Tas. 8817. 
BRACHYSTELMA EOETIDUM 
South Africa. 
ASCLEPIADACEAE. Tribe CEROPEGIEAE. 
: Bracnystetma, R.Br. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plamt, vol. ii. p. 781. 
Brachystelma foetidum, Schlechter in Engl. Jahrb. vol. xx. Beibl. 51, p. 52 
et in Journ. Bot. 1897, p. 292; N. E. Brown in Dyer, Fl. Cap. vol. iv. sect. 1, 
p. 840; species B. crispo, Grah. et B. tuberoso, R.Br. affinis, sed ab illa 
corollae lobis brevioribus glabris vel rarius ad faciem interiorem puberulis, 
ab hac corollae lobis multo longioribus differt. 
Herba perennis caudice tuberoso. Tuber complanatus, usque ad 13 cm. diametro. 
Caules solitarii vel plures, adscendentes vel patentes, ramosi, 7-15 cm. longi, 
pilis brevibus patentibus vestiti. Folia opposita, patentia, lineari-lanceolata, 
lanceolata vel elliptica, rarius obovata, apice acuta vel obtusa, margine 
interdum undulata, basi in petiolum brevem angustata, utrinque villosa vel 
i supra glabra, 1-5 cm. longa, 3-16 mm. lata. Flores axillares, solitarii 
vel saepius in fasciculis 2-6—floris dispositi, foetidissimi. Pedicelli 5-8 mm. 
longi, pubescentes. Sepala lanceolata, acuta, 3-5 longa, pubescentia. 
Corolla 2-5-5 cm. diametro, extra pubescens vel subglabrescens, intus 
glabra vel rarius puberula, atropurpurea et lutea, lobis superne viridescentibus 
tubo verruculis fuscis notato ; tubus campanulatus, 6-8 mm. longus ; lobi 
liberi, patentes, lineares vel lanceolati e basi deltoidea, acuti, 1-2-5 cm. 
longi, 1-1-5 mm. lati, breviter ciliati. Corona exterior cupuliformis, cohumnam 
staminalem subaequans, 10-dentata, saccula antheris alternantia formans ; 
dentes erecti, deltoidei, vix 1 mm. longi. Coronae interioris lobi lineares, 
obtusi, usque ad 1 mm. longi, ad dorsa antherarum incumbentes. Folliculi 
geminati vel solitarii, tereti-fusiformes, obtuse rostrati, pubescentes, 6-8 cm. 
: longi, 6-8 mm. crassi—B. Rehmanii, Schlechter in Bull. Herb. Boiss. vol. 
iv. p. 449.—S. A. Sxan. 
This Brachystelma was first discovered near the Mooi 
River, Transvaal, by Joseph Burke, some time between 
1840 and 1842. It has since been collected in several 
other localities in the Transvaal, also in the Orange River 
Colony, Basutoland and Zululand. Tubers of the plant, 
collected near Pretoria, were sent to Kew in January, 
1917, by Mr. A. M. Bottomley of the Division of Botany, 
Pretoria, and from one of these the material for the figure 
was obtained in the following May. It is an interesting 
and curious plant, but scarcely ornamental, and its 
flowers, as is often the case in the family, have a very 
disagreeable odour. The tubers are eaten by the natives, 
JuLyY-SEPTEMBER, 1919, 
