6 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[Voi. 9, No. 1 



The five varieties of Ehretia cymosa recognised here may be summed up as 

 follows. The calyx and corolla may be small, coupled with puberulous or shortly 

 pubescent (var. cymosa) or with long-pubescent or long-pilose (var. zenkeri) 

 panicle-branches; or the calyx and corolla may be large, again coupled with 

 puberulous or shortly pubescent (var. divaricatd) or with long-pubescent or long- 

 pilose (var. silvatica) panicle-branches; var. abyssinica is near var. divaricata 

 but with even larger corollas. The small-flowered varieties are predominantly 

 west African, the var. cymosa extending to Uganda, while the large-flowered 

 varieties inhabit eastern Africa. 



There may be a densely pilose variant of var. abyssinica, bearing to it the 

 same relationship that var. silvatica does to var. divaricata, but the evidence 

 is at present not sufficient. Intermediates between all the varieties may be found. 



Heliotropium indicum L. Sp. PI. 130. 1753; Bak. & Wright in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. 

 Trop. Afr. 4 2 : 32. 1905. 

 Chikwawa District: Lower Mwanza River, on sandy riverbanks, herb 50-70 

 cm. high, stem simple, flowers white, 200 m., Oct. 3, 1946, 17929. Tropics of 

 Old and New Worlds. 



Heliotropium ovalifolium Forsk. Fl. Aegypt.-Arab. 38. 1775; Bak. & Wright in 

 Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr.. 4 2 : 34. 1905. 

 Chikwawa District: Lower Mwanza Fviver, on sandy beaches of river, herb 

 50 cm. high, grey-green, with ascending branches, corolla-lobes white, tube 

 yellow, 180 m., Oct. 4, 1946, 17973. Widespread in tropical Africa; also in Egypt, 

 Arabia, and India. 



Trichodesma physaloides (Fenzl) A. DC. in DC. Prodr. 10: 173. 1846; Bak. & 

 Wright in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 4 2 : 46. 1905; Brand, Pflanzenreich 

 78 (4 252 ): 22. 1921. 

 Friedrichsthalia physaloides Fenzl in Endl. & Fenzl, Nov. Stirp. 7: 54. 1839. 

 Dedza District: Dedza, frequent in Brachystegia woodland, perennial herb 

 40-50 cm. high, young shoots flowering after burning of the grass, rootstock 

 thick, fleshy, stems several, erect, flowers white, nodding, 1500 m., Sept. 13, 

 1946, 17624. Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, southwards to the Transvaal. 



Trichodesma hockii De Wild. Repert. Sp. Nov. 11: 546. 1913; Brand, Pflanzen- 

 reich 78 (4 252 ): 26. 1921. 



Kota-kota District: Kota-kota, flowers purple or pink, Aug. 1946, Vernay 

 17399. Belgian Congo, Tanganyika Territory, Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland, 

 N. and 8. Rhodesia. 



Much of the material named T. physaloides from south tropical Africa seems 

 better placed under T. hockii on account of the greater hairiness, broad sepals, 

 more condensed inflorescence, larger spreading corolla with larger points to the 

 lobes, etc. A few rather puzzling intermediates occur which may be hybrids, and 

 careful field-observations are wanted in this genus. 



Trichodesma zeylanicum (Burm. f.) R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. 496. 1810; Bak. 

 & Wright in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 4 2 : 51. 1905; Brand, Pflanzen- 

 reich 78 (4 252 ): 40. 1921. 

 Borago zeylanica Burm. f. Fl. Ind. 41. pi. 14, /. 2. 1768. 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, one example found in Brachystegia woodland, 

 herb 40 cm. high, stems reddish, more or less fleshy, flowers white, 1500 m., 

 June 6, 1946, 16280*. Tropics and subtropics of the Old World. 



