1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NY AS A LAND 



87 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, gregarious on slopes of ravines in rain- 

 forest, shrub 1.5-2 m. high, stem simple, erect or ascending, leaves numerous, 

 smooth and shining, midrib whitish beneath, fruits fleshy, orange-yellow, native 

 name (Chinyanja) ndiapimba, 1550 m., July 30, 1946, 17030*, D. fragrans is 

 widely distributed in the forest areas of tropical Africa, but has so far not been 

 correctly recorded from Nyasaland. 



Further and better specimens, with flowers, are wanted for complete certainty. 



Baker in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 441 (1898) cites under D. fragrans 

 some specimens from Nyasaland; none was rightly named, all being D. steudneri 

 Engl. I have little doubt that the same comment applies to the mention of D. 

 fragrans in Burtt Davy & Hoyle, Check-Lists For. Trees & Shrubs Brit. Emp. 2 

 (Nyasaland): 48 (1936). There is no doubt that 17030 is not D. steudneri, 



Dracaena steudneri Engl. Pflanzenw. Ost-Afr. C: 143. 1895. 



Dracaena fragrans sensu Bak. in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 441. 1898, quoad 

 spec, nyasana; non D. fragrans (L.) Ker-Gawl. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, in open places in rain-forest, tree up to 

 about 15 m. high, sparingly branched, leaf-margins white, flowers yellowish- 

 green, in large erect panicles over 1 m. long, 1500 m., Sept. 11, 1946, 17614. 

 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Belgian Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika Territory, 

 Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland, S. Rhodesia, and Angola. 



Dracaena laxissima Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 15: 478. 1893. 



Dracaena elliptica sensu Bak. in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 446. 1898; Burtt 

 Davy & Hoyle, Check-Lists For. Trees & Shrubs Brit. Emp. 2 (Nyasaland): 48. 

 1936; non D. elliptica Thunb. & Dalm. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, frequent in primary forest 

 undergrowth, shrub, several arched stems up to 7-8 m. long, 1890 m., July 12, 

 1946, 16806, Widespread in the forest areas of tropical Africa. 



Dracaena afro-montana Mildbr. Wiss. Ergebn. Deutsch. Zentr.-Afr.-Exp. 1907- 

 1908 2: 62. pi. 5, A-E. 1910. 

 North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, occasional in montane forest under- 

 growth, shrub 2-3 m. high, fruits green, 2250 m., Aug. 16, 1946, 17272*. Eastern 

 and central tropical Africa from the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (Imatong Mountains) 

 southwards to Nyasaland. 



LILIACEAE 



Asparagus virgatus Bak. in Saund. Ref. Bot. 3: pi. 214. 1870; in Thiselton-Dyer, 

 Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 426. 1898. 

 Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, edges of second-growth rain-forest, not com- 

 mon, herb about 1.5 m. high, slender, weak, 1500 m., June 5, 1946, 16263. Portu- 

 guese East Africa, Nyasaland, S. Rhodesia, and South Africa; according to 

 Weimarck (Bot. Notiser 1937: 445, 446. 1937) it extends to Kenya, though I have 

 not seen specimens from there. 



Asparagus phimosus Bak. Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 14: 613. 1875; in Thiselton-Dyer, 

 Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 430. 1898. 

 Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, common in open parts of 

 primary forest, slender scrambling species 2-3 m. high, little branched, rarely 

 fertile, 1800 m., July 8, 1946, 16729*. Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, among 

 rocks in Brachystegia woodland, shrub 1.5 m. high, subscandent, native name 

 (Chinyanja) sisilamanda, 1550 m., July 26, 1946, 16955. Cholo District: Cholo 

 Mountain, occasional in both primary and secondary rain-forest, scrambling shrub 



