Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 34 (1896).djvu/53

 NEW AFRICAN CONVOLVULACE^. 8? albo-tomentosa ; floribus axillaribus solitariis, pedicellis quam petiola duplo brevioribus, bracteis clavato-oblongis ad medium calycem attingentibus ; sepalis ellipticis obtusis ; corolla speciosa glabra late tubulosa superne ampliata ; staminibus inaequalibus, a basi tri- angular! pilosa insertis, polline sphaerico echinulato ; stigmate capi- tato biglobulare. Hab. Dammara-land, T. G. Een, 1879. Herb. Mus. Brit. The whole plant as far as the exposed surface of the calyx bears a short dense white tomentum. The leaves are scarcely If in. long and slightly broader, and have a small apiculus ; the slender stiff leaf-stalk is about 10 lines. The stout pedicel (f in. long) bears a pair of erect bracts, ^ in. long by nearly 2 lines broad above the middle. The blunt equal sepals are scarcely ^ in. long and ^ in. broad. The corolla is 3 in. long, and very broadly tubular to just above the middle, where it becomes gradually expanded ; the stamens and style reach to about its middle. Near I. verhascoidea DC, but distinguished by its smaller more rounded leaves, with a very rounded apex. Ipomoea Donaldson!, sp. n. Frutex (?) lignosa, ramis vel ramulis patentibus subteretibus spinosis ; foliis minimis reni- formibus, in petiolis et facie inferiore dense pubescentibus ; floribus inter minores solitariis, axillaribus, pedicellis brevibus ; sepulis crassiusculis, 2 exterioribus late ovalibus quam interiora sub- orbicularia vix brevioribus, glabris sed margine membranacea breviter ciliata ; corolla infundibuliforme, purpurea, areis meso- petalinis 5-lineatis distinctia ; staminibus 5, in basi triangulare et supra pilosis, polline sphaBrico echinulato ; ovario, cum disco annuliforme cincto, glabro, stylo tenui integro. Hab. Okoti and Schebele, Somali-land, Donaldson Smithy Sept. 1894. Herb. Mus. Brit. The stiff straight horizontal or slightly ascending branches, like the axis bearing them, have a thin deep reddish bark, and end in a sharp point. The very small leaves (2 lines long by 3 broad) are borne two or more together on suppressed lateral shoots of the spiny branches. The petiole is about as long as the leaf, which is folded upwards along the midrib, thus protecting the only sparsely hairy upper surface. The slender pedicels are 2^ lines long ; the calyx 2 lines, the light purple corolla 8 lines, and nearly as much across the open mouth ; the stamens 8^ lines, the style, which is broken off below the stigma, exceeding them. The species is at once distinguished by its remarkable xero- philous habit. Ipom(ea blepharophylla Hallier, var. cordata, var. nov. Foliis basi cordatis, quam in typo latioribus et ovato-oblongis. Hab. Marungu, Ukikuyu Country, J. W, Gregory, July 14, 1898. Herb. Mus. Brit. Differs from the type in the invariably cordate, not entire, base of the leaves, which are moreover often broader, and not of uniform breadth, but become gradually narrower from base to apex. The general habit and characters of inflorescence and flowers correspond 80 well that I do not thmk the plant is specifically distinct*