or extreme reduction of the pappus in Venidium renders 
its separation from Arctotis as easy as it is essential. The 
beautiful species now figured shares with a number of 
other Compositae that possess large and showy flower- 
heads the popular name “Gouws bloem.” It has been 
determined, from the original description, to be the 
species named by Decandolle V. macrocephalum, which 
would appear to be extremely rare, for the only previous 
record of its collection is that by Drége, who found it 
in South-west Africa, between Kaus and the Orange 
River. The plant figured was raised at Kew from seed 
sent from Pretoria by Dr. I. B. Pole Evans in the 
spring of 1918. It flowered in August of the same year, 
but unfortunately failed to ripen its seeds at Kew. 
Description.—Herb with a simple annual 1-flowered stem, 1} ft. high, 
sparingly pubescent throughout with many-celled hairs, sparsely leafy low 
down, Leaves nearest the ground long petioled, lyrately pinnately lobed, 
6-8 in. long, those higher up sessile, elliptic or oblong-elliptic, rounded or 
subtruncate at the base, blunt at the tip, 13-2} in. long, 2-1} in. wide, papery, 
lobed or entire, pilose, especially along the nerves beneath, 3-nerved at the 
base with the nerves ascending and raised beneath ; petiole of the lower leaves 
up to 3 in. long. Heads about 3 in. wide; involucral bracts 3-4-seriate, the 
outer loose and narrow, the inner close-set, wide lanceolate, acute, long ciliate 
and gradually longer from without inwards. Receptacle slightly convex, # in. 
across, fimbrillate. Ray-florets yellow with reddish base, obscurely 2-seriate ; 
tube of the corolla 3 in. long, sparingly pubescent; limb narrow lanceolate, 
entire at the tip, 1-1} in. long, about } in. wide, 4-nerved; style exserted, 
2-lobed. Disk-florets very many, greenish; tube of the corolla 1 in. long, 
slightly widened towards the top, sparingly setulose outside; lobes 5, ovate, 
subacute, thickened and flattened on the outside, glabrous; anthers slightly 
exserted ; style-arms united beyond the middle, slightly pubescent at the base. 
Achenes smooth, longitudinally ribbed, crowned by the very minute, hyaline, 
ovate pales, 
Taz. 8845,—Fig. 1, part of receptacle with young disk-florets; 2, ray-floret ; 
3, disk-floret ; 4, anthers; 5, style-arms of a disk-floret :—all enlarged. 
