t 



^ 



k L 



128 



MR. N. E. BROWN : NEW AND OLD 





antliemxtm avus also used for tho same purpose, I licre quote tlie full text 

 coiicerniiio^ M. coviariunij which is as followB : — ^^ The Acacia-bark posijcsses 

 a largo portion of the tanning principle, and imparts a reddish colour to the 

 leather ; hut in other districts, several other sorts of harks are applied to tho 



The a^^terisk refers to this footnote : ^'* Of which a kind 



same purpose 



.-x- 



?5 



of Ficus^ i), Gr. 2487. 3. hiis heeii found to have powerful properties : and 

 Ale.sefnhi'i/antJietittnn coriariunij 1?. a new species allied to M, wichad^fm has 

 been seen used for this j)urposc hy tlie Hottentots/^ These two plants were 

 collected ia the '' other districts " alluded to — the i'Vo;/^^ no. 2487-3^ near the 

 sources of the Kuruman Iviver in Bcchuanaland, and iXxe Mesemlryanlhonum 

 at the locality above stated ; and doubtless it was BurchelTs intention to frlve 

 u description of the latter at the "jM-oper place in his ^ Travels^' of which 

 imfortunately onlj two volumes \vere ever pu})Iished, 



Burchell collected only a single specimen of xlA. corkirium^ which is at 

 Kew, and from it I have made the above description* Although in its 

 very small leaves it may somewhat resemble Al, unnnalum^ yet the cymose 

 arrangement of its flowers shows that it belongs to the section Vayhiala^ but 

 is totally different from any other species in the group. 



M. rLAVOCUOCEUxAr^ 77aio. (§ Crocea). Stems taller^ more woody and more 

 bent than in M, parpnreocroceum. Leaves somewhat crowded or distant, 

 shorter than the internodes, terete-semicylindric, very obtuse, mealy-glaucous 



laucescontj more remote and firnior and less sensitive to cold^ and 



or g 



flowers rather smaller than those of M. purpnreocroceinn. Calyx-lobes very 

 much produced (elongaLed), fleshy or pulpy, especially when in fruit. 

 Corolla yellow on both sides, satfVon-coloureil after fertilization or decay. 

 Stamens and anthers short wlien matui^e, yellow. Styles (stignuis) about 7, 

 very short, spreading^ acute^ ramentaceous (u e.^ densely and minutely 

 plumosely branched) under a lens, — -M. flavocroceum^ Haw. in Phil. Mag. 

 182()3 p*" 129 (under the section Crocea). M. puvimreocroconm var, flavo- 

 cTOc'6'U7?^, Haw. licv. p. 155 (1821), M, croccnm wxwflacocroceuw^ DC. Prodr, 



vol. iih p. 438 (1828). 



South Africa. Locality unknown, UarcJulL 



The above is a translation combining all tho characters assigned to this 

 plant by Ilaworth, who under his description of it as a variety remarks tliat 

 it is ^' probabl}^ a distinct species "^a view that after five years further 

 knowledge of it he maintained. So that whether De Candolle (who probably 

 never saw the plant) was justified in considering it to be a variety of 

 J/, croccuf/i (which was well known to Haworth) is somewJiat doubtful. 

 Unfortunately, I cannot obtain any clue to the localiiy whci^e it was collectedj 

 as the name is not mentioned in JlurchelPs WSS. I suspect, however, that 

 it may be tho plant entered as being il/. croceum under number 1120-2, 

 collected near Fraserburg, between Karree River and Klein Quaggas 



