236 MESSRS. T. A. SPRAGUE AND J. HUTCHINSON ON 
3. The lobing of the leaves affords useful characters : а few species, such 
as Аки, have the leaves always lobed, and a great many have them con- 
зап у undivided ; whilst in others, such аз macrophylla and effusa, the 
uppermost leaves are commonly undivided and the lower ones lobed. 
4. The shape of the flower-buds and sepals and the nature of the horns are 
highly important. The length of the buds is also useful, but care is needed 
to select fully grown buds for comparison. 
5. The petals as a rule do not give characters of any value, except in regard 
to the disposition of the pubescence on the claw. 
6. The length of the gonophore and the shape of the glands, and whether 
the latter are contiguous or distant. | 
7. The ciliate dise shows but little variation. In T. pentandra it may be 
present or obsolete, and іп 7. Lappula it is absent. 
8. The number of stamens is generally of great importance : certain groups 
have 20 or тоге ; rhomboidea and eriophlebia have 15 ; and а great many 
species have 10-12. А smaller number is rare : pentandra, however, may 
have as few as 5, and the recently deseribed triandra (Kew Bull. 1909, 258) 
has only 3. The greatest amount of variability is shown in macrophylla, 
which may have from 12 to 25 stamens. 
9. The number of ovary-cells is а good specific character in the section 
Lasiothrix, but it is generally of less importance in the other sections. Where 
the ovary is too small to admit of being asily dissected, the number of 
stigmas may be ascertained by opening a young bud. At a later stage the 
stigmas are closely pressed together and difficult to separate without applica- 
tion of reagents, 
10. The shape of the fruit is usually constant for a given species, the most 
general form being globose or subglobose. Ovoid fruits occur in Hlavescens 
and pentandra, and а trigonots-ovoid fruit in trigona. T. benguelensis 18 
particularly interesting, as producing both globose, 3-celled fruits and ovoid, 
1-2-celled fruits. "The globose form is obviously the more primitive. 
ll. The size of the fruit appears to be a good specific character in many 
cases, but its practical value in herbarium work is lessened by the difficulty 
of determining from dried material whether the fruits are ripe or not. 
12. While the general nature of the appendages of the fruit (tubercles, 
bristles or prickles) yields sectional characters, the details are often charac- 
teristie of individual species, The number and shape of the terminal spinules 
are particularly important. 
The delimitation of the species offers no diffieulty in certain groups, but in 
others it is extremely diffieult to draw the line between two or more allied 
species : thus in Lepidocalyx, Porpa, and Lasiothriz (excluding the subsection 
Paniculate) the species are well-marked, and may be distinguished from 
their neighbours by one or more striking characters; but in Lasiothrix, 
