| [INDEX TO VOLUME IV.] |
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.
SOUTH AFRICA:
THE SPECIALITY PRESS OF SOUTH AFRICA, Ltd.
P.O. BOX 3958, JOHANNESBURG; P.O. BOX 388, CAPETOWN.
1924
[{2}] [{3}]
[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[{8}] 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[{12}] 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.[{14}]
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[{16}] 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.
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).[{20}]
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.
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[{24}] 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.[{28}]
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-[{32}]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.[{36}]
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,[{40}] 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,[{44}] 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.[{48}] 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,[{52}] 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[{56}] 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.)[{60}]
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[{64}] 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[{68}] 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.