ri J ? ■ 1 * 



4 



SPECIES OF MESEMERYAKTHEMrM. 



89 



perceptible to the touch and sight, wlien older ; i£ much swollen with water, 

 they often seem quite smooth. I have not seen its flowers, and have com- 

 piled my description of them from those of Haworth and Salm-Djck. My 

 drawino; on PI. 6. fig. 12 represents a branch devcloiiino; a new frrowth early 

 in the year, whilst fig. 13 represents in outline the longer two leaves of that 

 same branch in the late summer of the same year. 



F. 



Br. (PI. 6. iigs. 15-18). Planta 3-i cm. alta, subacaulis, 

 hasi ramosa. Ramuli 2-4-foliati. Folia 2-5^ cm. longa, 3-10 mm. lata et 

 basi 2^-5 mm. crassa, erecta vel exteriora patnla, supra plana, dorso basi 

 convexa apice carinata, acuta vel obtasa et dilatata, apiculata, basi in coi-pus- 

 culnm cylindricum 5-13 mm. longum et 4^-8 mm. crassum counata, glabra, 

 glauco-viridia, apice et basi j)ui-pureo-tincta punctis pellucidis atroviridibus 

 dense notata. Flores ignoti. 



Plant forming clumps 3-4 cm. high, nearly stemlcss, branching close to 

 the ground. Branches short, slender, prostrate. Leaves 2-4 to each 

 growth, according to season, erect or the outer pair more or less spreading, 

 the alternating pairs slightly dissimilar, those of one pair equal, of the other 

 pair unequal, 2-5^ cm. long, 3-10 mm. broad and 2\-^ mm. thick at the 

 base, flat on the uppei- side and there gradually tapering from the base to 

 the acute or obtuse a])iculate apex, the back rounded at the base and obtusely 



1111 

 ceeled at the apex, and the keel entire or minutely toothed, of nearly equal 



thickness throughout or one of each unequal pair in side view dilated and 



obtusely rounded at the apex, the other rather shorter and somewhat acute. 



13 mm. 



lonff and 4A-8 mm. 



united at their base into a cylindric body 5 ^ ^2 



thick ; surface glabrous, glaucous-green, very densely marked with darker 







;reen pellucid immersed dots, which are also present but less crowded and 

 more inconspicuous on the flat upper side, with the keel at the apex and the 

 united basal part under strong sunlight more or less of a dull purple colour. 

 Laingsburg Div. Matjiesfontein, rillans ! 



ery distinct species appears to be the smallest of the section Rostrata 



Thi 



at present known. But it varies much in size ; the small growths fio-ui-ed 

 represent the plant as it was in July 1917, whilst the outline (fig. 17) repre- 

 sents a growth on the same plant in November 1918, caused perhaps partly 

 by a change of soil and a larger sup[)ly of water. In winter or late autumn, 

 however, the species of this (and other groups) always increase in size under 

 cultivation in England. 



§ SEMIOVATA. 



M. DUALE, N. E. Br. Planta ca^spitosa, brevissime ramosa, 2-3^ cm. alta. 

 Ramuli bifoliati. Folia 8-17 mm. longa, 7-10 mm. lata et 5-G mm. crassa, 

 supra visa anguste oblonga et obtusa vel elongato-triangularia et acuta, supra 



