1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



25 



Kota-kota District: Benga, west shore of Lake Nyasa, on sandy beach, herb 

 50 cm. high, ascending, leaves few, flowers white, the lower lip marked with 

 purple, 470 m., Sept. 2, 1946, 17491. Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, frequent in 

 young rain-forest regrowths, ascending herb about 50 cm. high, flowers white, 

 the lower lip marked with purple, 120 m., Sept. 25, 1946, 17808. Widely spread 

 in eastern and southern tropical Africa. 



Isoglossa milanjiensis S. Moore, Trans. Linn. Soc. II. Bot. 4: 33. 1894. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, occasional in rain-forest 

 second growths, herb 1-2 m. high, branches numerous, weak, corolla lobes white, 

 tube and filaments red, 1800 m., June 25, 1946, 16422. Endemic on Mlanje 

 Mountain. 



This species is known hitherto only from the type gathering. Mr. Brass' speci- 

 men does not agree exactly with Whyte's, the bracts being somewhat narrower 

 and the bracts, bracteoles, and calyx-lobes less conspicuously ciliate. 



Isoglossa strigulosa C. B. Clarke in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 231. 1900. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, in montane forest undergrowth, herb 

 1-1.5 m. high, flowers white flecked with purple, fruit on 3 specimens only, 2340 

 m., Aug. 19, 1946, 17341. Endemic in Nyasaland. 



Here again the species is known hitherto only from the type gathering, which 

 was made by Whyte on the Masuku Plateau in July 1896, just 50 years earlier. 



Rhinacanthus gracilis Klotzsch in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 218, 1861. 

 P seuderanthemum dichotomum Lindau, Bot. Jahrb. 22: 40. 1894. 



Rhinacanthus communis sensu C. B. Clarke in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 224. 

 1900, pro parte, excl. spec, ex Afr. occ; non R. communis Nees. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, gregarious in a moist forest ravine, herb 

 30-50 cm. high, ascending, leaves very dark green, flowers pinkish-white, lower 

 lip spotted with mauve, 1550 m., July 30, 1946, 17036. Chikwawa District: Chik- 

 wawa, scattered on creek flats in dry woodland, perennial herb 30-50 cm. high, 

 flowers yellowish-white, 300 m., Oct. 5, 1946, 17979. Widely spread in southern 

 Africa; also in Tanganyika Territory and southeastern Kenya. 



R. gracilis Klotzsch has long been confused both with the Indian species, R. 

 nasutus (L.) Kurz, commonly known as R. communis Nees, and with the West and 

 Equatorial African species hitherto known both as R. communis and as R. dewevrei 

 De Wild. & Th. Dur. 



As here recognized, R. gracilis is a variable species in many respects. The 

 leaves may be cuneate or rounded at the base, the corolla-tube straight or faintly 

 S-shaped, the corolla white or cream, unmarked or finely speckled with pinkish 

 mauve; the capsule and seeds vary in size. It may eventually be possible to 

 separate out certain subspecific taxa, but a good deal more material and informa- 

 tion will have to be available before this is possible. At the northern end of its 

 range, R. gracilis is restricted to the coastal district and here seems to be con- 

 siderably less plastic. The leafless terminal panicle serves to distinguish R. 

 gracilis from its allies. 



Anisotes formosissimus (Klotzsch) Milne-Redhead, comb. nov. 



Adhatoda jormosissima Klotzsch in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 215. 1861. 

 Symplectochilus formosissimus (Klotzsch) Lindau, Bot. Jahrb. 20: 45. 1894. 

 Macrorungia formosissima (Klotzsch) C. B. Clarke in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 

 5: 255. 1900. 



Chikwawa District: Chikwawa, abundant in dry bushy forest of elevated river 

 plain, shrub about 1 m. high, stem glaucous, 200 m.. Oct. 2, 1946, 17905*. Por- 

 tuguese East Africa and S. Rhodesia. 



