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



(Chinyanja) naindajera, 1200 m., Sept. 26, 1946, 17820. The species and the 

 variety widespread in the mountains of eastern and central Africa, extending west- 

 wards to the British Cameroons. 



Dr. K. H. Rechinger, to whom I am very grateful for examining this specimen, 

 writes that it is not possible to reach a final decision at present about the treat- 

 ment of the African representatives of R. nepalensis. "So I think it will be best 

 to enumerate Brass 17820 under the provisional name R. bequaerti De Wild. var. 

 quarrel (De Wild.) Robyns as proposed by you, which is certainly correct. The 

 question still open is whether quarrei should be treated as an independent spe- 

 cies, a subspecies or a variety. When I described R. camptodon in 1932 [Beih. 

 Bot. Centralbl. 49 2 : 76] I did not know R. bequaerti De Wild., 1929, and, if R. 

 bequaerti is accepted in a broader limitation, R. camptodon has to be regarded 

 as a synonym." 



PODOSTEMACEAE" 



Sphaerothylax wageri G. Taylor, Jour. Bot. 76: 112. 1938. 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, abundant on wet rocks of a waterfall, herb 

 3-6 cm. high, more or less fleshy, green or reddish, 1200 m., May 26, 1946, 

 16036; ibid., covering wet rocks of a cascade in rain-forest, herb 5-10 cm. high, 

 fleshy, brownish-red, thallus branched, green, branches 1.5-2 mm. wide, too 

 closely attached to rocks to be collected, 1500 m., June 7, 1946, 16301. South- 

 east tropical Africa, from southern Tanganyika Territory through Nyasaland and 

 N. and S. Rhodesia, and extending beyond the tropics to the Lydenburg District 

 of the Transvaal. 



HYDROSTACHYACEAE" 



Hydrostachys polymorpha Klotzsch in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 506. pi. 

 53. 1863. 



Cholo District: East slopes of Cholo Mountain, Nswadzi River, plentiful on 

 rocks in running water, herb, branches 60-90 cm. long, totally submerged and 

 streaming in the water, plant green, fleshy, sterile, 840 m., Sept. 18, 1946, 17642. 

 Nswadzi River, plentiful on rocks in fast-running water, herb, submerged except 

 for erect spikes, base of stems reddish, 840 m., Sept. 27, 1946, 17841; ibid., on 

 rocks in fast-running river, 840 m., Sept. 29, 1946, 17863*. Southeast tropical 

 Africa: Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland, and the neighbouring regions of N. 

 and S. JRhodesia. 



PIPERACEAE 



Piper capense L. f. Suppl. PI. 90. 1781; Balle, Bull. Jard. Bot. Brux. 16: 370. 

 1942. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, frequent in moist gullies in rain-forest, 

 shrub 2 m. high, pungently aromatic, flower-spikes white, fruit green, 1550 ra., 

 July 30, 1946, 17041. North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, frequent in montane 

 forest undergrowth, shrub 2-3 m. high, leaf-nerves reddish-brown beneath, fruit 

 green, 2250 m., Aug. 16, 1946, 17259. Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, abundant 

 in rain-forest undergrowth, shrub 2-4 m. high, aromatic, flower-spikes white, fruit 

 green, 1200 m., Sept. 24, 1946, 17781. Widespread particularly in the mountainous 

 regions of tropical Africa. 



Piper brachyrhachis C. H. Wright in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 6 1 : 147. 1909; 

 Balle, Bull. Jard. Bot. Brux. 16: 373. 1942. 



By Dr. G. Taylor, British Museum (Natural History). 



