1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



101 



aristatae; arista saepe curvata, hispidulo marginata. Cladoprophyllum circiter 3 

 mm. longum infeme utriculiforme et laeve, superne squamiforme et minute hispidu- 

 lum. Squamae femineae 4-5 mm. longae (squama propria 3-5-4 mm. longa; arista 0- 

 1.5 mm. longa), 1.75-2 mm. latae, ovato-lanceolatae, cymbiformes, apice acutae 

 vel obtusae, superne marginibus interdum involutae, distincte tenuiter multi- 

 nerves, pallidae sed castaneo-maculatae vel claro- vel fusco-castaneae, saepe 

 marginibus apice albido-hyalinae et erosae, superiores glabrae, inferiores saepe 

 minute subadpresso-setulosae, nervo mediano interdum in aristam marginibus his- 

 pidulam excurrente; squamae masculae longiores, glabrae, saepe rubrae. Utriculi 

 5.25-5.5 mm. longi (rostro incluso), circiter 1 mm. lati, distincte trigoni, faciebus 

 planiusculi, subcoriacei, ellipsoidei, haud vel leviter marginati, pallide virides, 

 ventre 2-4-nerves, dorso 4-8 nerves (nervis margines versus), glabri et laeves vel 

 interdum apice (infra rostrum) parcissime hispiduli, basin versus sensim attenuati, 

 basi spongiosa-subbulbosi, in rostrum inferne pallide viride superne rubidum an- 

 gustissime marginatum marginibus laeve vel parcissime hispidulum bidentatum cir- 

 citer 2.5 mm. longum subsensim desinentes; dentes substricti, saepe rubidi, 0.5- 

 0.75 mm. longi. Nux circiter 3 mm. longa, circiter 1 mm. lata, obtuse trigona facie- 

 bus planiuscula, anguste ellipsoidea vel oblongo-ellipsoidea, minute dense alveo- 

 lata, brunnea, breviter pallide rostrata et stipitata. Stylus basi haud incrassatus. 

 Stigmata 3. 



NYASALAND: Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, scattered 

 on banks of a stream in dense forest shade, 1890 m., July 7, 1946, 16714. 



RESTIONACEAE 59 



Hypolaena mahonii N. E. Brown in Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. 8: 265. 1901. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain, southwest ridge, common in moist grassy 

 situations on summit, 2400 m., June 28, 1946, 16498. Luchenya Plateau, occa- 

 sional on grassy floodbanks of a stream, stems erect, gregarious in masses, 1800 

 m., July 5, 1946, 16666. Endemic. 



This female plant of Hypolaena appears to belong to H. mahonii N. E. Brown, 

 of which only male specimens have hitherto been known. The species was 

 described from Zomba; this material (of two gatherings) comes from Mt. Mlanje. H. 

 mahonii is the only species of this S. African genus to get into Tropical Africa. 



GRAMINEAE 60 



BAMBUSEAE 



Amndinaria alpina K. Schum. in Engl. Pflanzenw. Ost-Afr. C: 116. 1895. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, plentiful in bottoms of 

 forested ravines, 1820 m.; culms up to 10 m. high, in open clumps, green, hollow, 

 3.5-5 cm. in diameter, July 5, 1946, 16616. A gregarious bamboo of the mountain 

 forests of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (Imatong Mountains), Abyssinia, Kenya Col- 

 on Y» Uganda, Belgian Congo, Tanganyika Territory, and Nyasaland, occurring at 

 elevations of 1800-3260 m. 



In an article on this ''African alpine bamboo," S. H. Wimbush (Emp. For. Jour. 

 24 l . 1945; E. Afr. Agr. Jour. 13: 56-60. 1947), estimates that its life cycle on the 

 Aberdare Range, Kenya Colony, is more than forty years. 



59 By E. Nelmes, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 



60 By C. E. Hubbard, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 



