Apropos of Nelsonia canescens and N. smithii (Acanthaceae)

Abstract

This report draws attention to an unpublished 1971 B.Sc. (Hons.) Dissertation by the junior author at the University of Lagos, on variation in Nelsonia canescens (Lam.) Spreng. sensu lato, based on a study carried out on samples from three different habitats near Lagos. Samples from drier sites corresponded to N. canescens (Lam.) Spreng. and those from marshy sites with N. smithii Orsted, but intermediate populations were found growing in shaded low-lying sites. The study has a bearing on a recent article by Morton (1979) in Kew Bulletin.