Erythrococca and Micrococca. 627 
nevertheless be readily separable by their female flowers. This is particu¬ 
larly true of E. subspicata and E. Poggeophyton, which agree closely in other 
respects, yet differ so much as regards the female flowers that the latter 
species has been looked on as the type of a distinct genus. Another 
case in which this difficulty is marked is as regards E. Welwitschiana and 
E. oleracea , which can hardly be distinguished by their foliage, and again 
as regards E. oleracea zndE.africana , which have been somewhat consistently 
mistaken for each other. Yet in the case of these three species the female 
flowers differ so greatly that each belongs to a distinct natural group. 
But the conspectus reveals a converse fact. In a considerable number 
of cases the forms which it is necessary, for the moment, to recognize, are 
associated in pairs which practically agree as regards their flowers, and are 
only to be distinguished by differences in tomentum, in shape of leaf, or in 
the number of flowers in their respective inflorescences. Doubts therefore 
arise as to whether the differences in question do not indicate varieties rather 
than species; it is conceivable that in some cases further material may 
justify the union of these pairs. Aggregation has, however, been carried as 
far as the available material will justify; all that can be done is to provide, 
for the use of workers in the field, a brief synopsis of the situation, in the 
hope that the material which is required to confirm or dispel these doubts 
may be obtained. 
In Adenoclaoxylon , E. mitis , Pax, may be only an inland form of the 
littoral E. Kirkii (Claoxylon Kirkii , Mu ell. arg.) ; E. rigidifolia , Pax, may 
be merely a state of E. bongensis , Pax ; E. Paxii , Rendle, may be no more 
than a variety of E. Fischeri , Pax. In Dejlersia , E. berberidea , Prain, may 
be only a very distinct variety of E. natalensis , Prain ; E. subspicata , Prain, 
may prove to be the normal condition of a species whereof Poggeophyton 
aculeatum , Pax, is a teratological condition. In Trichogyne , E. Menyharthii 
{Claoxylon Menyharthii , Pax) may be the usual state of a species whereof 
E. tristis (Claoxylon triste , Muell. arg.) is a local and uncommon condition ; 
E. hirta , Pax, may be only a variety of E. trichogyne {Claoxylon trichogyne , 
Muell. arg.). Finally, in Chloropatane , E. Poggei , Prain, may, as Engler 
has already stated, be referable to E. columnaris {Claoxylon columnare , 
Muell. arg.) ; E. oleracea , Prain, may prove to be only a distinct variety of 
E. atrovirens {Claoxylon atrovirens , Pax); E.jlaccida {Claoxylon flaccidum , 
Pax) is almost certainly only a form of E. angolensis {Claoxylon angolense , 
Muell. arg.); E. Dewevrei {Claoxylon Dewevrei , Pax) is perhaps only the 
normal condition of a species whereof E. hispida {Claoxylon hispidum , Pax) 
is a striking local form. 
However, even if, in each of these cases, the suggested reduction should 
ultimately prove to be necessary, the genus Erythrococca , as here recognized 
and limited, will still include over thirty well-characterized species. 
