1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NY AS ALAND 



85 



50 cm. high, flowers white, the sepals tinged with pink, 1500 m., June 5, 1946, 

 16248*. Portuguese East Africa and Nyasaland. 



G. zambesiacus is very closely related to G. laccatus Thunb. Prodr. PI. Cap. 

 186 (1800; N.E.Br. Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 48: 24. 1928. G. villosus Ker-Gawl. 

 Irid. Gen. 133. 1827; Bak. in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Cap. 6: 149. 1896). 



G. laccatus comes from the Coast Region of South Africa. G. zambesiacus 

 has the leaf-sheaths, and often the produced leaves also, puberulous with a short 

 down which scarcely overtops the longitudinal ribs among which it lies, while G. 

 laccatus is pubescent or pilose with much longer hairs which are usually more 

 abundant than the downiness of G. zambesiacus. 



Gladiolus crassifolius Bak. Jour. Bot. 14: 334. 1876; in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Cap. 

 6: 150. 1896; Weim. Bot. Notiser 1937: 179. 1937. 

 Gladiolus gazensis Rendle, Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 40: 210. 1911. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; west slope, one plant in open grassland, 

 herb 50 cm. high, flowers purple, 1830 m., June 21, 1946, 16401*. Portuguese 

 East Africa and S. Rhodesia, southwards to South Africa; not previously recorded 

 from Nyasaland, but a hitherto unnamed specimen at Kew (G. Adamson 336, 

 Mlanje Mountain) is the same species. 



Gladiolus psittacinus Hook. Bot. Mag. pi. 3032. 1830. 



Gladiolus quartinianus A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 306. 1850-1851; Bak. in Thiselton- 

 Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 371. 1898. 



Blantyre District: Blantyre, in Brachystegia woodlands, 80 cm. high, flowers 

 coral-rose, 1100 m., June 17, 1946, 16345*. Widespread in tropical and South 

 Africa. 



For a note on the naming and variation of this species see Weimarck, Bot. 

 Notiser 1937: 180 (1937). 



Gladiolus sp. ? 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain, one example on open bank of forest stream, 

 perennial herb 130 cm. high, one stem, erect, flowers white, conspicuous, July 

 5, 1946, 16669*. 



This is a perplexing and unfortunately unicate specimen. 



It is near to G. bellus C. H. Wright, Kew Bull. 1906: 169 (1906), whose type- 

 locality is Mlanje Mountain, and which has also been discovered on the Zomba 

 Plateau. The Vernay Nyasaland Expedition did not refind G. bellus. Brass 16669 

 differs from G. bellus in its broader leaves 1-1.5 cm. wide (not 0.4-0.6 cm. as 

 in G. bellus), and longer corolla-tube 8-9 cm. long (not 3.5-5 as in G. bellus), 

 pure white and not marked with light purple. 



As far as flowers and foliage are concerned 16669 might well be referred to 

 the genus Acidanthera, although I cannot exactly match it there. It comes nearest 

 to A. aequinoctialis (Herb.) Bak. Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 16: 160 (1877); in 

 Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 358 (1898; Gladiolus aequinoctialis Herb, in 

 Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1842: Misc. 85. 1842). Brass 16669 differs from A. aequinoctialis, 

 which comes from Sierra Leone, in the more pronounced cartilaginous margins to 

 the leaves and, judging from Mr. Brass* notes, in the flowers* lacking a mauve 

 centre. 



All this, of course, adds weight to Miss G. J. Lewis' opinion that Acidanthera 

 cannot be upheld as a genus distinct from Gladiolus (see Jour. S. Afr. Bot. 7: 25. 

 1941). I must here thank my colleague Mr. R. B. Drummond who has drawn my 

 attention to Miss Lewis' paper, and has also kindly given me his view on Brass 

 16669. 



