Synoptical and Specific Descriptions. 
FAMILY II.-MENISPERMACEiE. 
Flowers dicecious ; sepals 6, in 2 series; petals 6; stamens in male flower 6, opposite the petals: carpels in female flower free « 1 r r • 
drupaceous. Climbing shrubs, with alternate exstipulate lobed or entire leaves and minute flowers in racemes or panicles This Family is introduced h ’’ Tl 
genus Jateorhiza, the roots of J. Columba, Miers, yielding the Co.umba root of commerce, which has tonic propenie and rZ Z CT/ 
b,q U e fetched a price of «/- per S c kilos in Europe. The plant is a hispid creeper, with 3-5 lobed leaves ,5-20 c m across ^ 12 and • Companh.a de Mozam- 
6-12 inches long, and avoid drupes 1-5 to 2 c.m. long in clusters. 8 * and flo e in rac emes or racemose panicles 
FAMILY III.— CAPPARIDACE2E. 
Hermaphrodite. Sepals 4 ; petals 4 or o. Torus sometimes with an appendix. Stamens 8 or many : ovary usually on a Iona ffvnnn k ft r 0 „ . . . 
several-celled ; ovules many, parietal. Fruit var.ous, usually baccate and stalked by the gynophore, usually indehiscent and several or many seeded P Tree h t " >pUn ° U * ,y 
Leaves alternate, simple or 3-foliate with entire leaflets. Inflorescence various ; stamens usually conspicuous. X d ‘ 1 hrubs ’ ° r SCan< ent ’ 
8 . THYLACHIUM Calyx opening by transverse dehiscence, the top falling away. Petals absent ; stamens numerous, free, on a short torus. Ovary .-celled or spuriouslv 
several-celled on a long gynophore ; placentas several ; ovules many, seeds many. P y 
T. Afncanum, Lour. A bush or small tree from the Shire River, having simple or 3-foliate leaves, the leaflets 3-10 c.m. long, few-flowered corymbs of flowers about an 
inch in diameter, and the ovary spuriously 5-celled with parietal ovules. 
9. MzERUA. Sepals 4, connate below in a tube, the lobes deciduous; petals 4, very small or absent; stamens many, on a columnar torus; ovary on a long gynophore 
.-celled or spunously 2-celIed, ovules numerous ; fruit various; leaves supple or 3-foliate; inflorescence various. Trees and shrubs, d.stributed over Africa and 
southern Asia ; none of the local species reach timber size except very occasionally. 
N ' “wfehnhl ( “ F ° rest FloraofCa P e Colony," .22, Plate IX. fig. .,) Vern. name-4, Shidwandwane. Shrub or small tree, evergreen; leaves mostly 3-foliate, 
leaflets oblong-obovate, 3-5 c.m. long; flowers in corymbs of 5-10, terminal or terminal on short side branches; calyx-tube r 5 to 2 c.m. long, sepals 2 r c.m. lone 
green ; petals absent ; stamens about 30 conspicuous, with white filaments 4 c.m. long, folded in bud, and rising from a torus as long as the calyx-tube. Gynophore 
Colony ° ng ' SU8ma d ' SCOld; bCrry oblon g-° vold 4 c.m. long, leathery. Frequent at Umbelusi and throughout Lourenzo Marques district. Occurs also in Cape 
M. nervosa , Oliv. (See “ Natal Plants,” Plate 260.) Vern. name-6, Ibula. Shrub or small tree similar to M. caffra, but with more numerous and smaller flowers 
tronical Von P e tals inserted at the summit of the calyx-tube. Fruit r 5 c.m. long on a gynophore 2 to 3 c.m. long. Tropical Zambesia. Extra- 
tropical Lourenzo Marques and Inhambane. Occurs also in Natal. 
M. acuminata, Oliv. Leaves 3-foliate, or the upper simple ; leaflets ovate or ovate-lanceolate, glabrous, mucronate central leaflet 5-7 c.m. long, others shorter, all on 
rows^ er Rovuma Rlver° ^ ? C ° rymbose racemes> Peta,s absent i ovar y oval - celled, with 2 placentas each with about 10 ovules in 2 
I have a specimen from Lourenzo Marques which differs only in having petals and smaller leaves ; a slender shrub. 
M. racemosa, (New species)- Shrub, glabrous throughout. Leaves 3-foliate, on petioles 5 c.m. long; leaflets widely lanceolate S c.m. long, on short petiolules. 
Inflorescence axillary, racemose, the racemes 15-20 c.m. long many-flowered, peduncles r 5 c.m. long, slender, jointed at the base, solitary from the axil of a short 
acute bract. Calyx-tube 2-5 m.m. long ; sepals 5 m.m. long, petals 3 m.m. long, obovate, clawed. Torus as long as the calyx-tube, stamens about 16, 1 c.m. long, 
gynophore 2 c.m. long ; fruit coriaceous, 2 c.m. long, globose at the middle, slender at each end. Lourenzo Marques. Sim 6388. 
loneis ■ M du“T.Trr\o„ ( I°^SL F T’; s '«** > »«• l«"«o!«* 5 c-n.. kx^ fetiolo : inflorescenU.s axilladbus, nullifloris, rzcemosb, ,0-20 v.m. 
B 
