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



Brass 17332 has thinly woody, much branched, puberulous stems; small gla- 

 brous leaves 2-5 mm. long, 1.5-2.5 mm. wide; dioecious flowers, d* only known; 

 sepals 5; disc-glands strongly warted; stamens 3, their filaments connate almost 

 their whole length; anthers dehiscing transversely. 



It keys down to P. arvensis Muell. Arg. but differs from that in the woody 

 puberulous stems, leaf-venation not much raised beneath, and the strongly warted 

 disc-glands. 



Drypetes natalensis (Harv.) Hutch, in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Cap. 5 2 : 404 o 1920; 

 Pax & K. Hoffm. Pflanzenreich 81 (4 147(15) ): 243. 1922. 

 Cyclostemon natalense Harv. Thes. Cap. 2: 64. pi. 200. 1863. 

 Cyclostemon major Pax, Bot. Jahrb. 34: 369. 1904. 



Drypetes major (Pax) Hutch, in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 6 1 : 689. 1912; Pax & 



K. Hoffm. Pflanzenreich 81 (4 147 (">): 246. 1922. 

 Drypetes zombensis Dunkley, Kew Bull. 1937: 468. 1937. 



Cholo District: Cholo, occasional in rain-forest, tree about 15 m. tall and 

 25 cm. in diameter, leaves convex, stiff, flowers greenish-white, borne in great 

 abundance on trunk and branches, 1100 m., Sept. 29, 1946, 17876. Kenya, Tan- 

 ganyika Territory, Zanzibar, Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland, and Natal. 



Pax and K. Hoffmann (I.e.) distinguish D. natalensis from D. major by leaf- 

 size (4-12 cm. long in the former, 10-25 cm. in the latter); this is utterly use- 

 less. Not only is the leaf-size variable, but also the length of the pedicels and 

 the number of stamens. I very much suspect that D. holtzii Pax & K. Hoffm. 

 Pflanzenreich 81 (4 147 ^ 5 ^): 243 (1922) is another mere synonym of D. natalensis. 



The ovary and fruit of D. natalensis and D. zombensis are tomentellous, and 

 specimens from as far north as Kenya also show this character. D. major was 

 described from cf plants, the ovary-clothing thus not being known. Two specimens 

 at Kew are however exactly D. natalensis except for a glabrous ovary, and I con- 

 sider that they represent a distinct variety: 



Drypetes natalensis (Harv.) Hutch, var. leiogyna Brenan, var. nov.; a typo 

 ovario glabro nec tomentello differt. 



KENYA COLONY: Coast Province, Kilifi District: Mida, ^ flowers round, white, 

 strongly scented, stigma 3-lobed, cf flowers white, 1.2 cm. in diameter, ^ flowers usually 

 borne on stems more than 2.5 cm. in diameter, cf flowers on small twigs as well as stems, 

 native name (Swa.) mgandama, R. M. Graham 2058 (Herb. Kew.). 



ZANZIBAR: Near Haitajawa Hill, fairly common, growing in a cave well, much branched 

 small tree to 4.5 m. high with white flowers produced in clusters on the stem andbranches, 

 4 Dec. 4930, Greenway 2653 (TYPUS varietatis in Herb. Kew.). 



Drypetes gerrardii Hutch, in Thiselton-Dyer, FL Cap. 5 2 : 405. 1920. 

 Drypetes battiscombei Hutch, Kew Bull. 1924: 201. 1924. 



Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, rain-forest substage, tree 6 m. high, 1400 m., 

 Sept. 27, 1946, 17837. Kenya, Natal, Pondoland, and now new to Nyasaland. 



Like the last species, this presents a demonstration that a species from east- 

 ern tropical Africa is the same as an earlier-described South African species. 

 The increasing frequency with which such a distribution is shown to exist is 

 assuredly significant for those considering the past history of the African flora. 



Uapaca nitida Muell. Arg. Flora 47: 517. 1864; Hutch, in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. 

 Trop. Afr. 6 1 : 639. 1912; Pax & K. Hoffm. Pflanzenreich 81 (4 147(15) ): 307. 

 1922; Duvigneaud, Bull. Inst. Roy. Col. 3elge 22: 888. 1949. 

 Mlanje District: Likubula Gorge, common in woodlands, tree 5-8 m. high, flow- 

 ers yellowish-green, fruits unripe, 840 m., June 20, 1946, 16375. Kota-kota Dis- 

 trict: Chia area, occasional on banks of waterholes in dry woodlands of lake- 

 plain, tree 8 m. high, fruits yellow-green, native name (Chinyanja) kasakoloe, 



