Tas. 8776A. 
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM FULVICEPs. 
South Africa. 7 
Ficoripgak. Tribe MESEMBRYANTHEMEAE. 
MrsEMBRYANTHEMUM, Linn. ; Benth, et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, vol. i. p. 853. 
Mesembryanthemum (§ Sphaeroidea) fulviceps, N. E. Br. in Kew Bull. 
1914, p. 167; affine M. Lesliei, N. E. Br., fissura inter folia multo pro- 
fundiore et apicibus foliorum fulvis maculis parvis rotundatis atroviridibus 
notatis apte tamen distinguenda. : 
Herba succulenta, perparva, acaulis; radix descendens, elongata. Folia 2, in 
corpusculum ultra medium connata. Corpuscula subsolitaria vel sub- 
caespitosa, 2°5-4°5 cm. longa, obconica, laevia, glabra, apice 2°5-2°8 cm. 
lata, truncata, fissura transversa notata, fulva, maculis parvis rotundatis 
sordide atroviridibus ornata, lateribus leviter purpureo-cinerascentia opaca ; 
fissura 7-8 mm. alta. Flores breviter pedicellati, 2°5 cm. diametro. Calyx 
circiter 1 em. longus, 5-lobus; tubus breviter exsertus; lobi oblongi, 
obtusi, 0°5-0°6 cm. longi. Petala patentia, linearia, obtusa, circiter 
1-2 cm. longa, lutea versus apicem rubro-aurantiaca. Stamina suberecta ; 
filamenta gracilia ; antherae ellipsoideae.—R. A. RouFe. 
The little Mesembryanthemum here figured is a member 
of the Sphaeroidea section of the genus, characterised 
by the leaves being reduced to a single pair, united to 
form a more or less globose or ovoid mass termed a 
“‘corpusculum.” It is a native of Great Namaqualand, 
where it was collected by the late Professor H. H. W. 
Pearson of Cape Town in the course of the Percy Sladen 
Expedition to the Great Karasberg Range. In its native 
habitat it grows on sandy plains at an elevation of 4,300 
feet above the sea. Living plants were presented to Kew 
by Professor Pearson in the early part of 1913, and had 
not yet flowered when in June, 1914, a description of the 
species was published by Mr. N. E. Brown. In October, 
1915, however, a plant flowered in the collection of suc- 
culents at Kew and admitted of the preparation of our 
illustration. The nearest ally of this Namaqualand plant 
is M. Leslici, N. E. Br., a native of the Transvaal in which, 
however, the leaves are more completely confluent into 
OcTroBER-DzcEeMBER, 1918. 
