SPECIES OF MESEMBRYANTHEMUM, 



115 



rubro-brunnei. Folia biformiaj glabra^ viridia vel rubro-tii)cta ; altera fere 

 libera^ basi tantum connata, pafula, 2-4^ cm. longa, basi 8-11. iihik lata, 

 deinde attenuata^ acuta^ snpra plana vel leviter coiieavaj subtus obtuse 

 carinata ; altera parti})us infei'ioribns in conuin longe stipitatnin 2^-44 cm. 

 longum ct 7-10 mm. crassum connata, apicibus liberis erectis vol adsceiiden- 

 tibns 1-3 cm, longis 4-6 mm. latis et 3-5 mm. crassis obtuse trigonis aciitis 

 supra planis. Flores ignoti. 



A small succulent busb up to 30 cm, bigh under cnUivatiou. Old stems 

 3-5 mm, and branches 3 mm. tbick^ terete, slightly thickened at the nodes 

 ■with the rather slender internodes 2h-Gh cm, longv, glabronSj at first reddish- 

 brown, changing to a dark and slightly violaceous grej. Leaves of t\vo 

 kinds, a pair of one kind alternating with and separated by u lono- internode 

 from a pair of another kind, the two pairs usually forniino- one season's 

 growth, soft and pulpy, 



crystailine-2xipillatej especially at the tips, and with minute acnte tooth-like 

 papillro along the margins, whi(di after a time disappear, green or reddish 

 or green with reddish tips; one kind free except at the very bnse v/here 

 they unite around the stem, widely spreading, 2-4| cm. lonn-, 8-11 mm. 



glabrous, but in their earliest stnoe minutelv 



broad at the base, thence tapering to an acute apex, flat or slio-btly concave 

 above, obtusely keeled on the rounded back ; the other kind united throuoh- 

 out the greater part of their length into a conical fleshy body 2^-4^ cm, 

 long and 7-10 nnn. thick at the base, tapering to a thickness of 4-7 nmi, at 

 the top, with free erect or slightly spreading trigonous tips 10-26 mm, lono*, 

 4-6 mm. broad and 3-5 mm. thick at the base, thence slifrbrlv tnperinfr to 

 an acute apex, tlat above, obtusely keeled on the back. Flowers unknown. 



Little Naimaqualand, Among bushes on the upper slopes of hills above 

 Daunabis, Pearson^ 611G ! 



Described from living plants sent to Kew in 191 1, which have not yet 

 flowered. 



This species, although allied to ]\L mitratum and A/, proximitm^ is well 

 distinguished from them by the long slender internodes separating the pair 

 of free leaves from those united into a cone. These three species are 

 distinguished from all others in the genus by the peculiar cone-shaped body 

 which terminates the growth of each year. Nevertheless, tliey cannot be 



disassociated from the section 



1 



w 



rs 



they conform with those of tljat section, and if the bodies were spherical 

 instead of conical there would be no character whatever to distin<>-nish them* 

 The true position of this remarkable section MoniUformia is that it is related 

 on the one hand to the section Sphcvroidea and on the other to the section 

 Rostrata, In my ojtinion it should be placed next to the latter. 



M. MITRATUM, Marl. (PI. 5. figs. 1 & 2). A shrublet about 30-GO 



em. 



high. Branches erect, 7-15 nun, thick, with ring-like thickenino-g 



at tl 



ic 



