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



13-15 mm. long and 3.5-4 mm. wide. I can detect no other clear differences be- 

 tween these groups and I consider them conspecific, although perhaps varietally 

 distinct. 



Albuca ? nyikensis Bak. Kew Bull. 1897: 286. 1897; in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. 

 Afr. 7: 530. 1898. 



Kota-kota District: Nchisi Mountain, sporadic in gullies in Bracbystegia wood- 

 land, herb 1.5 m. high, leaves flaccid, involute, appearing tubular, bulb pinkish 

 when cut, flower-segments green with broad white margins, 1400 m., July 29, 

 1946, 17015. Nyasaland, and probably also in Portuguese East Africa. 



Our plant has fewer-flowered inflorescences than typical A. nyikensis, and 

 probably equals Rogers 10267 in Herb. Kew. from Portuguese East Africa. At 

 present there is too little material to know how important this discrepancy is. 



Albuca ? p achy chl amy s Bak. in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Cap. 6: 458. 1897. 



Kota-kota District: Chenga Hill, shallow rocky soil in Bracbystegia woodland, 

 herb, bulb 3.5-6 cm. in diameter, segments pale brown with white margins, 1600 

 m., Sept. 9, 1946, 17606*. For geography, see note below. 



Brass 17606 is conspecific with a few specimens at Kew from N. Rhodesia 

 (Mumbwa, Mrs. Macaulay 864, Mazabuka, Trapnell 515) and Kenya (between 

 Kibwezi and Chyulu Hills, Teophilo 7592). These specimens have the peduncle 

 more pronouncedly geniculate below the inflorescence than in typical A. pa* 

 cbycblamys from the Transvaal and Swaziland. More material is wanted to see if 

 it is really all one species. 



Albuca melleri (Bak.) Bak. in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 532. 1898. 

 Ornithogalum melleri Bak. Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 13: 280. 1873. 



Kota-kota District: Chia area, common locally in sandy woodlands of lake- 

 plain, perennial herb 30-60 cm. high, the first bulbous plant to appear after burn- 

 ing of the grass, bulb yellow, flower-segments green with yellowish-green margins, 

 480 m., Sept. 1, 1946, 17476. Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland, and S. Rho- 

 desia, and possibly occurring further north. 



Eucomis zambesiaca Bak. Gard. Chron. II. 25: 9. 1886; in Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. 

 Trop. Afr. 7: 528. 1898. 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, common in open grasslands, herb 30-40 cm. 

 high, bulb brownish-black, shining, leaves fleshy, flaccid, spreading flat on the 

 ground, flowers not seen, raceme surmounted by a cluster of yellow bracts, 1800 

 m., May 31, 1946, 16145. Nyasaland and S. Rhodesia. 



I cannot help suspecting that, when this genus is revised, the characters 

 alleged to separate E. zambesiaca from E. undulata Ait. Hort. Kew. 1: 433 (1789; 

 see Baker's original description of E. zambesiaca) will be found insufficient. 

 Certainly the length and density of the racemes and the length of the pedicels do 

 not seem to work. 



XYRIDACEAE 



Xyris leptophylla Malme, Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 6: 549. 1912. 



Kota-kota District: Chia area, plentiful on moist grassy edges of marshes, 

 herb 60-80 cm. high, leaves and scapes spirally twisted, flowers yellow, 480 m., 

 Sept. 1, 1946, 17474. Belgian Congo (Katanga), N. Rhodesia, and Nyasaland, for 

 which this is the first record. 



Xyris makuensis N.E.Br, in Thiselton-Dver, Fl. Trop. Afr. 8: 17. 1901; Malme, 

 Bot. Jahrb. 48: 304. 1912. 



