SPECIES.
P. aselliformis (woodlouse-like); Fig. 75.—The size, habit, and structure of this plant are so well represented in the Figure that little description is necessary. The stems are simple till they get about 3 in. high, when they develop offsets about the base, which may either be removed to form new plants, or allowed to remain and grow into a specimen like that in the Illustration. The flowers are large for the size of the plant, and they are developed freely in the apex of the stems in the early part of the summer. The tube is very short, naked, and completely hidden by the young mammae; sepals and petals in four series, the outer one pale purple, the inner of a deep purple colour; stamens very numerous, and the stigma has only four erect lobes. The plant was first described from examples cultivated in Berlin in 1843, but the flowers were not known till 1858. There are several varieties known, viz., P. a. concolor, which is distinguished by the whole of the flower being deep purple in colour; P. a. pectinata has larger scales (spine-tufts); and P. a. cristata is, as its name denotes a kind of cockscomb or crested form. They are all natives of Mexico.