1954} 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



499 



them specifically. The only difference is that the ultimate venation of the leaves 

 of Pouteria tridentata is more impressed and hence more conspicuous; at present 

 I am not willing to admit that alone as a reason for separation. 



In rejecting Baehni's wholesale amalgamation of African sapotaceous genera 

 under Pouteria Aubl., I recognise that the delimitation of genera in this family 

 is often fiendishly difficult and very much a matter of opinion. But at the same 

 time I remain unconvinced that the proposed fusion is going to clear the air and 

 make identification easier. 



Mimusops sp. 



Mlanje District: Likubula Gorge, in riparian rain-forest, shapely dark-foliaged 

 tree 8 m. high, sap milky, fruit unripe, 840 m., June 20, 1946, 16366, 

 Flowering material is wanted for certain identification. 



EBENACEAE 



Royena macrocalyx Gurke in Engl, Pflanzenw. Ost-Afr. C: 305. 1895; B. L. Burtt, 

 Kew Bull. 1935: 286, 287. 1935. 

 Chikwawa District: Chikwawa, common locally in Acacia albida woodland, 

 tree or shrub 4-6 m. high, deciduous, young leaves only, flowers green, fruit 20- 

 25 mm. in diameter, globose or depressed-globose, orange, edible, 200 m., Oct. 

 3, 1946, 17925. Kenya, Tanganyika Territory, Nyasaland, and Portuguese East 

 Africa. 



Royena sericea Bernh. Flora 27: 824. 1844. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje, on a termite mound in Brachystegia woodland, tree 

 or shrub 4-5 m. high, flowers yellowish, 750 m., Sept. 30, 1946, 17882. N. Rho- 

 desia and Nyasaland to South Africa. 



Royena lucida L. Sp. PI. 397 (1753) var. whyteana (Hiern) De Winter & Brenan, 

 stat. nov. 



Royena whyteana Hiern, Trans. Linn. Soc. II. Bot. 4: 25. 1894. 

 Royena goetzei Gurke, Bot. Jahrb. 30: 372. 1901. 

 Royena nyassae Gurke, Bot. Jahrb. 30: 373. 1901. 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, in riparian rain-forest, tree 4-6 m. high, fruit 

 and inflated calyx green, 1680 m., May 31, 1946, 16101. Mlanje District: Mlanje 

 Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, occasional on edges of primary forest patches, tree 

 about 10 m. high and about 25 cm. in diameter, leaves glossy above, dull beneath, 

 fruiting calyx green, fruit soft, purple, 1890 m., July 2, 1946, 16623. Kota-kota 

 District* Nchisi Mountain, occasional on edges of rain-forest, tree 5-8 m. high, 

 compact and shapely, fruiting calyx green or reddish, ripe fruit blackish-purple, 

 soft and fleshy, 1650 ra., July 31, 1946, 17055. North Nyasa District: Nyika Pla- 

 teau, on edge of montane forest, tree 5 m. high, fruiting calyx green, fruit imma- 

 ture, 2250 m., Aug. 16, 1946, 17252 a The variety in Tanganyika Territory, Nyasa- 

 land, and S. Rhodesia; the species extending to South Africa. 



R. whyteana, or, as it has been more usually named, R. nyassae, has been 

 hitherto accepted as a species distinct from R. lucida. The only distinction 

 between the South African R. lucida and the tropical R. whyteana seems to be 

 shortly triangular sepals of the former contrasted with the elongate-triangular 

 sepals of the latter. This, although a small point, is readily observed. We there- 

 fore feel that R. whyteana should be treated as a variety of R. lucida, and the 

 necessary transfer is made above. 



Diospyros kirkii Hiern, Trans. Cambr. Philos. Soc. 12: 199. 1873. 



Chikwawa District: Chikwawa, common in Comhretum.-Sterculia woodlands on 

 stony ridges, tree 6-8 m. high, fruit soft, orange-coloured, eaten by natives, native 



