and not recognizing their identity with S. speciosus, pub- 
lished it as a variety of his S. concolor, placing it, however, 
close to the supposed Chinese S. speciosus, whose true 
relationship to the otherwise wholly African group of this 
difficult genus he had the sagacity to discern. Lastly, 
Harvey, in the ‘Flora Capensis,’” describes it as var. 
Ahispidus of S. concolor, DC., and suggests that it should be 
regarded as the type of that species. In this he clearly 
errs, S. speciosus being a very different and far finer plant 
than S. concolor, with which, however (and with very few 
others of the genus, and these all, according to Mr. Brown, 
South African), it agrees in the disk flowers being almost 
concolorous with the ray. 
The specimen here figured was flowered in July last in 
the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh, from seeds 
collected in December, 1878, on the battle-field of Quintana, 
by Sergeant D. Williamson. It has a wide range in South 
Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope itself to Natal, and, 
as Mr. Brown remarks, its supposed Chinese origin is pro- 
bably due to its having been brought by one of the home- 
ward-bound China-ships, which regularly touched at the — 
Cape. According to the “Hortus Kewensis,” it was 
introduced into England about 1789 by G. Slater, Esq. 
Duscr. Root stout, fleshy, perennial. Leaves four to 
seven inches long, obovate lanceolate or narrowly linear 
spathulate, crenately toothed or sinuately lobed, rarely sub- 
pinnatifid, subacute or obtuse, clothed more or less densely 
with glandular hairs, sometimes almost hispid when dry. _ 
Scape a foot high or less, with spreading glandular hairs, 
and alternate rather distant erect linear-oblong leaves, the 
lower of which are cordate and semi-amplexicaul. Corymbs 
spreading, with few long-peduncled heads, which are one 
and a half inch in diameter, and of a bright-purple colour. 
Involucre broadly campanulate, densely glandular-hairy, © 
calyculate by a few short bracts at the rounded base ; bracts 
narrowly linear. Ray-flowers six to twenty; ligules 
narrowly linear, spreading straight out, minutely toothed 
at the tip. Achenes slender, grooved, pubescent; pappus 
hairs very slender, scaberulous, silky, white.—J. D. H. 
Fig. 1, involucre eut open; 2, ray-flower; 3, its style-arms; 4, disk-flower ; 
5, pappus hair; 6, stamen ; 7, style-arms :—all enlarged. 
