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SPECIES OF MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. 



73 



Corolla 5-G cm. diametro ; petala nnmerosissima, 4-5-sciiata, exteriora 

 2|-3 cm. longa, l-l^ ram. lata, liiiearla, apice acuta, obtusa vol denticulaia, 



miiia iiiimoi-os]?sima, in 



lutea, dorso albida et a]:)icom roseo-tiiicta. Sta 



annulum collccta ; filamenta ct antliertio lutea. Stiomata 10-14, filiforuiia, 



staminibus longiora, basi radiata, deindc erecta, pallide lutea. 



A dwarf plant formino' clumps about 7-10 cm. biah, witb short brancliin*'- 



stems 6-S mm. thick. Leaves 4-6 to a growth, all ascending or the outer 



widely spreading, very stout, 3-6J- cm. Ion-, 11-15 mm. broad, 8-12 mm. 



thick at the base and 0-13 mm. thick near the apex, straight or occasionally 



slightly incurved and often curved to one side, flat or slightly convex on the 



upper side, rounded on the back at the base and obtusely keeled at the upper 



partj viewed from above with nearly parallel sides or slightly widened 



upw^ards to the middle or for three-fourtlis of their length, then ta])erin<T to 



a bluntly-pointed apex, and in side view usually slightly thicker near tlie 



apex than at the base, glabrous, dull grey-green, densely and conspicuously 



dotted with dark green all over the upper smface and back; the dots 



slightly prominent, viewed under a lens. Peduncle 1-flowered, 2 cm. lone- 



4-5 mm. thick at the base, tluckening iip\Yards, terete, not at all flattened, 



with two bracts G-18 mm. long at its very ba.^e, ligltt green^ witli some 



slightly darker green dots scattered along it. Calyx C-lobed ; lobes sulje^jua], 



about 10-12 mm* long and 5-G mm. broad, ovate^ acute or obtiisCj with a 



short dorsal point just below the tip, some of them with meujbraiious 



margins, green or perhaps sometimes pnrplish-tinted, dotted with darker 



green. Corolla 5-6 cm. in diameter, expanding late in the afternoon ; petals 



th 



e inner 



more than 100, in 4-5 series^ the outer about 2^-3 cm, loi 

 shorter, 1-1:| mm. broad, lineai-, acute or obtuse or some of them notched at 

 the apex, rich yellow^ and slightly shining on the inner face, wliitish and 

 tinted with rosy at the apex on the back. Stamens very numerous, at first 

 erect, then erectly-spreading, some\vhat in a circle so as to leave a central 

 space in ^vhich the base of the stigmas can be seen ; filaments yellow above, 

 whitish at the base ; anthers deep yellow. Style none ; stigmas 10-14, 

 arising from the stout conical grooved top of the ovarj-, filiform, 10 mm. lonf>-, 

 much longer than the stamens, rad'iately spreading at tht; base, then erect^ 

 covered with short hair-like papilkx or processes all along their injier face 

 and of a paler greenish-yellow than the anthers. 



South Africa. Localitv and collector unknown. 



Described from a living plant which was sent to me by Di\ F. H. liodier 

 Heath, who received it from a friend in South Africa, and believes that it 

 was collected in the I\aroo region, possibly in Ceres Division. 



This species is allied to i¥. magnipundattim^ Haw., from which it differs 

 by its smaller leaves marked with smaller and loss couspictious dots, and by 

 its distinct peduncle, the flowers of 2L maynipandaliDu being sessile. i>om 

 M optaturn^ N. E. Br. it ditiers by its larger and very nmch more spreading 

 leaves, which are more distinctly triangular in transverse section ; the 

 flowers arc also larger and distinctly pedunculate. 



