1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



43 



Bak., from which it is most abundantly distinct in the points mentioned in the 

 diagnosis above. Although the two species have similar foliage, and are readily 

 separated from other species by that alone, I feel that P. dissectus is not really 

 closely related to P. schizophyllus but is merely homoplastically similar. The 

 true position of P. dissectus must await a revision of Plectranthus. 



Plectranthus sanguineus Britten, Trans. Linn. Soc. II. Bot. 4: 36. 1894; Bak. in 

 Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 415. 1900. 

 Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, scattered over seepage- 

 wet rock-faces, shrub 50-200 cm. high, branches upright, thick and fleshy, leaves 

 fleshy, flowers purple, 1950 m., July 15, 1946, 16844, Confined to Nyasaland 

 and S. Rhodesia. 



Plectranthus crassus N. E. Br. Gard. Chron. III. 35: 21. 1904; Bot. Mag. pi 8030. 

 1905. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, shrub 50-80 cm. high, 

 branches few, fleshy, erect or ascending from a flattened tuberous base, leaves 

 fleshy, corolla, filaments and style bluish-purple, calyx blackish-purple, I960 m., 

 July 16, 1946, 16853. Endemic to Nyasaland. 



This species has up till now been only known from cultivated plants originat- 

 ing from Nyasaland. In my opinion P. crassus is much more nearly related to P. 

 sanguineus Britten than to P. albocaeruleus N. E. Br., the latter being the af- 

 finity suggested by Brown. 



Plectranthus (§ Coleoides) sp. 



Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, occasional in primary rain-forest, herb 40- 

 50 cm. high, aromatic, flowers blue, 1300 m., Sept. 20, 1946, 17660. 



Not exactly matched; I should like to see further material before deciding on 

 its relationship. 



Coleus scaposus C. H. Wright, Kew Bull. 1906: 167. 1906. 



Kota-kota District: Chintembwe, in rocky grasslands, perennial herb, aromatic, 

 roots tuberous, young shoots flowering after burning of the grass, flowers 

 brownish-green, 1400 m., Sept. 9, 1946, 17583*. Nyasaland and S. Rhodesia; 

 doubtful for N. Rhodesia. 



When mature leaves of C. scaposus are known, I suspect very much that it 

 will prove to be conspecific with Plectranthus buchananii Bak. I have dissected 

 a flower from the type of the latter, and it shows very clearly that the stamens 

 are connate at base into a long tube which is slit along the upper side; that it 

 is, in other words, a Coleus. The following transference is therefore made: Coleus 

 buchananii (Bak.) Brenan, comb. nov. (Plectranthus buchananii Bak. in Thiselton- 

 Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 5: 402. 1900). 



While investigating the limits of Coleus and Plectranthus, I found another 

 species described as a Plectranthus but having the stamens similarly united at 

 base: Coleus myrianthus (Briq.) Brenan, comb. nov. (Plectranthus myrianthus 

 Briq. Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 3: 1001. 1903. Coleus polyanthus S. Moore, Jour. Bot. 

 45: 96. 1907). This plant, from the Transvaal and S. Rhodesia, is near C. 

 thyrsoideus Bak. ex Hook. f. Bot. Mag. pi 7672 (1899), but has more acute calyx- 

 teeth, longer indumentum on the inflorescence, and differently toothed leaves. 



Coleus esculentus (N. E. Br.) G. Taylor, Jour. Bot. 69 (suppl. 2): 158. 1931. 

 Plectranthus esculentus N. E. Br. Kew Bull. 1894: 12. 1894. 

 Plectranthus floribundus N. E. Br. Kew Bull. 1894: 12. 1894. 



Plectranthus floribundus N. E. Br. var. longipes N. E. Br. Kew Bull. 1894: 13. 1894. 

 Coleus dazo A. Chev. Veg. Ut. Afr. Trop. Franc. 1: 126. 1905; Hutch. & Dalziel, Fl. 

 W. Trop. Afr. 2: 292. 1931. 



