flora of tropical africa.

493 Pages·2012·16.46 MB·English

FLORA OF TROPICAL AFRICA.

FLORA
OF
TROPICAL AFRICA.
BY
DANIEL OLIVER, F.R.S., F.L.S.,
KEEPER OF THE HERBARIUM AND LIBRARY IN THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW, AND PROFESSOR
OF BOTANY IN UNIVERSITY OOLLEGE, LONDON.
ASSISTED BY OTHER BOTANISTS.
VOL. 1.
RAN UNO U LAO }I] lE TOO 0 N N A R A 0 }I] JE.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE FIRST COMMISSIONER
OF HER MAJESTY'S WORKS.
L. REEVE & CO., LTD.,
LLOYDS BANK BUILDINGS, BANK STREET,
AS~¥ORD, KEN''!'.
1868.
Printed in Great Britain.
PREFACE.
THE more original portion of the 'Flora of Tropical Mrica' is
based upon the very extensive collections that have accumulated
at Kew during the last ten years, sent home by the Botanists and
Collectors attached to various scientific and exploratory journeys
in Tropical Africa. The principal of these collections are
enumerated below.
From our very imperfect knowledge of the vegetation of many
parts of the Continent, even of those which have been long more
or less in European occupation, and from our complete ignorance
of that of the immensely larger area not yet opened up, the present
work must not be regarded as presenting anything like a complete
account of Tropical Mrican Botany. It serves rather as a vehicle
for the publication of the important botanical results of much
recent expenditure of Hfe, toil, and money, which would otherwise
have been lost to science or anticipated by other nations, and
(embracing references to all hitherto published African species) as
a repertory which it is hoped may be useful to Botanists, no less
than to future explorers and residents in Mrica interested in the
natural productions and economic products of the country.
The number of species here described being doubtless much
smaller than the vast area of intertropical Mrica must contain, it
has been necessary to go into greater detail, especially in the
descriptions of new species, than would have been the case had the
Continent been more thoroughly explored, and its botanical
noveltiea more n!)arly exhausted. In a well-explored area the
species may be determined by a few selected diagnostic characters;
VI PREFACE.
but when few are known out of many presumed to exist, it is
impossible to say which may be the diagnostic characters of a
species and which common to others of the genus.
The 'Flora of Tropical Mrica,' forming one of the series of
Floras undertaken, at the instance of the late Sir William J.Hooker,
under the authority of the Home or of Colonial Governments, it
is necessarily uniform in general plan with those which have been
already issued.
The principal features of this plan, as settled by Sir W. J.
Hooker, and described in his report,* are these :-
1st. The descriptions are drawn up in the English language.
2nd. The general sequence of Natural Orders adopted is that
of the' Prodromus' of De Candolle, being that which experience
has shown to be practically the most convenient. In accordance
with this sequence, British Botanists are accustomed to arrange
their Herbaria and works of descriptive Botany. In the more
detailed arrangement of the genera, the 'Genera Plantarum ' of
Messrs. Bentham and Hooker has been followed, and a reference
to that work is given with each genus.
With regard to the synonymy of the species here described,
while the authors have endeavoured to quote all names which have
been applied to tropical African plants, they have not, in the case
of widely diffused species, regarded it as either necessary or desir
able to include their whole synonymy, the reliable citation of
which would have involved very much more time, labour, and
space than the end to be attained would warrant, besides that it
would be out of place in a special work of this kind. Any new
identifications of African with extra-Mrican species are of course
recorded.
Those who are unaccustomed to the use of works of descriptive
Botany in the field, it may be well to caution in respect of the
dimensions of the various organs given throughout the work in
English feet, inches, and lines (Tl~ inch). The extremes quoted
are simply intended to include the usual or average range of size
*
See' Natural History Review,' 1861, p. 255.
PREFACE. VII
in the specimens examined by the authors, and which in nature
are often departed from according to circumstances favourable or
unfavourable to luxuriance, in which the plant may be placed. It
may be observed, however, that relative proportions often hold
good, while absolute size may be widely different. N:or must
undue importance be attached to the more prominent and briefly
expressed characters made use of in the synoptical tables which
are given under each genus of two or more species. These are
intended to serve rather as guides in the determination of the
species than as absolute or final indications, and must always be
checked by a comparison of the specimen with the more detailed
description. •
In citing the several localities for ea~h species, it has appeared
expedient to arrange them under six principal geographical regions
into which the enormous area embraced by this Flora has been
*
divided. These are :-
1. UPPER GUINEA, including under this term the Western
Coast region from the river Senegal on the north to Cape Lopez,
immediately south of the equator; the interior drained by rivers
intermediate between these limits; and the small islands of the
Gulf of Guinea, Fernando Po, Prince's Island, St. Thomas and
Annabon.
2. NORTH CENTRAL. The Sahara eastward to the countries
watered by the Nile and its tributaries, including also Bornu and
Haussa.
3. NILE LAND. The area drained by the Nile, extending some
three or four degrees south .of the equator, so as to include the
plants collected by Captains Speke and Grant, after leaving the
watershed coastwards on their way from Zanzibar to the Victoria
Nyanza.
4. LOWER GUINEA. Western tropical Africa, from Cape Lopez
southward to the tropic of Capricorn, including Congo, Angola,
Benguella, and Mossamedes.
* To the citatioI1-of localitjes, the sign (I) is added whenever a specimen has
been actually seen by the author. An asterIsk (*) is prefixed to those species
which are believed to have been introduced.
VIII PREFACE.
5. SOUTH CENTRAL. This includes the upper Zambesi from
the Victoria Falls, Lake Ngami, and a vast area as yet unexplored.
6. MOZAMBIQUE DISTRICT. Under this general term are
included, not only Mozambique proper, but Zanzibar, ~ambesi­
land, and the coast region southward to the tropic.
The more important collections contained in the Kew Herbarium
from UPPER GUINEA are the following :-
1. The plants collected by Dr. Theodore Vogel and his assistant
Mr. Ansell, on the Niger Expedition, organized by the Mrican
Civilization Society, in 1841, and which formed the basis of the
, Flora Nigritiana ' of Dr. Hooker and Mr. Bentham, published in
- 1849. Besides the numerous specimens collected on the banks of
the Niger itself, this collection includes many from Sierra Leone,
Fernando Po,Accra, and other points touched at by the expedition.
These, of course, have been already published in the work
referred to.
2. The very large collections made by Mr. Charles Barter,
attached to the Niger Expedition under Dr. Baikie, in 1857, 1858,
and 1859, together with some specimens, sent home by Dr. Baikie
himself.
3. The yet more important collections, made by Mr. Gustav
Mann, under the auspices of the Admiralty, in Fernando Po,
St. Thomas and Prince's Islands, Old Calabar, Cameroons
mountains, Corisco Bay, Rivers Muni and Gaboon, and the Sierra
del Crystal.
4. Collections made, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Abbeo
kuta, by the late Dr. Irving.
5. A collection from Old Calabar and neighbourhood, made by
the Rev. W. C. Thomson, and transmitted to Kew by Professor
Balfour. Besides the above, the Kew Herbarium contains
valuable sets from Senegambia, collected by Heudelot and Leprieur,
communicated to Sir W. J. Hooker by M. B. Delessert, through
his curator, M. Guillemin; and a few collected by M. Bidjem,
communicated by Count Franqueville; and from Sierra Leone,
collected by Don, Whitfield, Miss Turner, and others.
PREFACE. IX
Reference has also been made t,o the specimens contained in the
Herbarium of the British Museum, collected by Afzelius, Smeath
mann, Dr. Daniell, and others, at Sierra Leone, and by Leprieur
and Perrottet in Senegambia.
From NORTH CENTRAL our material is exceedingly scanty, being
almost limited to specimens collected by Dr. Edward Vogel in
crossing the Sahara, by way of Aghadem, and in Bornu and
adjacent provinces. A few plants are cited from this region, on
the authority of Robert Brown's' Essay on the Plants of Oudney,
Denham, and Clapperton': the specimens collected by these
travellers ire lost.
From NILE LAND, there are at Kew excellent sets of:-
1. Dr. Schimper's Abyssinian collections, distributed by the
'Unio Itineraria ' of Wiirtemberg.
2. Dr. Kotschy's Kordofan and Nubian plants.
3. Abyssinian plants, collected by Dr. Roth in 1841-42,
presented by the East India Company.
4. Abyssinian plants of Dillon, Petit, and others, communi
cated by Count Franqueville, from the Richardian Herbarium in
his possession.
5. Upper Nile plants, collected by Mr. Petherick and Dr. Murie,
communicated to Sir W. J. Hooker by the former distinguished
traveller.
6. Nubian plants, collected by Dr. Bromfield.
7. Captain Grant's valuable herbarium, with his original notes,
formed in company with Captain Speke on their celebrated
exped~tion to the Victoria Nyanza. /'
8. ' A set of Dr. Schweinfur~h's Nubian and Gallabat plants.
9. Specimens of a few resin-affording trees, from the Somali
country, communicated by Colonel Playfair.
We have also had the opportunity of examining the plants,
collected by Mr. Salt in Abyssinia, which were determined by
Mr. Brown, and enumerated in the Appendix to his travels,
contained in the Herbarium of the British Museum.
x PREFACE.
For our material from LOWE~ GUINEA, we are almost wholly
indebted to the courtesy of Dr. Friedrich Welwitscb, who, with
rare liberality, has freely granted us the opportunity of inspecting
his collections, which, in respect of judicious selection and
admirable preservation, are without rival. His carefully accurate
notes upon the fresh plants have also been at our service. Without
the access to Dr. Welwitsch's Herbarium, this region would have
been comparatively a blank in the present work. There remain
but few Natural Orders treated of in the first volume, of which
we have not yet had the opportunity of inspecting his specimens,
and, of these, we may be able to embody the novelties in an
Appendix. To this distinguished naturalist I tender the warmest
thanks on behalf of my collaborators and myself.
A set of plants, from the Congo, collected by Professor Christian
Smitp,. and a few gathered on the banks of the same river by
Mr. Consul Burton, are in the Kew Herbarium, also a small
collection from Elephants' Bay, made by Dr. Curror.
SOUTH CENTRAL: from this region we poss-ess a few plants,
collected by Drs. Kirk and Meller on the Upper Zambesi,* and a
small collection, made under adverse circumstances, by Messrs.
Baines and Chapman towards the southern tropic and about
Lake Ngami, in their adventurous journey from Waalvisch Bay
to the Upper Zambesi.
From the MOZAMBIQUE DISTRICT Kew possesses-
The large collections from the Zambesi, its tributary the Shire,
Lake Nyassa, and adjacent country, made by Dr. John Kirk, the
accomplished naturalist and medical officer of the Livingstone
Expedition, received in 1860-62. These collections are accom
panied by valuable notes and drawings made upon the spot.
From the same region we have also a number of specimens,
gathered by' Dr. J. Meller, attached to the Church of England
Mission, associated with Dr. Livingstone's Second Expedition,
and by Mr. Horace Waller.
* The bulk of the Upper Zambesi collections, made by Dr. Kirk, was
unfortunately lost.