Tab. 6985. 

 MESEMBRYANTHEMUM Brownii. 



Native of South Africa. 



Nat. Ord. 'Ficoivem. — Tribe Mesembbye^. 

 Genus Hesembbyanthemum, Linn. ; (Benth.etHooJc.f. Gen. PL vol. i. p. 853.) 



MESEMBRYANTHEMtTM Brownii; fructiculus compactus, erectus, ramosus, glaber- 

 rimus, rainis gracilibus, foliis semipollicaribus teretiusculis acutis subpustulatia 

 pallideglauco-viridibus basi lata insertis, floribus ternis solitariisve 1 poll, latis 

 leete purpureas, demum ocbraceis, calycis tubo brevi turbinate, lobis 2 multo 

 majoribus subdolabriformibus dorso cornutis ceteris ovatis obtusis mucronatis, 

 petalis pluriseriatis anguste spatbulato-oblanceolatis apice retusis v. obtuse 

 2-dentatis, staminibus collectis, stigmatibus 5 crassis apicibus subulatis. 



According to the arrangement into groups of the species 

 of this vast genus by Pr. Salm Dyck, and as adopted in the 

 Flora Capensis of Harvey and Sonders, this beautiful species 

 is technically referable to the Tenuiflorce along with M. 

 coccineum, Haw. (M. bicolorum, Tab. 59, of this work) ; but, 

 as Mr. IS". E. Brown points out to me, its nearest affinity is 

 with M. polyanthon, Haw., which is referred in the above 

 work to the group Scabra, defined as having scabrous 

 leaves. To add to this confusion, the group scabra, which 

 in De Candolle's Prodromus is placed in the great primary 

 division of the genus with epapulose leaves, is in Salm 

 Dyck's work and in Harvey and Sonders, placed in the 

 papulose division. Now the plant named polyanthon in 

 the Kew collection has neither papulose nor scabrid leaves 

 (nor are they so described and figured by Salm Dyck), 

 in both which respects M. Brownii agrees with it, as it 

 further does in the broad obtuse petals, whereas in all the 

 species of the tentiiflora group the petals are slender and 

 acuminate. With regard to scabridity of foliage, Mr. 

 Brown, who has made a study of the genus, assures me 

 that the term scabrid is used in it in a very loose sense, 

 often applying merely to the roughness of leaf-surface pro- 

 duced by drying. These facts suggest the necessity of 

 finding some more scientific classification of the species of 

 this interesting genus than that hitherto adopted. 



MABCH 1st, 1888. 



