Tas. 7942. 
OLDENBURGIA arsuscuna. 
Native of South Africa, 
Nat. Ord. Composira,—Tribe MurTisiacex. 
Genus OLpenbureia, Less. ; (Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 494.) 
OLvENBURGIA Arbuscula; frutex robustissimus, arborifurmis, usque ad 6 ped. 
altus, caule simplici usque ad 6 poll. crasso, foliis confertis subsessilibus 
patentibus crasse coriaceis rigidissimis obovatis vel oblongis 9-18 -poll. 
longis 4-9 poll. latis integris basi cuneatis apice rotundatis junioribus 
densissime albo-lanatis supra cito glabrescentibus nitidisque venis 
primariis numerosis costiformibus, ramo florifero (interdum 2) subter- 
minali crasso rigidissimo densissime lanato 1-5- sepius 3-cephalo erecto 
folia superante foliis compluribus parvis oblongis, breviter petiolatis acutis 
munito post fructescentiam deciduo, pedunculis brevibus etiam foliiferis, 
eapitulis amplis albo-purpureis, involucri bracteis numerosissimis multi- 
seriatis linearibus acutissimis rigidis basi dense albo-lanatis cetera glabris 
purpureis, florum alborum exteriorum corollis distincte bilabiatis labio 
exteriore 3-lobato labio interiore emarginato, interiorum corollis bipartitis 
segmentis revolutis, acheniis gracilibus circiter semipollicaribus striatis 
glabris, pappi setis numerosis uniseriatis quam staminibus exsertis 
brevioribus brevissime plumosis. ; 
O. Arbuseula, DC. Prodr. vol. vii. pp. 12 e¢ 306; Mém. Comp. t.12. Harv. et 
Sond. Fl. Cap. vol. iii. p. 512, excl. synon. North Gallery, Kew, pict. 403 
et aT W. Wats. in Gard. Chron. vol. ii. 1908, p. 178, e¢ vol. i. 1904, 
p. 9, £. 4. : 
O. grandis, Baill. Hist. Pl. vol. viii. p. 97, in nota, excl, synon. 
Oldenburgia is a genus of three known species, all native 
of South Africa, and comparatively local, inhabiting the 
mountains from Swellendam to Albany. It was named in 
memory of 8. Oldenburg, a Dutchman, who accompanied 
F. Masson on his first journey collecting for Kew in 
1772-3. O. paradowa, Less.,.on which the genus was 
founded in 1830 (Linnea, vol. v. p. 252), is an almost 
stemless shrub, with a thick, woody rootstock. It has 
smaller flower-heads than O. Arbuscula, and they are at 
first nestled close to the clustered leaves, but as the heads 
mature the peduncle elongates a foot or more, according 
to a note accompanying a specimen collected by Prof. 
MacOwan. Elongation of a fruit-bearing branch or stalk 
18 not an uncommon occurrence, but such a very great 
prolongation is rare. One of the most remarkable in- 
Stances of this phenomenon is exhibited by a slender, 
Manrcu Ist, 1904, 
