1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NY AS ALAND 



19 



Kota-kota District: Kota-kota, on lake-shore, tree, flowers maroon with golden- 

 yellow, 460 m., Aug. 1946, Vernay 17400*. Chia area, common on alluvial soils 

 in dry woodlands of lake-plain, tree to 25 m. high and 75 cm. in diameter, fruit 

 30-40 cm. long, laterally compressed, flowers dark reddish wine-colour, native 

 name (Chinyanja) vunguti, 480 m., Sept. 4, 1946, 17532; ibid., common on alluvial 

 soils of dry lake-plain, tree to 25 m. and 75 cm. in diameter, branchlets some- 

 times myrmecophilous, panicles to over 1 m. long, pendent from swollen branches 

 or last pair of leafless branchlets, flowers dark reddish wine-colour, fruit 30-40 

 cm. long, laterally compressed, native name vunguti, 480 m., Sept. 7, 1946, 17557. 

 Kasungu District: Kasungu, scattered in old garden lands, tree about 15 m. high 

 and 40-50 cm. in diameter, shapely, deciduous, young leaves only, racemes 

 pendent, to 1 m. long, flowers maroon, visited by bats, lobes much crinkled, fruit 

 35-40 cm. long, grey, native name mvunguti, 1000 m., Aug. 27, 1946, 17444. 

 Chikwawa District: Lower Mwanza River, common on alluvial flats, tree 15-25 m. 

 high and to 0.6 m. in diameter, inner surface of flowers maroon, outer yellow- 

 green, fruit 40-50 cm. long, native name vunguti, 180 m., Oct. 4, 1946, 17947. 

 The variety in N. and S. Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Portuguese East Africa, and 

 Bechuanaland; the species in N. Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Portuguese East Africa, 

 Bechuanaland, the Transvaal, Swaziland, Natal, and Zululand. 



PEDALIACEAE 



Sesamum angolense Welw. Apont. Phyto-Geogr. 588. 1858; Trans. Linn. Soc. 

 27: 51. 1869; Stapf in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 4 2 : 555. 1906. 

 Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, common on open roadsides, shrub 2 m. 

 high, foetid, flowers mauve, showy, 1300 m., July 29, 1946, 17014. Uganda to 

 Nyasaland, N. Rhodesia, and Angola. 



ACANTHACEAE 47 



Thunbergia subalata Lindau, Bot. Jahrb. 17 (Beibl. 41): 38, 41. 1893. 



Dedza District: Dedza, sporadic in Bracbystegia woodland, subprostrate, 

 young shoots flowering after the burning of the grass, flower yellow, conspicuous, 

 1500 m., Sept. 13, 1946, 17631. Nyasaland and Nyassa Province of Portuguese 

 East Africa. 



Thunbergia alata Boj. ex Sims, Bot. Mag. 52: pi 2591. 1825. 



Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, frequent in rain-forest regrowths, vine 2 m. 

 high, flowers pale yellow with purple throat, 1200 m., Sept. 19, 1946, 17655. 

 Widely spread throughout tropical Africa, south to Natal; introduced into other 

 tropical countries. 



The species is a common and variable one. Mr. Brass' specimen lacks the 

 wing to the petiole, which places it in either var. vixalata Burkill or var. reticulata 

 (Nees) Burkill (see Burkill in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 16, 17. 1899). In 

 indumentum the specimen approaches the former of these two varieties, but the 

 indumentum character, being a quantitative one, is not satisfactory. The veins on 

 the lower surface of the leaves agree well with var. retinervia Burkill (in 

 Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 17), but the bracteoles are not apiculate. Since 

 there is, in the plentiful material now preserved at Kew, a complete gradation 

 from strongly winged petioles to petioles that are without wings, I find that none 

 of these varieties can satisfactorily be maintained. 



Nelsonia canescens (Lam.) Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 42. 1825. 

 justicia canes c ens Lam. Tab. Encyc. 1: 41. 1791. 

 Nelsonia campestris R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. 481. 1810. 



By E. Milne-Redhead, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 



