A diffuse, densely pubescent herb. Leaves petiolate, and spathulate- oblanceolate, covered with stellate hairs. Stipules scarious. Flowers small, crowded in leafy cymes, otherwise as in the next species. Berber Prov. (Banks of the Nile between Khartoum and Shendi). =P. Lœflingii= _Benth._ & _Hook. f._ A diffuse, prostrate or ascending, wiry, glabrous herb. Leaves sessile, linear or linear-spathulate, glabrous. Flowers small, in dichotomous cymes; sepals 5, with white, scarious edges; petals small, linear; stamens 3-5; style 3-fid. Khartoum Prov.; Bahr El Ghazal Prov. (Jur-land, Wau & Mittu-land: Mvolo, & Bongo-land: Addai); Blue Nile Prov. (near Wad Medani). 77 =Polycarpæa corymbosa= _Lam._ Herb, 2-12 in. high, with a somewhat amarantaceous appearance. Leaves linear, sessile. Flowers numerous, small, crowded in dense cymes, forming large flat-topped heads; bracts scarious, silvery, bristle- pointed. Red Sea Prov. (Dongonab); Kassala Prov. (Gallabat); Fung Prov. (Jongol’s Post); White Nile Prov.; Bahr El Ghazal Prov. (Jur-land: Jur Ghattas, Niamniam-land); Bahr El Jebel (Madi). Said to be a remedy for snake-bite. =P. eriantha= _Hochst._ Diffuse, slender herb, with numerous flowers in lax cymes, spreading all over the plant. Sepals loosely pubescent. Leaves linear, about ½ in. long, with fine setose points. Kordofan Prov. (El Obeid); Mongalla Prov., Bongo-land (Gir). =P. spicata= _Arnott._ Small herb; leaves obovate or oblanceolate-spathulate, rosulate; flower- heads densely fascicled; sepals 5, ovate-lanceolate, scarious; petals 5, shorter than sepals; stamens 5. Red Sea Prov.: Lat. 21° N. =P. fragilis= _Del._ Small herb. Leaves linear-lanceolate, hoary, margins revolute. Flowers in small, densely fascicled cymes; sepals ovate-elliptic, with membranous margin, longer than petals. Red Sea Prov.: from sea level to 4,000 ft., Lat. 21° N. =P. linearifolia= _DC._ Erect or decumbent herb. Leaves narrow-linear or linear-subulate. Flowers in terminal, rounded or lax, silvery, many flowered cymes. Sepals scarious acute, ⅓ to ⅔ longer than petals. Blue Nile Prov.: White Nile Prov. (South of Lat. 14° N.): Kordofan Prov. (Hillet Nu & El Obeid); Bahr El Ghazal Prov. (Jur-land: Jur Aweit). =P. stellata= _DC._ Erect or diffuse herb. Leaves linear, with axillary tufts. Flowers in small capitate, divaricate cymes; sepals very acute, much longer than the petals. Red Sea Prov. (Erkowit). =P. prostrata= _Dec._ HAR, HARA & REYKHA—Arab. Prostrate herb. Leaves linear-spathulate. Flowers solitary from the forks. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, with broad membranous margin, hardly longer than petals. Nubia; Northern Sudan. 78 =Sphærocoma Hookeri= _T. Anders._ Undershrub, 1-2 ft. high. Branchlets glabrous. Flower heads dense, globose, spinescent. Leaves fleshy, terete, fascicled. Nubia; Red Sea Prov. (J. Hotarba: Soturba Range, Lat. 22° N.). =S. Aucheri= _Boiss._ Leaves shorter than those of last-named. Branchlets pubescent.