Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1893. 
Strophanthus  Seed  of  Commerce. 
343 
Angola.    S.  Preussii,  S.  Schiichardti,  S.  intermedia. 
Amboland.  ,5.  Amboiensis. 
East  Africa.    Sea  Coast.    S.  Emini. 
Zambesiland.    S.  Kombe. 
Zanzibar.    Delagoa  Bay.    5.  sarmentosus. 
Mozambique.    S.  Petersianus. 
South  Africa.    Cape  of  Good  Hope.    5.  speciosus. 
Madagascar.    S.  Boivini,  S.  Grevei. 
India. — Malaya.    South  China.    5.  divergens. 
E.  Indies. — Java.    S.  Wallichii,  S.  Wightianus,  S  brevicaudatus,  S. 
puberulus,  S.  Jackianns. 
Phillipines.  S.  Cumingii. 
This  list,  however,  by  no  means  represents  either  the  probable 
number  of  African  species  or  their  distribution,  for  the  botany  of 
Central  Africa  has  been  very  imperfectly  investigated.  Even  since 
the  publication  of  Dr.  Pax's  list  another  species,  6\  Fischeri,  Asch. 
and  Schum.,  has  been  published,  and  in  the  Royal  Herbaria  at  Kew 
and  South  Kensington  there  exist  unnamed  species  which  do  not 
agree  with  any  of  those  already  published,  but  which,  fof  want  of 
more  complete  material,  have  not  as  yet  been  described.  Of 
all  the  species  known,  only  the  following  appear  to  have  been 
collected  with  fruit — S.  hispidus,  S.  Emini,  S.  Ledieni,  S.  Bullenianus, 
S.  caudcttus  and  5.  Fischeri.  It  is,  therefore,  not  possible  to  refer  all 
the  follicles  met  with  in  commerce  to  their  botanical  source.  At  pres- 
ent we  do  not  know  how  far  the  follicles  vary  in  size  on  plants  of  differ- 
ent ages  or  growing  under  different  climatal  or  terrestrial  conditions, 
although  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  some  of  the  species  vary  con- 
siderably in  these  respects  in  different  districts.  Unfortunately,  the 
morphological  characters  of  the  seeds  also  vary,  to  some  extent,  in 
the  same  follicle,  the  shape  and  size  of  the  seed  and  the  length  of 
the  awn  and  plume  being  dependent  upon  the  position  the  seeds 
occupy,  those  in  the  middle  of  the  fruit  being  usually  the  most 
developed  as  regards  the  awn  and  plume,  whilst  the  seeds  near  the 
base  of  it  are  often  shorter  and  thicker.  It  is  therefore  obvious 
that  when  removed  from  the  follicle  it  is  not  easy  to  find  morpho- 
logical characters  for  separating  the  seeds  of  different  species. 
This  difficulty  is  further  increased  by  the  fact  that  seeds,  which  to 
the  naked  eye  are  identical,  may  be  derived  from  very  different 
species,  and  may  differ  very  considerably  in  their  histological 
