540 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
also two species of Mussaenda that appear to be quite distinct from any 
heretofore collected. It is difficult to decide whether to classify these plants 
as bushes or vines. When the plants are young and four or five feet high, 
they most certainly resemble bushes, yet in another locality, they are vines 
that climb fifteen to twenty feet over the low trees and bushes, but at the same 
time the flowers and characteristic sepals are the same. One of the interesting 
finds in the Raphia swamp is a species of Utricularia that resembles the small 
yellow-flowered one previously seen in the coastal belt. Its leaves are simple, 
linear, and mostly buried in the moist sand in which it grows. Here, instead 
of being out in the open exposed to the sunlight, it persists in the rather deep 
shade of the Raphia palms. In the decaying detritus at the base of one of the 
palm trees, Dictyophora Mélleri, a phalloid fungus, produces its white stalk, 
from just below the apex of which is suspended its white, lacy veil that re- 
sembles a ballet dancer’s dress. Additional genera of the Agaricaceae, such 
as Hntoloma, and Cantharellus, and Boletus of the Boletaceae occur in the 
upper woods. 
From Miamu until a short distance beyond Rua Bella, the path goes through 
heavy forests and up and down rather steep hills covered with the red lateritic 
soil. Approximately east-northeast from Rua Bella there are sugar-loaf hills, 
picturesque and inviting exploration, but from which our path constantly leads 
us. Beyond Rua Bella the terrain becomes more level and few hills of im- 
portance are encountered until the town of Zeanschue, which is situated on 
more or less of a plateau. 
At Zeanschue the night is spent, and here we are able to purchase for supper, 
bananas, sweet potatoes, and a squash, to say nothing of ten eggs of which four 
proved to be bad. The vegetables were all produced locally, though appar- 
ently not in great abundance, the main efforts being devoted to the raising 
of rice. From this town to Saquella the forest is almost all primary. Beyond 
the latter town, the country is covered with secondary growth that soon be- 
comes monotonous. One of the outstanding trees, however, is the thirty-foot 
tree of Oncoba brevipes. Its foliage is a deep green, the leaves large, and 
against such a background, the numerous large white flowers stand out in 
striking contrast. The land after Bundoi where another sugar-loaf hill stands 
out against the horizon again becomes relatively level and the secondary growth 
continues much the same, although the reddish flowers of the vine Combretum 
grandiflorum appear to be more numerous. Occasionally there is a vine of 
Momordica cissoides and of Melothria capillacea, both members of the Cucur- 
bitaceae. This latter species differs strongly from any previously seen or col- 
lected, because of the triangular outline of its leaves. Macaranga huraefolia 
and Phyllanthus floribundus are both abundant shrubs. The latter species 
is used by the Vai tribe as an eye medicine. The purpose, according to the 
explanation of the writer’s Vai boy, is clearly designated by the yellow spot 
at the base of the small white corolla. In other words, this is definitely a case 
of the application of the doctrine of signatures. 
Around Suahkoko, a town that is situated on a flat sandy elevation, there 
