Tap, 8595 A. 
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM tuaecatum. 
South Africa. 
FicoipEaE, Tribe MESEMBRYEAE. 
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. i. p. 858. 
Mesembryanthemum thecatum, N. H. Br.; species nova M. fraterno, 
N. E. Br., affinis, sed plantulis coeruleo-viridibus punctis minoribus et 
minus conspicuis floribus roseo-purpureis et staminibus paucioribus 
differt. 
Herba parva, acaulis, succulenta, caespitosa, glabra. Folia in. corpuscula 
obconica, apice leviter convexo-truncata, 7-10 mm. diametro fusa, coeruleo- 
viridia, punctis sordide viridibus conspersa, fissura centrali 3 mm. longa, 
een et ovaria includentia. Calyx tubulosus, apice 4-lobus, mem- 
ranaceus, albidus; lobi ovati vel obovati, obtusi. Corolla gamopetala, 
1-2-1°5 cm. diametiens, roseo-purpurea, luteo-oculata; petala difformia, 
exteriora 12-16, 2-seriata, 6-8 mm. longa, 1°5-2 mm. lata, cuneato-linearia, 
apice obtusa vel denticulata, roseo-purpurea; interiora 12-16, brevissima, 
linearia, acuminata, lutea, interdum apice roseo-purpurea. Stamina 8, 
2-seriata, medium tubum corollae attingentia, lutea. Stylus 1°5-2 mm. 
longus, staminibus brevior, apice 4-lobus, viridis.—N. E. Brown. 
The pleasing little Mesembryanthemum here for the first 
time described belongs to a group of species in that 
large genus characterised by each branch or division of 
the plant bearing at any one time but one pair of leaves 
which are united for the whole or for part of their extent 
into one mass, technically termed a “ corpusculum.” 
When a fresh pair of leaves, united in anew corpusculum, 
is being formed, the pair of the previous growth gradually 
shrivel to a papery consistence through which the new 
growth bursts. In the case of M. thecatum, depicted in 
the upper half of our plate, the two leaves of each suc- 
ceeding growth are united throughout and completely 
envelop the peduncle and ovary, leaving at their apex 
a mere fissure from which the actual flower protrudes. 
The species is one of the novelties discovered by Professor 
Pearson, Director of the National Botanic Garden of 
South Africa at Kirstenbosch near Cape Town, in the 
course of his very fruitful journey to the Orange River 
undertaken in 1910-11 under the auspices and with the 
JANUARY, 1915, 
