30 



s 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN [Vol. 9, No. 1 



2 cm. fruits smooth or roughened; corolla-tube 2.5—5 mm. long, 

 longest corolla-lobe 2-3 mm. long (W. goetzei). 

 Stems and main inflorescence-branches clothed with lax very flex- 

 uous ± deflexed hairs normally equalling or exceeding the 

 diameter of the inflorescence-branches; fruits distinctly mu- 

 riculate (? always). 6. W. goetzei var. goetzei. 



Stems and main inflorescence-branches clothed with longer dense 

 patent hairs straight or nearly so and equalling or exceeding 

 the diameter of the inflorescence-branches. 6. W. goetzei var. pubescentior. 

 Stems and main inflorescence-branches very shortly crisped- 

 pubescent, the hairs shorter than the diameter of the inflores- 

 cence-branches; fruits smooth or slightly roughened (? always). 



6. W. goetzei var. brevipila. 

 Inflorescence a lax sometimes one-sided ± elongate pyramidal panicle 

 of heads or spikes often extending to near the base of the stems. 

 Corolla-tube 2.5 mm. long, longest lobe about 1 mm. long; lateral calyx- 

 lobes elliptic-oblong, dorsal lobe linear-oblong, obtuse; leaves on 

 main stem mostly 1-2 cm. long. 7. W. schinzii. 



Corolla-tube 1-1.25 (-1.5) mm. long, longest lobe about 0.5-0.8 mm. 

 long; lateral calyx-lobes narrowly oblong, dorsal lobe filiform-acute 

 or absent; leaves on main stem often (not always) less than 1 cm. 

 long. - 8. W. paniculata. 



Inflorescence a dense narrow elongate spike-like panicle, often somewhat 

 interrupted at base; stems densely grey-puberulous; leaves linear, 

 glabrous or sparsely puberulous, fasciculate. 9. W. alopecuroid.es, 



Selago L. emend. Rolfe. 



Selago sect. Genuinae E. Mey. Comm. PI. Afr. Austr. 254. 1837. 



Selago sect. Euselago Endl. Gen. 641. 1839; Choisy in DC. Prodr. 12: 8. 1848; Wettst. 

 in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenf. 4*: 82. 1891. 



Calyx 5-lobed. 



la. Selago thomsoni Rolfe var. caerulea (Rolfe) Brenan, comb. nov. 

 Selago caerulea Rolfe in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 267. 1900. 

 Selago viscosa Rolfe in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 267. 1900. 

 Selago tenuicaulis Rolfe in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 268. 1900. 

 Selago melleri Rolfe in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 268. 1900. 

 Selago blantyrensis Rolfe in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 268. 1900. 

 Selago mcclouniei Rolfe, Kew Bull. 1908: 262. 1908. 



Folia caulina plerumque (1.5-) 2-5 mm. lata, anguste lanceolata usque lineari- 

 lanceolata. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, Nchena-chena Spur, occasional in shrub- 

 beries on grassland, shrub 1-1.5 m. tall, erect, sparingly branched, aromatic, 

 flowers^ lilac, 1700 m., Aug. 10, 1946, 17149, Nyika Plateau, grassland bordering 

 montane forest, not common, shrub 60 cm. high, flowers lavender, 2350 m., Aug. 

 17, 1946, 17279. 



S. thomsoni var. caerulea, as interpreted here, is found only in Nyasaland and 

 southwestern Tanganyika Territory. The type of var. caerulea is the same as that 

 of S. caerulea Rolfe: Wbyte 145 from the Nyika Plateau. 



I am unable to see satisfactory differences between any of the six species 

 here amalgamated. The "viscous-pubescent" stems and leaves of S. viscosa 

 Rolfe appear to be caused by nothing more than good old herbarium glue, perhaps 

 still tacky when Rolfe described his S. viscosa. Thus finely have the specific 

 limits been drawn in Selago, 



lb. Selago thomsoni Rolfe var. thomsoni. 



Selago thomsoni Rolfe in Oliv. Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. ^j.: 402. 1885, sensu stricto. 

 Selago johnstoni Rolfe, Trans. Linn. Soc. II. Bot. 2: 344. 1887. 

 Selago holstii Rolfe in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 269. 1900. 

 Selago buchananii Rolfe in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 269. 1900. 



