Plate 104.
MACKAYA bella.
Natal.
Acanthaceae. Tribe Justiceae.
MacKaya, Harv.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 1095 (under
Asystasia).
MacKaya bella, Harv. Thes. Cap. i. 8, t. 13; Fl. Cap. vol. v. sect. 1,
p. 44; Wood, Natal Plant. t. 585.
This plant was discovered in Natal by Mr. J. Sanderson, who sent living specimens to Kew, where it flowered first in May 1869. From the material a figure of the plant was published in the Botanical Magazine of the same year. This figure, however, does not accurately represent the plant as it is known in its native habitat and in local cultivation. The flowers are lilac, and not almost white, as indicated in the Botanical Magazine. The late Dr. Medley Wood reproduced a pencil drawing of the plant in “Natal Plants” in 1912, and states it “is a handsome shrub, but it is of no economic value; it is found only in the coast and midland districts of Natal, and does not seem to be very common.” MacKaya bella differs from Crossandra Greenstockii (see Plate 77), which also belongs to the Acanthaceae, in having almost a regular, not a 1-lipped corolla.
Dr. Harvey, who first described the genus, dedicated it to Dr. J. T. MacKay, keeper of the Dublin University Botanic Garden. Our figure was prepared from plants growing in the “Flanagan Arboretum,” Union Buildings, Pretoria.