Tas. 8561. 
STAPELIA LEENDERTZIAE. 
Transvaal. 
ASCLEPIADACEAE. ‘Tribe STAPELIEAE. 
Stape.ia, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 784. 
Stapelia Leendertziae, N. H. Br. in Ann. Transvaal Museum, vol. ii. p. 168; 
affinis S. nobilis, N.E., Br., sed floribus minoribus sordide purpureis corollae 
tubo multo longiore differt. 
Herba succulenta, aphylla. Caules erecti, basi decumbentes, 7*5-12 cm. longi, 
1-1°3 cm. crassi, 4-angulares, velutino-puberuli, prope medium florentes, 
angulis subcompressis dentatis, dentibus erectis, Flores solitarii vel bini. 
Pedicelli 2-2°3 cm. longi, 4-4°5 mm. crassi, velutini. Sepala 8-9 mm. 
longa, ‘lanceolata vel ovato-lanceolata, acuta, velutina. Corolla magna, 
campanulata lobis leviter patentibus, extra puberula, intus profunde trans- 
versim rugosa et usque ad medium tubi pilis longis purpureis ornata, 
omnino sordide purpurea; tubus 5-6°5 cm. longus, 4°5-6 cm. diametro; 
lobi 4-5°5 cm. longi, basi 2°5-4 cm. lati, attenuato-deltoidei, acuti, pilis 
purpureis ciliati. Coronae lobi exteriores 4 mm. longi, suberecti, profunde 
bifidi, atropurpurei, segmentibus divergentibus subulatis acutis; lobi 
interiores 4 mm. longi inaequaliter bipartiti, atropurpurei, segmentis 
exterioribus aliformibus oblongis 6 mm, longis 4 mm. latis apice denti- 
culatis, segmentis interioribus subulatis. Folliculi 11-14 cm. longi, erecti, 
paralleli, fusiformi, velutino-puberuli, virides, fusco-purpureo striati.— 
N. E. Brown. 
. The Stapelia here figured is one of the most striking 
Species in the genus, and is also one of the most dis- 
tinct by reason of the great length of the tube of the 
corolla. In another species, S. nobilis, N. E. Br., which 
has been figured at t. 7771 of this work, there is also a 
distinct tube to the corolla, but although the flowers are 
larger in that species than in the ones here described, 
the tube is considerably shorter, while the lobes are 
more spreading and the coloration is different. Save in 
S. nobilis and in S. Leendertziae, the subject of our plate, 
the corolla in all the members of the genus is flat or 
saucer-shaped. This latter plant was first met with in 
1909 by Miss R. Leendertz, now Mrs. R. Pott, of the 
Transvaal Museum, growing among rocks near Heidel- 
berg in the Transvaal. Here it occurs in sunny spots 
on rocks, where it forms large patches and flowers freely 
for a long period at the beginning of the year. The 
Junr, 1914, 
