Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 34 (1896).djvu/71

 NEW AFRICAN PLANTS. 51 anguste oblonga, apice subacuta. Petala circiter 7 lin. longa, caly- cem dimidio superantia in unguem linear em decurrentia. Fructus cylindraceus validus ad apicem divaricatim bicuspidatus stigmate persistente, | poll, longus, adultior ad caulem appressus intus inter- quseque semina transverse septatus. Hab. Somaliland, Sibe. In flower and fruit, Aug. 1894, Dr. Donaldson Smith. This plant seems intermediate between the genera Mathiola and Morettia. In the structure of the flowers and in the inflorescence its affinity is with the former, while, as will be seen, in some of the fruit-characters the affinity is with the latter. A branching shrub with pale brown cortex. Leaves obovate or oblong, covered on both sides with a close cinereous stellate tomentum, ^-f in. long ; lamina gradually narrowing to the base, leaving hardly any petiole. Flowers racemose, congested near the apex, lax below. Sepals narrow, oblong, covered externally with a cinereous pubescence. Petals about 7 lines long, lamina oval, claw linear, 4-5 lines. Longer stamens about 4 lines long, shorter nearly 8 lines ; anthers basifixed. Siliqua about f in. long, between each seed transversely septate. Seed reniform, reddish. This plant is allied to Mathiola elliptica K. Br, It differs in its much shorter, strongly bicusped siliqua. Mathiola Smithii is also closely allied to Morettia Eevoili Franchet (Sertum Somalense, t. i.). The longer stamens are not joined as in that plant, and the latter does not seem to have a divaricately bicusped siliqua. Reseda somalensis Baker fil., sp. n. Caules sesquipedales vel bipedales erecti stricti subteretes pallide virides parce ramosi, foliosi inferne laeves, superne pubescenti-glandulosi. Folia omnia indivisa ovata vel ovato-lanceolata obtusa glabra in petiolum attenuata. Flores numerosi, racemum formantes. Pedicelli flori- geri 1^ lin., vel apicem versus subnulli, fructigeri circiter 8 lin. longi. Bracteae lineares. Calycis lacinias 6 deciduaB angustse, petala semiaequantes vel longiores. Petala ochroleuca ut videtur. Stamina 14-16. Antherae oblongae basifixae. Ovarium trimerum. Capsulae elongatae obtuse trigonae laeves circiter ^-f poll, longge in racemo imbricatae. Semina reniformia pubescentia circiter ^ lin. longa. Hab. Somaliland, Shebeli river. In flower and fruit, A'ug. 24, 1894, Dr. Donaldson Smith. Stem suffruticose, erect, 1^-2 ft. or possibly more, sparingly branched, glabrous below, above glandular-pubescent. Leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, not lobed; apex obtuse, smooth, pale green ; nerves subprominent below ; lamina narrowing to the petiole, 2-3|^ in. long, l^-lf in. broad. Flowers in dense ter- minal or lateral spicate racemes. The flower-bearing pedicels attain a length of 1^ lines towards the base of the racemes, above they are shorter ; the fruit-bearing pedicels are double the length. Sepals narrow, acute, slightly longer than the laciniated petals. Stamens 14-16. The filaments fall when the young fruit has reached a length of about ^ in. Ovary 3-merous. Capsule elongate, contracted at the neck, imbricate in the raceme, 3-dentate. E 2