042 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
and grasses that inhabit the swampy border of such brooks, Dryopteris gon- 
gyloides is a not uncommon fern, nor is Ceratopteris thalictroides. Of the grasses, 
Setaria sulcata, Sorghum arundinaceum, Paspalum scrobiculatum which also 
grows in drier places, P. auriculatum, Chloris breviseta, Sacciolepis interrupta, 
and several other species are conspicuous inhabitants of the same habitat. 
Jussieua acuminata and a species of Dissotis are less frequently met. One of 
the conspicuous aquatic plants is Otellia sp. a member of the Vallisneriaceae. 
This appears to be very rare and when found, it occurs only in sluggish brooks 
that drain the swamps, and in which there is a heavy deposit of mud. The 
three-parted flowers of this species are yellow; the leaves are broadly linear, 
reddish, and submerged. 
Some of the swamps of the upper elevations, that is, those formed be- 
tween the hills, and which are rather narrow and limited in size, support the 
growth of Anthocleista nobilis(?) in fairly dense stands. The trees with their 
greenish, slender, and obtusely spined trunks, reach a height of thirty or forty 
feet. The branches are terminated by clusters of two-foot long, broadly lan- 
ceolate leaves and from the center of the clusters are produced the cymes of 
white flowers that are about a half inch in length. Adjoining these swamps, 
or even remote from them, at all events in drier situations, a related species 
of Anthocleista is locally abundant. Although resembling the preceding species 
in a general way, it is distinct, not only in its habit, but in other morphological | 
characters as well. The cymes of flowers are much larger, the fruit is upright 
on an erect cyme instead of drooping, and the leaves are larger. These two 
species were seen during the course of the Expedition, only in an area roughly 
bounded by Suahkoko on the one side and Kassata on the other. An additional 
species of the same genus was subsequently collected near Pehata (Paiata). The 
natives use a tea made from the bark of A. nobilis(?) to cure stomach troubles. 
According to Baker, there are sixteen species of Anthocleista in tropical Africa 
of which three occur in Upper Guinea, although none are cited as coming from 
Liberia. 
The second growth has, in addition to those previously mentioned, the 
following bushes: Tetrorchidium didymostemon, Alchornea cordifolia(?), Un- 
caria africana, Mareya spicata, Macaranga huraefolia, Phyllanthus capillaris 
and Randia sp. The last species, an erect bush, seven feet tall, produces fruits 
that are highly prized by the natives. The flavor of the fruit when ripe is 
much like that of cranberries, especially frost-bitten ones, though less tart. 
They are, because of their acid quality, especially delicious when found along 
the path during a long hot walk. 
Such trees as are present in this formation, seldom exceed forty feet and 
apparently are remnants of the original forest. Thus Cathormion altissimum, 
a leguminous tree twenty-five to thirty feet high, grows at the edge of the rice 
fields in relatively low ground and not far from the primary forest. The seed 
pod of this tree is flat and coiled to form a helix. Parinariwm Kerstingii is 
perhaps more favored by the open conditions provided by the secondary growth. 
1 Baker, J. G., in Thiselton-Dyer: Flora of Tropical Africa, 4:537-542. 1903. 
