1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NY AS ALAND 



497 



beneath, flowers white, 2100 m., July 9, 1946, 26751*; ibid., common on forest 

 edges, tree or shrub 2-5 m. high, flowers white, or pink, 1890 m., July 13, 1946, 

 16816, The variety in Nyasaland, the typical plant in the Transvaal. 



Hutchinson (Bot. S. Afr. 351-353. 1946) sinks, rightly I believe, V. africanum 

 Britten under V. exul Bolus, recognising, however, that the two differed in the 

 clothing of the young branchlets. Sleumer (Bot. Jahrb. 71: 416. 1941) fails to 

 mention V. exul, but gives Nyasaland and the Transvaal as the area for V. 

 africanum. 



I agree with Hutchinson that there appears to be nothing except the indumen- 

 tum to separate V. exul from V. africanum, and that this is not of specific signifi- 

 cance. However the difference, such as it is, appears to be very constant, and I 

 believe that V. africanum should be treated as a variant of V. exul % Comparative 

 diagnoses may be helpful: 



V. exul (typicum); ramuli juveniles, petioli et costae subtus manifeste et 

 densiuscule pubescentes. Transvaal. 



Vo exul var. africanum', ramuli juveniles, petioli et costae glabri vel valde 

 minute et inconspicue puberuli. Nyasaland. 



MYRSIN ACEAE 



Maesa lanceolata Forsk. Fl, Aegypt.-Arab. CVI, 66. 1775; Mez, Pflanzenreich 

 9( 4 236 ): 26. 1902. 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, frequent on rain-forest borders, tree 5-7 m. 

 high, flowers greenish-white, 1450 m., June 3, 1946,' 16179. North Nyasa Dis- 

 trict: Nyika Plateau, occasional on edges of montane forest of escarpment, tree 

 6-8 m. high, fruit immature, 2200 m., Aug. 17, 1946, 17290. Cholo District: Cholo 

 Mountain, occasional in secondary rain-forest, tree 8-10 m. high, flowers white, 

 native name (Chinyanja) ndiasongwe, 1200 m<>, Sept. 25, 1946, 17804. Widespread 

 in tropical Africa, extending to South Africa, Madagascar, and Arabia, 



Maesa sp. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, common on forest-edges, 

 tree to 10 m. high and 25 cm. in diameter, fruit green, 1890 m., July 6, 1946, 

 26699. 



Near M. lanceolata Forsk. but with larger fruits 5-6 mm. in diameter, as 

 against 3-4 mm. (when dry). Further collection is desired. 



Myrsine africarta L. Sp. PI. 196. 1753; Mez, Pflanzenreich 9 (4 23< ): 340. 1902. 



Mlarje District: Mlanje Mountain, southwest ridge, in stunted forest in a gully, 

 tree or shrub 3-4 m. high, branches slender, upright, fruit black when ripe, 2120 

 m., June 28, 1946, 16520; Luchenya Plateau, common on forest borders, shrub 

 1-3 m. high, 1890 m., July 14, 1946, 16839. North Nyasa District; Nyika Plateau, 

 in second-growth forest, shrub 1.5 m. high, flowers red, 2340 m., Aug. 12, 1946, 

 17190; ibid., common on edges of montane forest of escarpment, shrub 2-3 m. 

 high, flowers green, anthers red, fruit reddish, 2100 m., Aug. 17, 1946, 17289. 



Rapanea melanophleos (L.) Mez, Pflanzenreich 9 (4 236 ): 375. 1902. 

 Sideroxylon melanophleos L. Mant. 48. 1767. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, frequent on edges of 

 primary forest, tree about 6-8 m. high, flowers whitish, 1890 m., July 13, 1946, 

 16815. Tanganyika Territory to South Africa, 



An unusually small-leaved and slender-petioled form, apparently the same as 

 Stolz 2424 from SW. Tanganyika Territory, and Wild 1430, 1461 from Inyanga, S. 

 Rhodesia, all in Herb. Kew. 



