BOTANICAL REPORT OF LIBERIA 539 
hillside forest and it also grows over the lower trees. A number of bushes, 
mostly belonging in the Rubiaceae are also present, but since these have not 
been classified no mention can be made of them. Of the herbaceous plants, 
perhaps the most striking one is a species of the sedges belonging to the genus 
Mapania. It is not here an abundant species, and the few plants are well scat- 
tered. The leaves of this sedge, about two and a half feet long, and a little 
over an inch wide, come together to form a base that is triangular in cross- 
section. From the center of this, the stalk rises above the leaves and is ter- 
minated by a dense, brownish, globose head, a good inch and a half in diameter, 
over which are scattered the elongate white anthers. In the shade of the higher 
trees, but growing on rocks in the little ravines, Marattia fraxinea manages to 
withstand the vicissitudes of its existence, apparently able to hold its place 
in spite of the small torrent that rushes over it during the heavy rains. Bor- 
dering this same ravine, and growing on the gravelly bank, Dryopteris pra- 
tensis sends up its triangular frond from creeping rootstocks. A related species, 
D. mollis, grows in the lower ground in the woods. Rotted wood supports a 
number of fungi, the greater part of which are resupinate or substipitate poly- 
pores. The prettiest and most delicate member of this group, apparently 
scarce, 1s the few-pored, fleshy, orange Laschia. Several pyrenomycetous fungi 
also thrive, and among these two or three species of Xylaria, and close to these 
in taxonomic position, the dichotomously branched Thamnomyces Chamissonis. 
The agarics appear to be poorly represented in the deeper forests, although two 
or three species of Marasmius were collected. 
Before leaving Firestone Plantation No. 3, mention should be made of the 
flora of the cleared, but uncultivated areas. The removal of shade here appears 
to favor the growth of some species, as a result, three or four species in the 
Commelinaceae are very abundant as are also three members of the Convolvu- 
laceae. One of the common plants of such places is Momordica Charantia which 
is characterized by having yellow flowers that are three-quarters of an inch in 
diameter. The tapering, warty, orange fruits are abundantly produced, but the 
most characteristic feature is the pungent, almost stifling odor produced when 
the plant is bruised. Another member of the Cucurbitaceae, a climber with 
deeply three-lobed leaves, and without the pungent odor is Coccinia cordifolia. 
Dissotis multiflora and Dinophora spenneroides, of which a few plants were seen 
in the shade on low ground, are apparently favored by the change in their habi- 
tat, for in the clearings they are more numerous. Just as certain of the flower- 
ing plants are favored by the change, so too are the fungi, because of the amount 
of decaying wood. The red pore-fungus, Polyporus sanguineus, seldom seen in 
the forests, is here quite prominent though not excessively abundant. It is a 
species that is widespread through the tropics. Other species of the same genus 
also become more evident, as do two or three species or forms of Favolus. The 
widespread Cyathus striatus (?) is rather scarce while members of the genus 
Xylaria are fairly well represented. A Daldinia, seemingly D. concentrica, an- 
other fungus of almost world-wide distribution is surprisingly abundant, espe- 
cially so on those logs which have been slightly charred by fire. One of the 
