flowers 

 pale purple, 1600 m., Sept. 9, 1946, 17599. Abyssinia to Nyasaland and S. 

 Rhodesia. 



Gerberia piloselloides (L.) Cass. Diet. Sci. Nat. 18: 461. 1820; Oliv. & Hiern in 

 Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. 3: 445. 1877. 

 Arnica piloselloides L. PI. A.fr. Rar. 22. 1760. 



Dedza District: Dedza, common in moist depressions in Brachystegia wood- 

 land, perennial herb about 30 cm. high, flowers and young leaver produced after 



"This is the spelling adopted by Cassini in Diet. Sci. Nat. 18: 459 (1820), and is 

 evidently deliberate. 



