BOTANICAL REPORT OF LIBERIA dol 
previously collected in small numbers among the forests near the Du River, 
occurs here in almost epidemic proportions. Five or six ants, clinging to a 
single stem of a plant, were observed with the fruiting bodies of the fungus 
growing out of them. In a morning, as many as fifteen or twenty could be 
collected. A specimen each of the Cordyceps growing on the wasp Humenes 
maxillosus var. tropicalis, and on a caterpillar larva, were also collected. Mem- 
bers of the genus Xylaria and Polyporus were also well represented, as were 
also two species of the beautiful little cup fungi, Cookeina. A new species of 
Choanephora, now being investigated by Professor William H. Weston of Har- 
vard, was collected on the leaves of Carica papaya where it caused considerable 
damage to the leaves and appears to be the cause of their premature dropping. 
This is the first time that a member of this genus has been reported on this 
host, and from tropical Africa. 
GBANGA TO PataTA (PEHATA) 
Leaving Gbanga, the path goes up and down through slightly rolling coun- 
try that is covered for the most part with either secondary growth or rice fields. 
Only occasionally are there small patches of the original forest, and it is at 
the edge of one of these that the orchid Megaclinium sp. was found growing 
on a fallen log, fully exposed to the direct rays of the sun. This is a rather 
remarkable occurrence, since the species as a rule, grows in the shade of the 
tall trees on which it is an epiphyte. Occasionally there are sandy valleys in 
which various species of grass form swales. About twenty minutes beyond 
Wumbi or Mwesi, as the town is variously called, there is a long hill that rises 
to twelve hundred feet above sea level, and some seven or eight hundred feet 
above the valley. From this point onwards the hills, some of them circular 
in outline, others elongate, become more numerous, two of them reaching an 
elevation of 1,450 feet. On the last of these is situated the town of Kassata 
which makes a very picturesque crown. In the valleys and on the lower levels 
of the hills, Anthocleista is rather abundant, as are also the two palms Raphia 
vinifera and Elaeis guineensis. 
Two days are spent in Kassata while porters are being commandeered to 
carry our loads. On the second day, we make an attempt to reach a nearby 
mole hill and with success, although with difficulty for the secondary growth is 
very dense and troublesome, especially when the patches of the clhmbing saw 
grass, Scleria sp. are encountered. In this growth the genus Ficus is repre- 
sented by three or four non-parasitic species. The grass Manisuris is here 
seen for the first time, growing in wet openings among the low bushes. One 
of the prettiest plants is the melastomaceous Calvoa monticola that grows in 
the shade on rocks at the edge of a brook that has its source in the forested 
hilltop above. The delicate green leaves and the beautiful pink flowers, with 
the rocky background, make a very enjoyable sight after a struggle with the 
rather monotonous bushes of the second growth. In the forest that caps the 
hill, there is disappointingly little of interest aside from the maiden-hair fern, 
Adiantum lunulatum and so we return to town. 
