Plate 83.
SENECIO medley-woodii.
Natal.
Compositae. Tribe Senecionideae.
Senecio, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 446.
Senecio Medley-Woodii, Hutchinson, sp. nov. succulenta caule crasso, foliis carnosis dentatis lanato-pubescentibus, capitulis speciosis flavis distincta.
Rami succulenti, purpurei, juniores lanati, demum glabri. Folia sessilia, 3·5-5 cm. longa, 1·5-3 cm. lata, obovata, breviter apiculata, basi cuneata, superne undulato-dentata, primum lanata, demum plus minusve glabra. Capitula racemoso-corymbosa, 13-14-flora, 19 cm. longa; pedunculi ultimi 3-6 cm. longi, lanati. Involucri bracteae 1·2-1·5 cm. longae, 3-6 mm. latae, lanceolatae ad elliptico-ovatae, obtusae, marginibus membranaceis, extra lanato-tomentosae. Receptaculum planum, 8 mm. latum, foveolatum. Flores radii flavi; limbus 1·5 cm. longus, 5 mm. latus, oblongus, 6-8-nervus, apice minute tridentatus; ovarium glabrum. Flores disci brunneo-flavi; pappus 1 cm. longus; corollae tubus 1·2 cm. longus, glaber. Achaenia glabra.
This is one of the shrubby species of Senecio with succulent stems found in Natal. In cultivation it makes an ornamental shrub having very large yellow-rayed heads. The species was first collected by the late Dr. Medley Wood at Murchison in Natal in 1884 (Wood 3065), and was brought to him from Krantzkloof in August 1915. Dr. Wood had an illustration made for vol. vii of the “Natal Plants,” but did not draw up a description, as specimens were sent to Kew for identification. The present illustration was made from a specimen which flowered in the garden of the Natal Herbarium. This species was the last which Dr. Medley Wood worked at the day before his death.
Specimens are preserved in the National Herbarium, Pretoria (Herb. No. 1604).