Tas. 8845. 
VENIDIUM mMaAcROCEPHALUM. 
— South Africa. 
Compositagk. Tribe ARCTOTIDEAE. 
Venrpium, Less. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 459. 
E Venidium macrocephalum, DC. Prodr. vol. vi. p. 494. (1887) ; Harv, in 
Harv. et Sond. Fl. Cap. vol. iii. p. 463 (1865) ; affinis V. Wylet, Harv., 
sed planta hirsuta nec lanata, capitulis majoribus differt. 
Herba annua. Caulis simplex, uniflorus, usque ad 4 dm. altus, herbaceus, pilis 
multilocellatis parce pubescens, basin versus parce foliatus. Folia 
inferiora longe petiolata, lyrato-pinnatilobata, 15-20 cm. longa, superiora 
sessilia, elliptica vel oblongo-elliptica, basi obtusa vel subtruncata, apice 
obtusa, 4-5°5 cm. longa, 1°5-3 cm. lata, chartacea, lobata vel integra, 
infra praesertim in nervis pilosa, basi trinervia nervis ascendentibus infra 
prominentibus; petioli usque ad 8 cm. longi. Capitula circiter 8 cm. 
expansa. Involucri bracteae 3-4-seriatae, exteriores laxae, angustae, 
interiores confertae, late lanceolatae, acutae, longe ciliatae, gradatim 
longiores. Receptaculum leviter convexum, 2 cm. diametro, fimbrilli- 
ferum, Flores radii flavi, basi rubescentes, subbiseriati; corollae tubus 
4 mm. longus, parce pubescens; limbus anguste oblanceolatus, apice 
integer, 2°5-8 cm. longus, 0°5-0°7 cm. latus, 4-nervius ; stylus exsertus, 
- bilobus. Flores disci numerosi, viridescentes; corollae tubus 4 mm. 
longus, apicem versus leviter ampliatus, extra setuloso-pubescens ; lobi 5, 
ovati, subacuti, incrassati et dorso complanati, glabri; antherae leviter 
exsertae; styli rami ultra medium concreti, basi leviter pubescentes. 
Achaenia glabra, longitudinaliter costata, paleis minutissimis hyalinis 
ovatis coronata.—J. HuTcHINnson, 
The Composite genus Venidium, established by Lessing 
in 1831, includes some five and twenty species, all of 
them natives of South Africa. It is closely allied to 
Aretotis, a genus recognised by Linnaeus, and has, in 
fact, been united therewith by authorities so competent 
as Hoffmann and Beauverd. Bentham, however, relying 
on characters derived from the achenes and the pappus, 
has followed Lessing and Decandolle, and Mr. Hutchinson, 
‘who has prepared the description that precedes this note, 
finds himself, after a critical scrutiny of the species of 
this and other allied genera, able to confirm the validity 
of the conclusions arrived at by Bentham. The absence 
Aprit-June, 1920. 
