Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 34 (1896).djvu/152

 182 NEW AFRICAN PLANTS. foi^mibus, pedicellos longos excedentibus ; floribus inter mediocre, perianthii segmentis albidis oblongo-ligulatis, externis cum 5 internis cum 3 vittis viridibus notatis ; staminibus 6 fertilibus, perianthio brevioribus, filamentis triaugulari-subulatis, antheris oblongis, basi sagittatis ; stylo tenui, ovarium oblongum tri- sulcatum aequante. Hab. Low-lying country east of Shebeli River, Dec. 24th, 1894, Donaldson Smith. The plant, which has been cut off above the bulb, is 13 in. high ; the stout stem is sheathed below by the membranous bases of the leaves, 4-5 in. long, f-1 in. broad, passing above into the long (6 in.) tapering upper part, which is reflexed about the middle and involute. The crowded raceme is nearly 6 in. long by 3^ in. at its broadest. The slender bracts, which become rapidly filiform above their greenish bases, are in the lower part of the raceme more than 2 in. long, exceeding the ascending pedicels, which are a little over 1^ in. long. The flower is 8 lines long ; the outer slightly broader segments have a cucullate apex, less marked in the inner series, and are 2 lines broad. The filaments are 4-|- lines long, the versatile anthers 3 lines long, the ovary a little over 3 lines^ Its crowded inflorescence and long slender bracts recall A. longibracteata Engl., but it differs in its more condensed raceme of larger differently coloured flowers, as well as in its leaf-characters. In size the flowers approach those of A. abyssinica Jacq., which, however, are fewer in number and banded with red, while the leaf above the base is linear, tapering, plicate, and suberect. Gloriosa minor, sp.nov. Herba minor erecta glabra, foliis supra caulis flexuosi medium numerosis, inferioribus exceptis verticillatis, sessilibus hand amplexicaulibus, lineari-falcatis acutis baud cirrhiferis plicatis ; inflorescentia abortu uniflora, flore ter- minali nutante ; petalis coccineis arete reflexis e basi tenui anguste lanceolatis acutis ; stylo tenui reflexo ad medium trifido, stamina excedente. Hab. A little west of Shebeli River, 2000 ft. alt., Dec. 6th, 1894, Donaldson Smith. A charming little plant, the largest specimen of which is not 8 in. high. The slender flexuose stem is rounded and striate, and bears about 20 leaves just above its middle, covering a length of about 1^ in. ; the lowest leaves are longest, reaching 2| in. in length, with a breadth of 5 lines ; the uppermost are only If in. in length and 1 line broad. The peduncle bears above its base a bract, resembling the uppermost leaves, which subtends a short aborted branch. The flower-pedicel is 2 in. long. The crimson petals are 1^ in. long by ^ in. broad above the middle. The slender spreading staminal filaments are 7 lines long, the arcuate versatile linear- oblong anthers 3 lines. The slender style is bent back at its origin, and about the middle separates into 3 filiform arms ; the whole length is about 10 lines. • Easily distinguished from the other species of the genus by its small size, crowded linear leaves, and solitary flower,