.

the conidial form of fructification. 3. Sporangial filaments have been traced to the same mycelial tubes as conidiiferous ones. 4. Conditions securing the development of sporangial filaments on a mycelium produced from conidia have been in a great degree determined. 5. Prepared Hibiscus decoction exposed to the air may develope various moulds, but none producing such sporangia, save when Choanephora conidia have been introduced. Chlamydosporous fructification, again, is very rare. According to the detailed observations, then, Choanephora is a genus of Mucorine Fungi, capable of producing four kinds of fructification, as follows::

These phenomena afford a possible explanation of certain otherwise conflicting conclusions which have been arrived at by such thoroughly competent observers as Brefeld, Van Tieghem, and Le Monnier. At all events it yields a note of warning that classification of fungal organisms, based alone on one form of fructification, may lead to false conclusions.

Botanical News.

AMONG the recently elected Fellows of the Royal Society botanists will see with great satisfaction the name of Mr. J. G. BAKER; a worthy recipient in all respects.

Mr. WILLIAM HILLHOUSE, of Trinity College, author of Contributions towards a new Flora of Bedfordshire, 1875,' and Bedfordshire Plant-List for 1876,' has been appointed Assistant Curator of the Cambridge Herbarium.

Mr. W. THISELTON DYER has been elected one of the Examiners in Botany in the University of London.

6

We have to record the death of ROBERTO DE VISIANI, which occurred ou May 4th, at the age of 77. He had been Professor of Botany and Director of the Botanic Garden at Padua for very many years, and his writings extend over a long period, commencing, in 1826, with the Stirpium Dalmaticarum Specimen.' The Dalmatian flora much occupied him; his Flora Dalmatica ' was published in three vols., with another of plates in 1842-53, and Supplements have appeared in 1872 and as recently as last year, 1877. Visiani also wrote on the plants of Egypt, of Greece and of Servia, and was the author of many papers in various departments of Botany in the Italian scientific Journals. DeCandolle gave the name Visiania to a genus of Oleacea in 1844, and Gasparrini to one of Ficea in the same year, but neither have been maintained.

Original Articles

ON THE NEW AMARYLLIDACEE OF THE WELWITSCH AND SCHWEINFURTH EXPEDITIONS.

BY J. G. BAKER, F.R.S.
(TAB. 197.)

THE following are the new Amaryllidacea contained in the sets I have seen of the plants gathered by Dr. Welwitsch in Angola, and Dr. Schweinfurth in Central Africa. Type specimens of all of the former may be seen at the British Museum, and of the latter at Kew.

CRYPTOSTEPHANUS, Welw. MSS., genus novum. Perianth narrowly funnel-shaped, the permanently ascending oblong-lanceolate segments half as long as the more or less curved tube. Anthers six, small, oblong, nearly sessile in a single series at the middle of the perianth-tube. Staminodia twelve, linear, two inserted at the base of each segment of the perianth, where they unite, running down the tube as an adnate strap-shaped process, from the middle of which the anther springs. Ovary inferior, three-celled; ovules several in a cell, axile, horizontal, superposed. Style short, erect, cylindrical. Stigma peltate, placed on the same level as the anthers. Fruit a globose scarlet berry. Seeds one to two in a cell, turgid, not seen fully mature.

C. DENSIFLORUS, Welw. MSS. Root-stock a "compact bulbtuber." Leaves six to eight, cotemporary with the flowers, lorate, glaucescent, glabrous, moderately firm in texture, finally a foot long, three-eighths to half an inch broad. Scape central, moderately stout, compressed, ancipitous, six to eight inches long. Bracts in a whorl, as in Hamanthus, unequal, lanceolate, greenish, membranous, an inch long. Flowers, twenty to thirty or more, in a dense globose head; pedicels very short. Ovary green, roundoblong, one-sixth of an inch long. Limb dark-purple, more or less curved, under half an inch long; curved tube a quarter of an inch; segments one-eighth of an inch, slightly cucullate at the tip. Staminodia more than half as long as the perianth-segments. Anthers under a line long. Berry the size of a pea (about threeeighths of an inch diameter), bright scarlet. [TAB. 197].

Huilla, in bushy places, in dry, sandy soil near Lopollo, in the temperate region (3800-5500 feet), flowering in October and November, fruiting in January, Welwitsch, 4027!

This is certainly the most interesting new plant amongst all the hundred and twenty new bulbs which Dr. Welwitsch discovered in his Angolan expedition. Not to go beyond the N. S. VOL 7. [JULY, 1878.]

20

order for a comparison, the general habit is most like that of a small Cyrtanthus, the narrowly funnel-shaped tube of the perianth being quite similar, and, as in that genus, curving more in the outer flowers of the umbel; but the structure is totally different from that of any Amaryllid already known. By its corona, distinctly exterior to the whorl of stamens proper, the genus to which it approximates most of all is Narcissus. Here the staminodia palpably represent an outer whorl of stamens, for, as Dr. Welwitsch has noted and one of his specimens shows, they casually bear a small abortive anther at the tip. The alliance, both in habit and structure, is very close with Tulbaghia, in Liliacea, a genus the range of which Dr. Welwitsch found to extend from the Cape to Angola, and a new species, which Lieut. Cameron has lately discovered on the shores of Lake Tanganika. In Tulbaghia, however, the fruit is capsular, whilst here it closely resembles that of Hamanthus. It is scarcely needful for me to explain that here, as in other cases, these descriptions are greatly indebted for their completeness to the careful notes which Dr. Welwitsch made from the living specimens.

HEMANTHUS (NERISSA) ANGOLENSIS, Welw. MSS., n. sp. Bulb narrow, with a long neck; outer sheaths spotted with purple. Leaves developed on a special stem, as in H. multiflorus and abyssinicus, produced after the flowers; fully-developed channelled petioles six to nine inches long; lamina thin, oblong, acute, abruptly narrowed at the base, nine to twelve inches long, three to four inches broad; central main veins one-sixth to one-eighth of an inch apart; oblique cross-bars about half a line apart. Scape lateral, six to eight inches long. Umbel three to four inches in diameter, not so densen or so many-flowered as in multiflorus and abyssinicus. Bracts many, linear, reddish; pedicels three-quarters to an inch long. Ovary globose. perianth bright red; tube cylindrical, one-third of an inch long; segments linear, three-quarters of an inch long. Filaments rather longer than the perianth-segments. Anthers yellow, oblong, under a line long.

Golungo Alto, in primæval woods, 1000-2400 feet, flowering in February, Welwitsch, 4008! The species of this section of Hamanthus have rapidly increased lately. There are two in Kunth, and another has been in cultivation several years. I described three new ones, not long ago, in the 'Gardeners' Chronicle.' We have now two more in cultivation at Kew, of which plates will be given in the Botanical Magazine;' and now here are two others, raising the total number to ten. This group is almost endemic in Tropical Africa, only one of the species reaching into Natal.

6

HEMANTHUS (NERISSA) FILIFLORUS, Hiern MSS., n. sp. Leaves five to six, as in the last, produced on a special stem about a foot long, which is developed after the flowers; sheathing petiole not more than two to three inches long; lamina thin, oblong, finally a foot long by half a foot broad; central veins three-eighths to half an inch apart; oblique cross-bars much closer than in

H. angolensis, not more than a quarter of a line apart. Scape lateral, under a foot long, much spotted with purple. Umbel as dense as in H. multiflorus, five to six inches in diameter. Bracts unequal, reflexing, linear and lanceolate, reddish, an inch and a half to two inches long; pedicels an inch to an inch and a quarter long. Ovary globose. Perianth bright red; tube cylindrical, a quarter of an inch long; segments linear-subulate, twice as long as the tube. Filaments longer than the segments. Anthers oblong, yellow, three-quarters of a line long.

Pungo Andongo, flowering in October, Welwitsch, 4009! 4010! Closely allied to the old Sierra Leone H. multiflorus, from which it differs in leaf-veining and by its much smaller flowers, with very narrow segments.

CRINUM AMMOCHAROIDES, Baker, n. sp. Bulb globose, three to four inches in diameter, with brown membranous tunics, and a short neck. Leaves six to eight, lorate, probably distichous, ciliated, six to nine inches long at the flowering-time, an inch broad. Scape stout, lateral, not more than three to four inches long. Umbels eight to twelve-flowered; outer spathe-valves lanceolate, greenish, an inch and a half to two inches long; pedicels a quarter to half an inch long. Ovary oblong, a quarter to onethird of an inch long. Tube cylindrical, four to five inches long; segments red, linear, rotate, two and a half to three inches long. Filaments as long as the segments. Anthers linear, versatile, yellow, a quarter of an inch long. Style longer than the perianthsegments, declinate; stigma entire.

Series iii.,

North Central Africa, Schweinfurth, 1370! 1787! No. 208! A very distinct plant, connecting the Crinums of the asiaticum group with Buphane. The leaves closely resemble those of Nerine (Ammocharis) falcata and its variety coranica.

CRINUM PAUCIFLORUM, Baker, n. sp. Bulb globose, about three inches in a diameter; tunics brown, membranous. Leaves five to six, linear, subcoriaceous, fifteen to eighteen inches long, a quarter of an inch broad; margin entire. Scape two to three inches long, one to two-flowered. Bract single, two to three inches long, tubular in the lower half, greenish, the free point linear. Ovary oblong, nearly sessile; ovules many, superposed. Tube curved, four inches long; segments ascending, oblong, acute, three inches long, an inch broad at the middle, white, with a distinct red central band outside. Filaments declinate, two-thirds as long as the perianth-segments. Anthers linear-oblong, a quarter of an inch long. Style declinate, falling about an inch short of the perianth-segments.

North Central Africa, in the Kingdom of Djur, Schweinfurth, 1975! Closely allied to C. Broussonetii and C. distichum, both of which inhabit the same region.

CRINUM BUPHANOIDES, Welw. MSS., n. sp. "Bulb the size of a child's head." Leaves lanceolate, glaucous, firm in texture, undulated, gradually narrowed to an acute point, fifteen to eighteen

inches long, two to two and a half inches broad, closely veined, ciliated with distinct linear scales half a line long. Flowers thirty to forty or more in an umbel, white, with a distinct keel of red down the back of the segments; outer bracts large, greenish, deltoid; pedicels a half to three-quarters of an inch long. Ovary oblong; tube three and a half to four inches long; segments lanceolate, two to two and a half inches long, a quarter of an inch broad. Filaments as long as the perianth-segments. Anthers a quarter of an inch long. Style red, longer than the perianthsegments.

Pungo Andongo, in sandy woods, at 2400-3800 feet, flowering in October, Welwitsch, 4014! General habit of C. latifolium, from which it differs by its narrow perianth-segments and distinctly scale-ciliated leaves of firm texture.

CRINUM VANILLODORUM, Welw. MSS., n. sp. "Bulb columnar, the size of a child's head." Leaves spreading, bright green, lanceolate, two to three feet long, two to two and a half inches broad at the middle, narrowed from the middle towards the base and an acute point, entire, and not at all ciliated at the edge, the main veins distant for the genus and connected by distinct crossbars. Scape two to four feet long, three to six-flowered; outer bracts lanceolate, two and a half to three inches long. Ovary oblong, sessile. Perianth-tube curved, five to six inches long; segments of the limb oblong, pure white, not at all keeled with red, only the three outer faintly marked with green, about three inches long by an inch broad. Filaments white, declinate, falling about an inch short of the perianth-segments. Anthers linear, threequarters of an inch long. Style reaching to the tip of the perianth-segments.

Golungo Alto, 1000-2400 feet, flowering in November, Welwitsch, 4020! 4021! Closely allied to the well-known C. giganteum, Andr., of Sierra Leone. The name refers to the scent of the flowers.

CRINUM FIMBRIATULUM, Baker, n. sp. Leaves linear, two to five feet long, an inch broad at the base, tapering gradually to the point, glaucous green, deeply channelled down the face, minutely scale-ciliated at the edge; veins close, distinct. Scape two feet long, three to seven-flowered; outer bracts lanceolaté, two to two and a half inches long. Ovary nearly sessile. Perianth-tube curved, four to five inches long; segments of the limb oblong, ascending, white, with a distinct red keel, two and a half inches long, an inch broad. Filaments declinate, falling about an inch short of the segments of the perianth. Anthers linear, threeeighths to half an inch long. Style about reaching to the tip of the perianth-segments.

Loanda, in meadows, at a low level (under 1000 feet), inundated in summer, flowering in March, Welwitsch, 4018! 4019! Of described species, comes near C. Broussonetii, Herb. (C. yuccaflorum, Salisb.)