Chapter I: Part 1

THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF
SOUTH AFRICA.

A MAGAZINE CONTAINING HAND-COLOURED FIGURES WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF THE
FLOWERING PLANTS INDIGENOUS TO SOUTH AFRICA.

EDITED BY I. B. POLE EVANS, C.M.G., M.A., D.Sc., F.L.S., Chief,
Division of Botany and Plant Pathology, Department of Agriculture,
Pretoria; and Director of the Botanical Survey of the Union of South
Africa.

VOL. IV.

The veld which lies so desolate and bare
Will blossom into cities white and fair,
And pinnacles will pierce the desert air,
And sparkle in the sun.

R. C. MACFIE’S “EX UNITATE VIRES.”

LONDON:
L. REEVE & CO., LTD.,
6 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON.

SOUTH AFRICA:
THE SPECIALITY PRESS OF SOUTH AFRICA, LTD.,
P.O. BOX 3958, JOHANNESBURG; P.O. BOX 388, CAPETOWN.
1924.

[_All rights reserved._]

TO

PERCIVAL ROSS FRAMES, ESQUIRE, C.M.G.

LOVER, COLLECTOR, AND MOST SUCCESSFUL CULTIVATOR OF HIS COUNTRY’S
SUCCULENT PLANTS, THIS VOLUME OF “THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF SOUTH
AFRICA” IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED IN RECOGNITION OF HELP MOST
GENEROUSLY GIVEN.

DIVISION OF BOTANY, PRETORIA. _October, 1924._

PLATE 121.

STAPELIA FLAVOPURPUREA.

_Cape Province._

ASCLEPIADACEAE. Tribe STAPELIEAE. STAPELIA, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. ii. p. 784.

=Stapelia flavopurpurea=, _Marloth in Trans. S. Afr. Phil. Soc._ vol. 18, p. 48, t. 5, fig. 1; _Fl. Cap._ vol. v. sect. i, p. 969.

Representatives of this characteristic South African genus have been figured on Plates 26 and 72, and we have pleasure in illustrating for the first time in colour a species which is unique among the species of _Stapelia_. It differs from all the known species in having clavate hairs on the disc. The flowers, though much smaller than many in the genus, are very beautiful, and lack the unpleasant smell so characteristic of stapelias.

It is not a common species, and as far as our records go has only been collected in the Tanqua Karroo by Dr. Marloth, and recently the Division of Botany received specimens from Mr. E. Anderson, Matjesfontein. This flowered at Pretoria in February 1923, and our Plate was prepared from these specimens.

DESCRIPTION:--_Stems_ 4 cm. high, 4-angled, minutely pubescent. _Rudimentary leaves_ 2 mm. long, deltoid, acute. _Flowers_ 1-3 together arising about 2/3 up the stem. _Pedicels_ 1·7 cm. long, terete, minutely pubescent. _Sepals_ 5 mm. long, linear-lanceolate, acute, minutely pubescent. _Corolla_ 3·6 cm. across when expanded; lobes 1·5 cm. long, ovate-lanceolate, strongly revolute, so that they appear almost linear, acute, strongly rugose; tube saucer-shaped, covered with numerous clavate hairs about 1 mm. long. _Outer corona lobes_ 4·5 mm. long, 3-lobed, concave on the inner face, with the middle lobe narrower and longer than the side lobes and with the side lobes sometimes bifid or trifid. _Inner corona lobes_ 5 mm. long, incumbent over the anthers, 2-horned, with the upper horn erect and curving outwards above, and with the lower horn erect-spreading shorter than the upper horn (National Herb. 2712).

* * * * *

PLATE 121.--Fig. 1, surface view of flower; Fig. 2, median longitudinal section of flower; Fig. 3, sepal; Fig. 4, petal; Fig. 5, outer corona; Fig. 6, inner corona and pollen sac; Fig. 7, pollinia.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 122.

ANSELLIA GIGANTEA.

_Transvaal, Natal, Portuguese East Africa._

ORCHIDACEAE. Tribe VANDEAE. ANSELLIA, _Lindl._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 537.

=Ansellia gigantea=, _Reichb. f. in Linnaea_, vol. xx. p. 673; _Fl. Cap._ vol. v. sect. 3, p. 62.

This epiphytic orchid belongs to a tropical African genus of about 6 species, and is the only representative which occurs in South Africa. The flowers are a pale lemon colour, sometimes barred or blotched with brown. Specimens were sent to England from Natal prior to 1857, and might be considered, as was suggested by Hooker and the late Dr. Bolus, a colour variety of the tropical African _Ansellia africana_. Mr. Rolfe in the _Flora Capensis_ considers it to be a distinct species, as described by Reichenbach, and we have followed his naming. The figure given by Bolus (_Ic. Orch. Austro-Afric._ 11. t. 29) represents a colour form different from that reproduced here.

The plant is found in the mountainous parts of the eastern Transvaal, on the coast of Natal, and near Delagoa Bay. Our figure was prepared from a specimen which flowered at the Division of Botany in June 1922, and which was collected by Mrs. Sinclair Allen on the Lebombo Mountains in Swaziland.

DESCRIPTION:--_Stems_ elongate, terete or somewhat sulcate, 1/3-1 ft. long, with 6 to many leaves on the upper part or near the apex and numerous imbricate membranous sheaths below. _Leaves_ distichous, linear-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, subacute, ¼-1 ft. long, ½-1½ in. broad, with 3-5 prominent veins. _Panicle_ terminal, ½-1 ft. long, usually with several branches, rarely reduced to a simple raceme, with a few short sheaths below. _Bracts_ triangular-ovate, subacute, 1/6 in. long. _Pedicels_ slender, 1-1¼ in. long. _Flowers_ medium-sized, light yellow, more or less barred or blotched with light dusky brown; sepals and petals spreading, oblong or elliptic-oblong, obtuse, about ¾ in. long; lip 3-lobed, rather shorter than the sepals; side lobes erect, oblong, obtuse; front lobe recurved, elliptic-oblong, obtuse or emarginate; disc with 3 prominent crenulate keels; column clavate, 1/3 in. long (National Herb. Pretoria 2601).

* * * * *

PLATE 122.--Figs. 1, 2, front and side view of flower; Fig. 3, lip; Fig. 4, column; Fig. 5, pollinia.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 123.

PACHYPODIUM SAUNDERSII.

_Transvaal, Swaziland._

APOCYNACEAE. Tribe ECHITIDEAE. PACHYPODIUM, _Lindl._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. ii. p. 722.

Pachypodium Saundersii, _N. E. Br. in Kew Bulletin 1892_, 126; _Fl. Cap._ vol. iv. sect. i. p. 516.

It is with pleasure that we figure for the first time this species of _Pachypodium_, which flowered at the Division of Botany, Pretoria, in 1923, from tubers forwarded by Mr. J. Kirton, Pietersburg, Transvaal. The genus _Pachypodium_ differs from _Adenium_ (see Plate 16) in having a pair of spines at the base of the leaves, but the present species agrees with _Adenium multiflorum_ in its general habit. Both have large succulent stems, partly below the ground, from which the branches arise. In _Pachypodium Saundersii_ the pollination mechanism is somewhat complicated, but in what way the various structures function in this is not quite clear. The flowers are protandrous and the anthers all converge to a point. The base of the anther is provided with a pouch and the filament with a ciliated hood, and these two structures form a cage for the pollen. The stigma lies within this cage, and the style may possibly elongate eventually, and thus push the pollen above the anthers, as in the _Compositae_. The plant flowered freely in Pretoria, but failed to fruit, and from this it may be assumed that self-pollination does not take place.

DESCRIPTION:--_Inflorescence_ arising in an umbellate manner at apex of stems, up to 11-flowered. _Sepals_ 4 mm. long, 3·5 mm. broad, ovate, acuminate, acute, glabrous. _Corolla-tube_ 3·5 cm. long, cylindric and 1·2 cm. long below, with a subglobose base, then suddenly dilated and narrowed towards the apex, glabrous without, pilose within; lobes 2·2 cm. long, 1·8 cm. broad in the widest part, straight on one side, very convex and crisped on opposite side, subacuminate, acute. _Filament_ 3 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, ovate, with a ciliated hood at the base; anthers 6·7 mm. long, linear with a lanceolate, acute appendage 1·5 mm. long, and a membranous pouch at the base. _Style_ 1·3 cm. long, terete, glabrous; stigma club-shaped covered with a white opaque jelly-like substance; ovary 3·5 mm. long, with a cupular disk at the base (National Herb. 2736).

* * * * *

PLATE 123.--Fig. 1, median longitudinal section of the flower; Fig. 2, stamen; Fig. 3, portion of style with the stigma; Fig. 4, the 2 carpels with a cupular disk at the base.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 124.

ALOE VERECUNDA.

_Transvaal._

LILIACEAE. Tribe ALOINEAE. ALOE, _Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 776.

=Aloe verecunda=, _Pole Evans in Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Afr._ vol. v. p. 703.

This _Aloe_ is another of the many species from the Transvaal described within recent years by Dr. Pole Evans, and it is here figured for the first time. Our Plate was prepared from plants collected by Mr. D. J. Fouche in the Middleburg District, Transvaal, and which subsequently flowered at the Division of Botany, Pretoria. The specimens on which Dr. Pole Evans based his description were found by Mr. P. J. Pienaar on the Wolkberg, near Haenertsberg, in the Northern Transvaal. In the natural state it usually flowers towards the latter part of December, and the dark red racemes are then very conspicuous. As soon as winter sets in, the leaves wither and fall.

DESCRIPTION:--_Stem_ short. _Leaves_ 8-10, distichous, deciduous, 25-35 cm. long, 8-10 mm. broad at the base, narrowly linear, distinctly channelled, rounded at the back, with numerous minute raised white spots at the base, armed along the edges with delicate white teeth 2-7 mm. apart. _Peduncle_ stout, 25 cm. long, clothed with broad ovate shortly cuspidate green empty bracts. _Raceme_ more or less capitate. _Bracts_ 20 mm. long, 15 mm. broad, ovate, acute. _Pedicels_ 25 mm. long. _Perianth_ peach-red to scarlet, greenish towards the apex, 26-30 mm. long, 12 mm. in diameter, straight, very markedly 3-angled, contracted towards the mouth; segments free. _Style_ and _stamens_ not or scarcely exserted (National Herb. 2743).

PLATE 124.--Fig. 1, portion of leaf showing white spots; Fig. 2, median longitudinal section of the flower; Fig. 3, outer perianth-segment; Fig. 4, inner perianth-segment; Fig. 5, anther with part of the filament; Fig. 6, top of style showing the simple stigma.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 125.

GLADIOLUS LUDWIGII var. CALVATUS.

_Transvaal._

IRIDACEAE. Tribe GLADIOLEAE. GLADIOLUS, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 709.

=Gladiolus Ludwigii=, _Pappe._ var. calvatus, _Baker Fl. Cap._ vol. vi. p. 150.

This _Gladiolus_ belongs to the same section of the genus as _G. Rehmanni_, figured on Plate 20. The variety _calvatus_ has up to the present only been recorded from the Pretoria and Barberton Districts of the Transvaal, but the species is a native of Natal, East Griqualand and the Transkei. The specimens from which our illustration was made were collected by Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, C.M.G., at Brits, and were found growing in deep black turf soil. The variety is also figured in the _Botanical Magazine_, t. 6291, and a comparison of that plate with the one reproduced here will show a difference in the colouring of the flowers, but Dr. Pole Evans states that the pale yellow and speckled forms grow together and are undoubtedly the same. The yellow-flowered form was introduced into cultivation in England in 1877, and both this and our plant differ from the species in being glabrous.

DESCRIPTION:--_Plant_ about 1 m. high. _Old corm_ 4 cm. in diameter, 1·5 cm. thick, disc-like; new corm more or less globose on the old corm. _Produced leaves_ about 5, the longest up to almost 1 m. long, the free portion of uppermost leaf about 30 cm. long; all 0·8-1·8 cm. broad, strap-shaped, narrowing to the apex, acute or obtuse, equitant at the base, 12-15-nerved with the main nerves subprominent and with cartilaginous margins, glabrous. _Inflorescence_ densely many-flowered, almost 30 cm. long. _Outer spathe valve_ 3·7 cm. long, 2 cm. broad, ovate, acuminate, acute, 3-keeled below, with membranous margins, glabrous; inner spathe-valve very similar to the outer, but strongly 2-keeled. _Perianth-tube_ 1·5 cm. long, slightly curved; the upper perianth-lobe 4·2 cm. long, 1·8 cm. broad, elliptic, shortly apiculate; two upper lateral lobes 3·5 cm. long, 2 cm. broad, ovate-elliptic, shortly apiculate at the apex; lowermost lobe 3·2 cm. long, 1·3 cm. broad, elliptic-ovate, minutely apiculate; two lower lateral lobes 2·5 cm. long, 6 mm. broad, linear-oblong, apiculate. _Filaments_ 1·2 cm. long, terete, glabrous; anthers 1·25 cm. long, linear, somewhat sagittate at the base. _Style_ 2·5 cm. long, terete, glabrous; stigmas 8 mm. long, linear, broadening to the apex (National Herb. 2731).

* * * * *

PLATE 125.--Fig. 1, leaf; Fig. 2, portion of leaf showing ribs; Fig. 3, median longitudinal section of flower; Fig. 4, inner spathe-valve; Fig. 5, outer spathe-valve; Fig. 6, cross-section of ovary; Fig. 7, style and stigmas; Fig. 8, stamen.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 126.

VELTHEIMIA ROODEAE.

_Cape Province._

LILIACEAE. Tribe SCILLEAE. VELTHEIMIA, _Gled._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 811.

=Veltheimia Roodeae=, _Phillips_, _sp. nov._, a _V. glauca_, Jacq. foliis ovatis acuminatis et marginibus undulatis differt.

_Bulbus_ 13 cm. longus, 6 cm. latus. _Folia_ 12-15 cm. longa, basi 4-5 cm. lata, ovata, acuminata, apice acuta, marginibus undulatis, glabra. _Pedunculus_ 12-15 cm. longus, 6 mm. latus. _Inflorescentia_ 3·5 cm. longa. _Bracteae_ 1 cm. longae. _Pedicellus_ 1·5 mm. longus. _Tubus perianthii_ 2·2 cm. longus, cylindricus, basi paullo globosus; lobi 1·5 mm. longi, 1·5 mm. lati, ovati, apice obtusi. _Filamenta_ 1 cm. longa; antherae 2·25 mm. longae, oblongae. _Ovarium_ 1 cm. longum, 2·5 mm. latum, sulcatum; stylus 1 cm. longus; stigma simplex.

As we find it impossible to place this plant into any of the known species of the genus, we have decided to publish a description of it under the name of _V. Roodeae_, in honour of Mrs. R. Rood of Van Rhynsdorp, to whom our readers are greatly indebted for so many of the rare plants we have previously figured. It differs in the shape of the leaves from any of the species described in the _Flora Capensis_. They are distinctly undulate.

_Veltheimia_ is a small genus of 3 species, none of which appears to have been extensively gathered by recent botanical collectors. The first known species, _V. viridifolia_, was described by Linneaus (as _Aletris capensis_) in 1751, and was introduced into European cultivation in 1768, so that a species of the genus was known to botanical science over 150 years ago.

_V. viridifolia_, Jacq., does quite well under cultivation, but we have not yet had an opportunity of growing the species here described.

DESCRIPTION:--Bulb 13 cm. long, 6 cm. in diameter, ellipsoid, covered with membranous tunics, at the base with a disc-shaped rootstock 6 cm. in diameter, 2·5 cm. thick, from which the roots arise. _Leaves_ 11 to a bulb, 12-15 cm. long, 4·5 cm. broad near the base, ovate, acuminate, acute, clasping at the base, with undulate margins and a broad thick midrib beneath slightly raised, green and glaucous above, densely reddish-spotted beneath, glabrous. _Peduncle_ as long as the leaves, 6 mm. in diameter, terete, reddish by being covered with close-set reddish spots. _Inflorescence_ 3·5 cm. long. _Bracts_ 1 cm. long, almost filiform. _Pedicels_ 1·5 mm. long. _Flowers_ somewhat reflexed; perianth-tube 2·2 cm. long, 4 mm. in diameter, cylindric, faintly globose and bent about the middle, white with reddish spots; lobes 1·5 mm. long, 1·5 mm. broad, ovate, obtuse. _Stamens_ fixed to the middle of the perianth-tube; filaments 1 cm. long; anthers 2·25 mm. long, oblong. _Ovary_ 1 cm. long, 2·5 mm. in diameter, in the middle spindle-shaped, furrowed; style 1 cm. long, terete; stigma simple (National Herb. 2739).

* * * * *

PLATE 126.--Fig. 1, median longitudinal section of a flower; Fig. 2, stamen; Fig. 3, pistil; Fig. 4, cross-section through the ovary.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 127.

STRUMARIA TRUNCATA.

_Cape Province._

AMARYLLIDACEAE. Tribe AMARYLLEAE.

STRUMARIA, _Jacq._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 728.

=Strumaria truncata=, _Jacq. Ic._ ii. t. 357; _Fl. Cap._ vol. vi. p. 216.

_Strumaria_ is a small endemic South African genus, and five species have been described in the _Flora Capensis_, all of which have been figured by Jacquin in his _Icones Plantarum Rariorum_. Two of the species are recorded from Little Namaqualand, but no locality is known for the other three, nor do any specimens appear to exist in herbaria, Jacquin’s figures and descriptions being all we know about them. It is with particular pleasure, therefore, that we reproduce this illustration of a species of this little-known genus, and our readers are again indebted to Mrs. E. Rood of Van Rhynsdorp for sending us fresh material. Our plant differs slightly from Jacquin’s figure, inasmuch as the dilated portion of the style does not narrow towards the base and is irregularly lobed above, but on this account we do not feel justified in keeping it distinct from _Strumaria truncata_.

_Strumaria truncata_ is a charming little plant with an umbel of white, sweet-smelling flowers, faintly tinged with pink (the _Flora Capensis_ states flowers “inodorous”). The bulbs received from Mrs. Rood are being grown at the Division of Botany, Pretoria, and we feel sure once the species becomes known it will be sought after by cultivators of our South African bulbs.

DESCRIPTION:--_Bulb_ 3 cm. in diameter, globose or ovoid, covered with pale brown papery tunics, and produced into a distinct neck up to 3·5 cm. long. _Leaves_ 4-6, arising from a sheath, 2·2-4·5 cm. long, 1·2 cm. broad, oblanceolate or oblong (strap-shaped), rounded at the apex, glabrous. _Leaf-sheath_ 1·5-2 cm. in diameter, funnel-shaped, truncate, fleshy, reddish. _Peduncle_ lateral, 15-23 cm. long, terete, glabrous. _Spathe-valves_ reddish, 2-3·2 cm. long, longer or shorter than the pedicels. _Pedicels_ slender, 1·2-2 cm. long, glabrous. _Inflorescence_ 13-25-flowered; flowers white, faintly but sweet-scented. _Segments_ 1 cm. long, 3·6 mm. broad, lanceolate, obtuse. _Filaments_ connate into a tube for 5 mm., then free for 7 mm., erect, glabrous; anthers 2·5 mm. long, oblong, versatile. _Ovary_ 1·5 mm. long, globose, glabrous, with about 5 ovules in each cell; style dilated, sharply 3-angled below and united with filaments; free part of style 5·5 mm. long, terete; stigma minutely 3-fid (National Herb., Pretoria, 2729).

* * * * *

PLATE 127.--Fig. 1, median longitudinal section of the flower; Fig. 2, a perianth segment; Fig. 3, style, showing the dilated 3-angled lower portion of the 3 stigmas; Fig. 4, a stamen.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 128.

MIMETES ARGENTEA.

_Cape Province._

PROTEACEAE. Tribe PROTEEAE.

MIMETES, _Salisb._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 171.

Mimetes argentea, _Knight, Prot. 67_; _Fl. Cap._ vol. v. sect. i. p. 647.

We have previously figured species of _Mimetes_, viz. _M. palustris_ (Pl. 36), _M. hottentotica_ (Pl. 82) and _M. capitulata_ (Pl. 58), and a comparison of the present Plate with the above will show that _M. argentea_ differs from the former two species in the cylindric, not swollen, stigma, and from the latter in the larger leaves and the greater number of flowers in each head.

_M. argentea_, up to the time of the publication of the _Flora Capensis_, was only known from specimens collected by Roxburgh, Masson and Niven over one hundred years ago, and it was only recently that the species was rediscovered. In May 1923, Mr. A. T. Prentice collected specimens near Villiersdorp, very probably in the same locality visited by Masson. Mr. Prentice writes: “They were found on the slopes of the south (_i.e._ Villiersdorp) side of French Hoek Peak about 3000 ft. There were about 50 trees, 3-6 ft. high, and the habit is different from most of the _Proteaceae_ I have noticed. I do not know how to describe it, but it is very open and something like a candelabra, branching all round. The flower spikes all stick straight up, in fact it grows like the advertised type of pruned apple-tree.” Mr. R. Hallack came across the species on the Hottentot Holland Mountains, and in June last Mr. T. P. Stokoe also collected it on the same mountain range. He had noted the plant two years previously, but was unable to obtain it in flower. It is from specimens forwarded by Mr. Stokoe that the present Plate was prepared.

DESCRIPTION:--_Shrub_ 4 ft. high; branches velvety-tomentose. _Leaves_ 1½-2½ in. long, 1-1½ in. broad, elliptic or oblong-elliptic, with a subobtuse callus at the apex, entire, slightly narrowed to the base, indistinctly 9-nerved, very densely tomentose with adpressed silky hairs. _Heads_ subsessile, 1½ in. long, including the styles, 7-9-flowered, axillary; involucral bracts about 3-seriate, coriaceous, the outer ovate-oblong, silky tomentose, the inner linear, long-villous; receptacle densely setose with long weak hairs. _Perianth-tube_ very short, rusty-villous; segments 1 in. long, linear, rusty-villous; limb 4½ in. long, villous. _Stamens_ 3 in. long; filaments swollen, fused with the perianth anthers 2¾ in. long, linear; apical gland 1/8 in. long, ovoid, acute. _Hypogynous scales_ 1¼ in. long, linear, subacute, white. _Ovary_ ¾ in. long, oblong, pubescent; style 1½ in. long, filiform, glabrous; stigma 3 in. long, linear, obtuse, furrowed, kneed at the junction with the style (National Herb. 2728).

* * * * *

PLATE 128.--Fig. 1, a single head; Fig. 2, an involucral bract; Fig. 3, a single flower; Fig. 4, complete perianth segment and a limb showing position of the stamen; Fig. 5, stigma; Fig. 6, ovary.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 129.

POLYXENA ENSIFOLIA.

_Cape Province._

* * * * *

LILIACEAE. Tribe SCILLEAE.

POLYXENA, _Kunth_; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. iii. p. 807.

* * * * *

=Polyxena ensifolia=, _Schönland in Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Afr._ vol. i. p. 444, Fig. 2.

* * * * *

On Plate 56 we figured a species of _Polyxena (P. haemanthoides)_, and gave a few remarks on the genus. The present species, collected by Mr. A. J. Austin at Matjesfontein, C. P., was at first thought to be _P. pygmaea_, Kunth, but it differs in many respects from the published figures, and as it agrees quite well with Schönland’s description of _P. ensifolia_, we have decided to place it under this species for the present. Dr. Schönland, who saw the living plant at Pretoria, suggested that it was a species differing both from _P. ensifolia_ and _P. pygmaea_; but until we know more about the genus both as regards the variability of the species and its distribution, it seems desirable to regard it as a form of P. ensifolia.

_P. ensifolia_ is a pretty little plant. The leaves are semi-erect and the inflorescence of pale lilac flowers arises between them. It does quite well under cultivation, and has flowered for two seasons at the Division of Botany, Pretoria. We are indebted to Mr. Austin for the original bulbs.

_Description_:--_Bulb_ 2·5 cm. long, 2·5 cm. in diameter, ovoid, covered with papery tunics. _Leaves_ two, erect or spreading above, produced into a long clasping base 5-6 cm. long; the broadened lamina 5 cm. long, 3 cm. broad, ovate, obtuse, with reddish somewhat scarious margins, not distinctly veined, glabrous. _Inflorescence_ corymbose, about 35-flowered. _Peduncle_ 6 cm. long, subterete. _Bracts_ 4·5 mm. long, ovate, acuminate, colourless. _Pedicels_, ·35-1·6 cm. long, glabrous. _Perianth-tube_ 1·5 cm. long, cylindric, gradually widening above; lobes 5·5 to 6 mm. long, 1·75 mm. broad, oblong, somewhat emarginate and hooded at the apex. _Stamens_ in two rows; filaments 3 mm. long, terete, glabrous; anthers 1 mm. long, oblong. _Ovary_ 3 mm. long, 1·5 mm. in diameter, ellipsoid; style 1·4 cm. long, terete; stigma minutely 3-lobed (National Herb. 2741).

* * * * *

PLATE 129.--Fig. 1, inflorescence; Fig. 2, a single flower; Fig. 3, flower laid open, showing position of stamens and pistil; Fig. 4, stamen; Fig. 5, pistil.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 130.

HABENARIA FOLIOSA.

_Cape Province, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Natal._

* * * * *

ORCHIDACEAE. Tribe OPHRYDEAE.

HABENARIA, _Willd._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. iii. p. 624.

* * * * *

=Habenaria foliosa=, _Reichb. f. in Flora_, 1865, 180; _Fl. Cap_. vol. v. sect. iii. p. 121; _Bolus Ic. Orch. Austro-Afr_. ii. t. 46.

* * * * *

The species of _Habenaria_ figured here has a wide range of distribution in South Africa. Starting from Swellendam in the south, it follows more or less the littoral strip as far as Port Alfred, and then spreads inland through the Transkei and East Griqualand into Natal, and through Basutoland and the eastern part of the Free State and up into the Transvaal Drakensbergen. The species is also met with in the Pretoria District, which is outside its normal range of distribution. In Basutoland the natives call it “_Mametsana_,” meaning “the mother of the small water.” The spur contains a watery substance which becomes jelly-like on exposure to air.

Around Pretoria the plant flowers in late summer, about February, after the rains, and is then frequently met with in the veld. The plate was prepared from specimens collected by Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, C.M.G., at Irene in February 1923.

DESCRIPTION:--_Plant_ 30-40 cm. high. _Tuber_ 5 cm. long, 2·5 cm. in diameter, ellipsoid, with thick cylindric roots arising from the junction of the stem and tuber. _Stem_ covered with many amplexicaul leaves which pass gradually into the bracts. _Leaves_ 4·5-8 cm. long, up to 3 cm. wide, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, stem-clasping at the base, obtuse or subapiculate at the apex, keeled with the midrib and 2 lateral veins prominent or distinct, glabrous. _Inflorescence_ many-flowered, up to 13 cm. long. _Bracts_ similar to the leaves but smaller. _Dorsal sepal_ 1 cm. long, 9 mm. broad, ovate, deeply concave, faintly 3-nerved; lateral sepals 1·3 cm. long, 4·5 mm. broad, oblong, unequal sided, slightly cucullate at the apex, faintly 3-nerved. _Petals_ 1·4-1·5 cm. long, 1 cm. broad, unequal sided, revolute on one margin near the apex, faintly 5-nerved. _Lip_ 2 cm. long, with revolute margins and with two lateral filiform appendages at the base. _Spur_ 3·5 cm. long, cylindric, clavate at the apex. _Rostellum_ triangular in outline, the two side lobes notched. _Pollinia_ sacs behind the rostellum. _Stigmas_ separate, oblong, with small papillae at the junction of the stigma and pollinium sac. _Ovary_ deeply grooved and angled (National Herb. 2730).

* * * * *

PLATE 130.--Fig. 1, median longitudinal section of flower; Fig. 2, front of flower, showing lip and column; Fig. 3, sepals; Fig. 4, a petal; Fig. 5, ovary; Fig. 6, pollinium.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 131.

SUTERA GRANDIFLORA.

_Transvaal._

* * * * *

SCROPHULARIACEAE. Tribe MANULEAE.

SUTERA, _Roth._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. ii. p. 945.

* * * * *

=Sutera grandiflora=, _Hiern._; _Fl. Cap._ vol. iv. sect. ii. p. 304.

* * * * *

Mr. E. E. Galpin, who collected this species round Barberton in 1889, described it in the _Kew Bulletin_ (1895, p. 151) under the name of _Lyperia grandiflora_. The species is a native of the Barberton District of the Transvaal, but has not been extensively collected. Mr. Galpin describes it as “abundant amongst scrub on the hillsides and in the valleys around Barberton, flowering throughout the year, but chiefly in June and July.” In cultivation it grows to a rather dense bush 2 to 4 feet high, and flowers profusely. Very fine specimens are in cultivation at the National Botanic Gardens, Kirstenbosch, and we are indebted to the Director of the gardens for the fresh material from which the accompanying Plate was prepared. The species should prove a great acquisition to horticulturists.

DESCRIPTION:--An undershrub, viscid-pubescent erect, 0·4 to 1·2 m. high; branches alternate or opposite, ascending, leafy, rigid, rather robust, the lower elongated. _Leaves_ mostly alternate, subfasciculate, oval-oblong, obtuse or subacute, more or less wedge-shaped at the base, crenate-serrate, hispid, scabrid, shortly petiolate, 0·6 to 3 cm. long, 3 to 8 mm. broad; lateral veins alternate, narrowly impressed on the upper face, hispid and raised on the lower. _Flowers_ racemose, numerous, 2 to 3 cm. long; racemes terminal, simple, subcorymbose and rather dense at first, afterwards elongating and rather lax, deep purple, 4 to 30 cm. long; pedicels divaricate or ascending, glandular-pilose, moderately rigid, 1-flowered, alternate, 6 to 8 mm. long, the upper crowded; bracts basal, sublinear, solitary or subfasciculate. _Calyx_ glandular-hispid, deeply 5-lobed, 6 to 8 mm. long; segments linear-oblong or spathulate or sublinear, obtuse. _Corolla-tube_ shortly glandular-pubescent, 0·8 to 3 cm. long, subcylindrical, rather slender, slightly dilated and curved near the top; limb spreading, 2 to 3 cm. in diameter; lobes obovate-rotund, entire or retuse, 1 to 1·3 cm. long. _Stamens_ included; style filiform, glabrous, about 1·5 cm. long; ovary sprinkled especially near the apex with small glands, otherwise glabrous. _Capsules_ ovoid-oblong, minutely glandular, 1 cm. long; seeds very numerous, irregularly oblong, 0-5 mm. long. (_Flora Capensis_; National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2742.)

* * * * *

PLATE 131.--Fig. 1, portion of branch, showing leaves; Fig. 2, median longitudinal section of flower; Fig. 3, bud showing folding of petals; Fig. 4, corolla laid open; Fig. 5, calyx; Fig. 6, front view of petals; Fig. 7, ovary; Fig. 8, upper portion of style; Fig. 9, anther.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 132.

NERINE FRITHII.

_Cape Province, Orange Free State._

* * * * *

AMARYLLIDACEAE. Tribe AMARYLLEAE.

NERINE, _Herb._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_, vol. iii. p. 728.

* * * * *

=Nerine Frithii=, _L. Bolus in Ann. Bolus Herb._ vol. iii. p. 79.

* * * * *

It is the first occasion that we figure a species of one of the most beautiful of South African genera, namely _Nerine_. _N. sarniensis_, known as the “Guernsey Lily,” and to mountaineers in the Cape as the “Nerina,” ranks with _Disa uniflora_ as one of the floral beauties of Table Mountain. The species illustrated, while it does not equal its Cape congener in the size of its flowers, is a charming little plant when seen growing. It differs from the closely allied genus _Hessea_ (see Plate 43) in having dorsifixed instead of basifixed anthers, and belongs to a small group of species in the genus _Nerine_ which have the anthers appendiculate at the base. The species has been successfully grown in the National Botanic Gardens at Kirstenbosch, near Cape Town, and was described by Mrs. L. Bolus from specimens which flowered at Kirstenbosch. Our plate was prepared from specimens which flowered at the Division of Botany, Pretoria. The plant figured differs from the description in not having two of the lobes of the staminal cup longer than the others, but Mrs. Bolus, who kindly examined our specimens, agrees that it is _N. Frithii_.

DESCRIPTION:--_Bulb_ 2 cm. long, 1·7 cm. in diameter, ovoid-globose. _Leaves_ present with the flowers, very often only two, up to 15 cm. long, 1 to 1·5 mm. broad, subfiliform, channelled above. _Inflorescence_ an umbel of 5 to 7 flowers. _Peduncle_ up to 20 cm. long, terete. _Spathe-valves_ 2·5 to 3 cm. long, oblong, long-attenuate. _Pedicels_ up to 3 cm. long. _Floral-bracts_ 1 to 1·5 cm. long, thread-like, membranous. _Perianth-segments_ spreading, at length recurved, 1.5 cm. long, 4 mm. broad, linear, acute, with undulate margins. _Stamens_ declinate; filaments 0.35 to 6 mm. long, appendiculate at the base forming a cup 3 cm. long, somewhat lacerated above, with two lobes usually much exceeding the others; anthers 4 mm. long. _Ovary_ obovate, with 2 ovules in each loculus. _Capsule_ globose, 8 mm. in diameter. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2746.)

* * * * *

PLATE 132.--Fig. 1, median longitudinal section of flower; Fig. 2, cross section of leaf; Fig. 3, a single perianth-segment; Fig. 4, a stamen, showing position of appendage at the base; Fig. 5, anther; Fig. 6, fruit, showing cup formed of staminal appendages; Fig. 7, tip of style; Fig. 8, fruit.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 133.

PROTEA ROUPPELLIAE.

_Orange Free State, Transvaal, Swaziland, Cape Province, Natal._

* * * * *

PROTEACEAE. Tribe PROTEAE.

PROTEA, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. iii. p. 169.

* * * * *

=Protea Rouppelliae=, _Meisn. in DC. Prodr._ vol. xiv. p. 237; _Fl. Cap._ vol. v. sect. i. p. 573.

* * * * *

This common and characteristic _Protea_ of the Drakensbergen we figure here for the first time. It appears to have been originally collected by Burke and Zeyher on the Magaliesberg, and was described by Meisner and named after Mrs. Rouppell, who published an illustrated book of Cape flowers.

_P. Rouppelliae_ forms extensive thickets on the slopes of the Drakensbergen, and in this respect resembles _P. mellifera_, _P. lepidocarpodendron_ and _P. neriifolia_ of the Cape Province. The species belongs to the same section of the genus as _P. compacta_, figured on Plate 84.

The specimens from which the accompanying Plate was painted were collected by Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, C.M.G., at the Devil’s Kantoor in the Barberton District of the Transvaal.

DESCRIPTION:--A small tree 8 to 15 ft. high; branches villous or tomentose above, at length glabrescent. _Leaves_ 10 to 15 cm. long, 2 to 4 cm. broad at the widest part, 4 mm. broad at the base, oblong-lanceolate or obovate-spathulate, acute, the younger densely villous or tomentose, at length glabrous, narrowed at the base, reticulately veined. _Head_ shortly peduncled, 7 to 9 mm. long, 5 to 10 cm. in diameter. _Involucral bracts_ 10-seriate, silky-tomentose, deep pink to pinky-white; outer ovate, obtuse, recurved to revolute, ciliate; inner with an obovate to obovate-oblong limb, gradually passing into the claw, shortly ciliate above, exceeding the flowers; perianth-sheath 4·5 cm. long, dilated and 3-keeled and 7-nerved below, loosely villous above the dilated portion; lip 3 cm. long, 3-awned, spreadingly villous; lateral awns 1·2 cm. long, linear, acuminate, purple, tomentose to villous; median awn 8 mm. long; fertile stamens 3; filaments 1 mm. long, flattened; anthers linear, 3 mm. long; apical glands 0·5 mm. long, oblong, acute; barren stamen acute, eglandular; ovary 4 mm. long, obovate in outline, densely covered with numerous long golden hairs; style 5 cm. long, curved, somewhat flattened, keeled below on the convex side, usually more or less shortly villous; stigma 4 mm. long, curved and kneed at the junction with the style. (_Flora Capensis_; National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2836.)

* * * * *

PLATE 133.--Fig. 1, receptacle; Fig. 2, inner bract; Fig. 3, single flower; Fig. 4, pistil.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 134.

NERINE LUCIDA.

_Cape Province, Orange Free State, Transvaal._

* * * * *

AMARYLLIDACEAE. Tribe AMARYLLEAE.

NERINE, _Herb._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. iii. p. 728.

* * * * *

=Nerine lucida=, _Herb. Amaryllid_. 283, t. 36, fig. 3; _Fl. Cap._ vol. vi. p. 214.

* * * * *

This species is, so far as we know, confined to the dry western portions of the Cape Province, S.W. Protectorate, Transvaal, and Orange Free State. Burchell found the plant both in Griqualand West and in Bechuanaland, and Burke on his journey up to the Transvaal found it near the Sand River in the Orange Free State. In habit the species very much resembles a dwarf _Brunsvigia_, but is distinguished from this genus by the obtusely angled ovary. The short stout peduncle is also found in two other species of _Nerine_.

A coloured plant of _N. lucida_ was published in 1820 (_Botanical Register_, Plate 497), drawn from a plant which flowered in the garden of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg.

The specimens from which the accompanying Plate was prepared were collected at Vryburg by Mr. A. O. D. Mogg, and flowered at the Division of Botany, Pretoria, in 1924.

DESCRIPTION:--_Bulb_ globose, 4 cm. in diameter, produced into a neck about 4 cm. long. _Leaves_ 6, contemporary with the flowers, about 18 cm. long, about 12 mm. broad, strap-shaped, obtuse, bright green. _Peduncle_ lateral, about 12 cm. long, compressed. _Inflorescence_ an umbel of 20 flowers. _Pedicels_ up to 7 cm. long, shortly hairy. _Spathe-valves_ ovate-lanceolate, membranous, shorter than the pedicels. _Perianth-segments_ 15 mm. long, 5 mm. broad, lanceolate-linear, obtuse. _Stamens_ declinate, almost as long as the perianth segments. _Ovary_ obtusely trigonous; style declinate, as long as the stamens. (National Herb., Pretoria, No. 2835.)

PLATE 134.--Fig. 1, median longitudinal section of a flower; Fig. 2, upper portion of perianth lobe, showing apex; Fig. 3, cross-section through the peduncle.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 135.

EULOPHIA LEONTOGLOSSA.

_Orange Free State, Transvaal, Cape Province, Natal._

* * * * *

ORCHIDACEAE. Tribe VANDEAE.

EULOPHIA, _R.Br._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. iii. p. 535.

* * * * *

=Eulophia leontoglossa=, _Reichb. f. in Flora_, 1881, 329; _Fl. Cap_. vol. v. sect. iii. p. 45.

* * * * *

This charming little _Eulophia_ is found in the summer months round Pretoria growing in the grass veld, and is fairly abundant. Like many other plants found in the neighbourhood of the Magaliesberg, it was collected by the travellers Burke and Zeyher. It ranges from the Maclear Division, through the Orange Free State, to Natal and the Transvaal.

_E. leontoglossa_ belongs to the same small group (four species) in the genus as _E. Zeyheri_ (figured on Plate 119), which is characterised by the flowers being arranged in congested racemes or short heads. Like _E. Zeyheri_ also, the tubers are arranged in a linear series and resemble large oval beads.

Our figure was made from specimens collected by Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, C.M.G., at Irene, near Pretoria.

DESCRIPTION:--_Tubers_ subglobose, about 2 cm. broad; leaves 2 or 3 in a fascicle, linear or lanceolate-linear, acute or acuminate, 10 to 36 cm. long, 1·25 to 8 mm. broad. _Scapes_ erect, 10 to 35 cm. long, with a few lanceolate acuminate sheaths below. _Flower-heads_ congested or rarely oblong, 2·5 to 5 cm. long; bracts linear or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 1·3 to 2 cm. long; pedicels 6 to 8 mm. long; lip 3-lobed, elliptic-oblong, narrowed at the base, about as long as the petals; side-lobes somewhat divergent, oblong, obtuse or truncate, short; front lobe elliptic-oblong, obtuse; disc with 5 obscure keels below, papillose above, and with the surface of the front lobe strongly papillose all over; spur oblong or subclavate, obtuse, 4 mm. long; column clavate, 4 mm. long. (_Fl. Cap._)

* * * * *

PLATE 135.--Fig. 1, median longitudinal section of flower; Fig. 2, lip; Fig. 3, sepal; Fig. 4, petal; Fig. 5, column; Fig. 6, pollinia.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 136.

HAEMANTHUS KATHARINAE.

_Natal, Transvaal._

* * * * *

AMARYLLIDACEAE. Tribe AMARYLLEAE.

HAEMANTHUS, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. iii. p. 730.

* * * * *

=Haemanthus Katharinae=, _Baker in Gard. Chron._ 1877, vol. vii. p. 656; _Fl. Cap._ vol. vi. p. 231.

* * * * *

On Plate 32 of this work we figured a species of _Haemanthus_ (_H. natalensis_) which differs from the present species in having the involucral-bracts erect instead of spreading. _Haemanthus Katharinae_, with its spreading involucral-bracts and perianth-segments, is unique in this respect amongst the South African species of the genus. On the inflorescence figured was an odd flower with 8 perianth-lobes and 8 stamens.

The species was introduced into England in 1877 by Mr. Keith, who was then Superintendent of the Durban Botanic Gardens. In 1884 an excellent figure (Plate 6778) appeared in the _Botanical Magazine_, made from plants which flowered at Kew from bulbs sent by Mr. W. B. Lyle of Kirkly Vale Estate, Natal.

We are indebted to Mr. P. S. Follwell, Isezela, Natal, for our specimen, which was cultivated at the Division and flowered in January 1923.

DESCRIPTION:--_Stem_ up to 18 cm. long. _Leaves_ 5 to 6 to a plant, contemporary with the flowers, 20 to 30 cm. long, 10 to 13 cm. broad, oblong, shortly mucronate; petiole 3 to 4 cm. long, channelled above. _Peduncle_ lateral, terete, up to 40 cm. long. _Inflorescence_ a many-flowered umbel. _Bracts_ 6, membranous, spreading or reflexed. _Pedicels_ slender, 2·5 to 4 cm. long. _Perianth-tube_ 2 cm. long; lobes 2·5 cm. long, linear-lanceolate, spreading or reflexed. _Stamens_ inserted at the throat of the perianth-tube; filaments 4·5 cm. long, erect; anthers 3 mm. long. _Ovary_ ellipsoid; style up to 6 cm. long; stigma simple. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2837.)

* * * * *

PLATE 136.--Fig. 1, plant much reduced; Fig. 2, median longitudinal section of the flower; Fig. 3, perianth segment showing attachment of stamen.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 137.

DIPLOCYATHA CILIATA.

_Cape Province._

* * * * *

ASCLEPIADACEAE. Tribe STAPELIEAE.

DIPLOCYATHA, _N. E. Br. in Journ. Linn. Soc._ vol. xvii. p. 168, t. 12, figs. 1 to 3.

* * * * *

=Diplocyatha ciliata=, _N. E. Br._ l.c.; _Fl. Cap._ vol. iv. sect. i. p. 923.

* * * * *

When Mr. Brown first described this remarkable genus in 1880, he only knew of Masson’s and Thunberg’s specimens, and up to the time of the account in the _Flora Capensis_ (1909) Dr. Marloth was the only recent collector who had found the plant. Mrs. D. van der Bijl, of Abraham’s Kraal, in the Beaufort West District, who has contributed several interesting plants we have figured, sent us specimens in 1919, which flowered at the Division of Botany, Pretoria, this year.

It was figured in a coloured plate by Masson in 1796, and our present Plate is the first to be produced since then. A pencil drawing of a portion of the flower, the corona and the pollinia, accompanied Brown’s original description, and while our specimen differs in some minor points from the drawings, we have no hesitation in referring it to the same species. The flower is rather handsome, and devoid of the objectionable smell usually associated with the members of the tribe _Stapelieae_.

DESCRIPTION:--_Stems_ decumbent and ascending, 4 to 6·5 cm. long, 1·5 to 2 cm. thick excluding the teeth, obtusely 4-angled, with stout conical acute teeth 4 to 6 mm. long, glabrous, green, mottled with purple. _Flowers_ subsolitary from near the base or middle of the stems; pedicels 1 to 2 cm. long, erect, glabrous. _Sepals_ about 6 mm. long, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, glabrous. _Corolla_ about 7·5 cm. in diameter, smooth and glabrous outside, densely papillate-rugose on the inner face, according to Thunberg and Masson, greyish, with the tips of the papillae reddish, but according to Masson’s figure, pale yellowish with a greyish ring around the mouth of the tube, minutely dotted with red; tube campanulate, apparently slightly raised at its mouth around the very thick recurved papillate-rugose rim of the inner tube, which is densely covered with stiff purple hairs at the base around and under the corona; lobes about 2·5 cm. long, 1·5 to 2 cm. broad, spreading, ovate, acute, ciliate from base to apex with clavate vibratile white hairs; outer corona-lobes arising above the base of the staminal column, connate at the base, somewhat spreading, with the free 2/3 to 1·5 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, transverse or subquadrate, very obtusely or subacutely bifid, glabrous, apparently yellowish dotted with purple-brown; inner corona-lobes incumbent on the backs of the anthers, about 1·5 mm. long, thick, ovate, acute, or acuminate with the tips produced into a very short erect point, apparently yellowish, dotted and marked with purple-brown. (_Flora Capensis_; National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2841.)

* * * * *

PLATE 137.--Fig. 1, median longitudinal section of the flower with corona removed; Fig. 2, sepals; Fig. 3, corona; Fig. 4, pollinia; Fig. 5, inner corona lobe showing pollen-sac; Fig. 6, cross-section of stem.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 138.

URGINEA BURKEI.

_Transvaal, Cape Province._

* * * * *

LILIACEAE. Tribe SCILLEAE.

URGINEA, _Steinh._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_, vol. iii. p. 810.

* * * * *

=Urginea Burkei=, _Baker_; _Fl. Cap_. vol. vi. p. 469.

* * * * *

This species of _Urginea_ is well known to the farmers of the Transvaal under the common name of “Transvaal Slangkop,” owing to the somewhat striking resemblance of the young inflorescence to a snake’s head. The plant is extremely poisonous to stock, and in early spring many fatalities are reported. For a fuller account of this plant see Bulletin No. 7, 1922, of the Union Department of Agriculture. Burke first collected the species on the Magaliesberg about 1830, but it remained undescribed until Baker published his description in the _Flora Capensis_ in 1896.

The specimen figured on the accompanying Plate was grown and flowered in the garden of the Division of Botany, Pretoria.

DESCRIPTION:--_Bulb_ globose, tunicated, about 7 cm. in diameter. _Leaves_ about 26 cm. long, about 1 cm. broad, linear. _Peduncle_ 17 cm. long, terete. _Inflorescence_ a cylindric raceme, 17 cm. long. _Pedicels_ ascending; the lower 1 cm. long. _Bracts_ small, oblong, subacuminate, membranous, spurred at the base, deciduous. _Perianth_ 1 cm. long; segments oblong-lanceolate, white with a brown keel. _Stamens_ shorter than the perianth-segments. _Ovary_ 4 mm. long, obtusely trigonous; style 3·5 mm. long. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2647.)

PLATE 138.--Fig. 1, surface view of flower; Fig. 2, perianth-segment with stamen; Fig. 3, pistil; Fig. 4, bract.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 139.

NERINE FLEXUOSA

var. SANDERSONI.

_Transvaal._

* * * * *

AMARYLLIDACEAE. Tribe AMARYLLEAE.

* * * * *

NERINE, _Herb._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 728.

=Nerine flexuosa=, _Herb. App. 19_; _Fl. Cap_. vol. vi. p. 211.

* * * * *

Our Plate represents a variety of _Nerine flexuosa_ found in the Transvaal, which is distinguished from the type in having a more robust inflorescence. It very much resembles _N. lucida_, figured on Plate 134, but the peduncle is much longer and not so stout. Very little is known about this variety. It is recorded in the _Flora Capensis_ as collected by Sanderson in the Transvaal, and does not appear to have been found again by any recent collector. When planted in a mass it makes a very effective display as soon as the flowers appear.

The plants from which this Plate was prepared were grown at the Division of Botany, Pretoria, but no information is available as to where the bulbs originally came from.

DESCRIPTION:--_Bulb_ globose, 7 cm. in diameter. _Leaves_ about 7, 30 cm. long, 2·7 cm. broad, strap-shaped, usually twisted. _Umbel_ about 25-flowered. _Peduncle_ up to 40 cm. long, elliptic in cross-section. _Pedicels_ up to 7 cm. long, slender. _Spathe-valves_ 4 cm. long, ovate, acuminate. _Perianth-segments_ about 4 cm. long, crisped in the upper half. _Stamens_ declinate; filaments almost as long as the perianth-segments. _Ovary_ globose, obtusely 3-angled; style declinate, as long as the filaments; stigma simple.

PLATE 139.--Fig. 1, bulb; Fig. 2, leaf; Fig. 3, cross-section of peduncle; Fig. 4, median longitudinal section of a flower; Fig. 5, upper portion of perianth-segment, showing tuft of papillose hairs.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 140.

CEROPEGIA AMPLIATA.

_Cape Province, Natal._

* * * * *

ASCLEPIADACEAE. Tribe CEROPEGIEAE.

CEROPEGIA, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. ii. p. 779.

* * * * *

=Ceropegia ampliata=, _E. Mey. Comm. 194_; _Fl. Cap_. vol. iv. sect. i. p. 817.

* * * * *

The species of _Ceropegia_, figured here for the first time, belongs to the same group in the genus as _C. Meyeri_ (Plate 30), which is characterised by the tips of the petals being connate and forming a cage-like top to the flower. _Ceropegia ampliata_ is one of the five South African species collected by Drège, all of which were described by E. Meyer.

The plant is a twiner or scrambler, devoid of leaves at the flowering period. The flowers are pale green with a purple band within the corolla-tube, which is visible through the wall of the tube. It is not such a striking plant as some of the species we have previously figured, but the purple band on a background of green gives the individual flower a very pleasing effect.

Our Plate was prepared from a living plant lent by Mr. W. Haygarth to the late Dr. J. Medley Wood.

DESCRIPTION:--_Stem_ succulent, twining or scrambling, leafless at the time of flowering, glabrous. _Leaves_ only seen at the young tips of the stems, soon deciduous, minute, 2 to 2·5 mm. long, lanceolate, acute, glabrous. _Flowers_ 2 to 4 together at the nodes, successively developed; pedicels 0·6 to 1·3 cm. long, glabrous. _Sepals_ 2 to 3 mm. long, lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous. _Corolla-tube_ in dried specimens 2·5 to 5 cm. long, 0·8 to 1·2 cm. in diameter, cylindric and slightly or not at all inflated at the base, but on the living plant, according to a drawing, 5 cm. long, globosely and somewhat lobulate-inflated and about 2·5 cm. in diameter at the base, cylindric and 1·3 cm. in diameter above, not dilated at the apex, pale green, with a narrow purple transverse band at the top of the inflation inside, glabrous outside, covered inside with long simple hairs, longer and more matted at the purple band and above than in the lower part; lobes 0·8 to 1·2 cm. long, 5 to 6 mm. broad at the base, lanceolate from a deltoid base, acute, erectly connivent and connate at the tips, replicate or with reflexed margins, glabrous on both sides and not ciliate, green, spotted with darker green, becoming olive-brown when dried, probably with a velvety sheen on the inner surface; outer corona cup-shaped, equally 10-toothed; teeth about 1 mm. long, narrowly deltoid, acute, hairy on the inner surface; inner corona-lobes 4 to 5 mm. long, very slenderly filiform, connivent-erect, dorsally-connected by vertical plates to the outer corona at the base. (_Flora Capensis._)

* * * * *

PLATE 140.--Fig. 1, corolla laid open; Fig. 2, outer and inner corona, showing the pollinia; Fig. 3, pollinia.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 141.

RICHARDIA MELANOLEUCA.

_Natal._

* * * * *

AROIDEAE. Tribe PHILODENDREAE.

RICHARDIA, _Kunth_; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant_. vol. iii. p. 982.

* * * * *

=Richardia melanoleuca=, _Hook. f. in Bot. Mag_. t. 5765; _Fl. Cap_. vol. vi. p. 38.

* * * * *

ON Plate 10 we figured a species of _Richardia_ (_R. angustifolia_) found in the Transvaal and Basutoland, and on comparing that plate with the present one, illustrating a Natal species, the most striking difference noticed is the different colour of the spathes. In both species the spathes are blotched at the base, but the leaves of _R. melanoleuca_ are usually covered with translucent spots due to the loss of chlorophyll (for further details see Saxton in _Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Afr._ vol. iii. p. 136).

The species is fairly common in parts of Natal, and is often found cultivated in local gardens. It was introduced into England and flowered there in 1868.

Our plate was prepared from specimens collected at Krantz Kloof, near Durban.

DESCRIPTION:--Root tuberous. _Petiole_ of leaf 15 to 35 cm. long, furrowed on the inner surface, with soft bristles on the lower parts; blade 10 to 25 cm. long, 12 to 20 cm. broad across the basal lobes, cordate, deltoid or ovate-deltoid, acute, with a subulate point, hastate or sagittate at the base, green, shining, glabrous, covered with numerous translucent spots. _Spathe_ 5 to 8 cm. long, obliquely subtruncate at the mouth; spadix shortly stipitate, cylindric. _Ovary_ sessile; stigma sessile or subsessile. _Anthers_ numerous. _Staminodes_ none.

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PLATE 141.--Fig. 1, ovary; Fig. 2, cross-section through fruit;
Fig. 3, spadix with spathe removed.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 142.

URGINEA MACROCENTRA.

_Cape Province, Natal._

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LILIACEAE. Tribe SCILLEAE.

URGINEA, _Steinh._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. iii. p. 810.

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=Urginea macrocentra=, _Baker in Gard. Chron._ 1887, vol. i. p. 702; _Fl. Cap._ vol. vi. p. 466.

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THIS plant, commonly known as the “Natal Slangkop,” owing to the resemblance of the young inflorescence to a snake’s head, has been recorded from the Umvoti District along the coast of Natal, and also from the Transkei. The inflorescence makes its appearance in early spring, and is then eaten by stock, when other herbage is scarce, with fatal results (for an account of symptoms due to “slangkop” poisoning see Bulletin No. 7 of 1922, Dept. Agric. Union S. Africa). During the spring months, especially if the rains are later than usual, losses of stock in parts where this “slangkop” occurs are of almost annual occurrence.

The late Dr. Wood stated that he did not think _U. macrocentra_ was specifically distinct from _U. lilacina_. He carefully compared his specimens of the latter-named plant with the former, and could detect no difference, and suggested that the specimens described by Baker as _U. lilacina_ were merely _U. macrocentra_ which had lost the conspicuous spurs, these being very early deciduous.

Our plate was prepared from specimens collected near Merebank outside Durban, and cultivated at the Natal Herbarium.

DESCRIPTION:--_Bulb_ large, globose, 4 to 6 cm. in diameter. _Leaf_ single, 30 to 60 cm. long, 1 mm. in diameter, terete, purple-red at the base. _Peduncle_ 70 to 90 cm. long, 7 mm. in diameter, terete. _Inflorescence_ a dense cylindric raceme 8 to 15 cm. long and 2 to 3 cm. in diameter. _Bracts_ with a long reflexed spur; spur 2 to 3 cm. long, 4 mm. broad at the base, convolute, bifid. _Perianth-segments_ 6 mm. long, oblong-lanceolate. _Stamens_ shorter than the perianth-segments. _Ovary_ sessile; style short.

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PLATE 142.--Fig. 1, single flower; Fig. 2, part of inflorescence
axis showing pedicel and bract with the spur removed; Fig. 3, spur;
Fig. 4, stamen; Fig. 5, cross-section of ovary.

F.P.S.A., 1924.

PLATE 143.

CEROPEGIA SANDERSONI.

_Natal, Zululand._

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ASCLEPIADACEAE. Tribe CEROPEGIEAE.

CEROPEGIA, _Linn._; _Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant._ vol. ii. p. 779.

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=Ceropegia Sandersoni=, _Decne ex Hook. f. in Bot. Mag._ t. 5792; _Fl. Cap._ vol. iv. sect. i. p. 815.

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ON Plate 39 we figured a species of _Ceropegia (C. Rendalii)_, which is one of a group of four species characterised by the corolla-lobes being united into an umbrella-like canopy supported by 5 short stalks. The species on the accompanying plate is another of this group, and should be compared with _C. Rendalii_ and _C. tristis_ (Plate 44).

The original description and plate appeared in the _Botanical Magazine_ in 1869, and were based on specimens sent to Kew by Mr. Sanderson in 1868, and which subsequently flowered there. The plant lends itself very well to cultivation in the green-house, and is an object of beauty and curiosity when in flower. It does not appear to have been extensively collected, and may not be very common. In its native habitat it flowers during the month of February.

As far as we are aware, there is no local name for the plant, and we would therefore suggest “Sanderson’s Canopy Flower” as an appropriate name. According to Gerrard the stems and leaves are eaten by the Kaffirs and have an agreeable, sauce-like flavour.

Our plate was prepared from living specimens collected by Mr. W. J. Haygarth at Entumeni, Zululand.