114 LEGUMINOS& (Harv.) [ Aspalathus. 
4. LEPTANTHE (Sp. 45-57.) 
45. A. nigra (Linn. Mant. p. 262) ; leaves tufted, short, linear-terete, 
blunt, glabrous or thinly pubescent ; flowers spiked or capitate ; calyx 
villous, its teeth broadly ovate or sublanceolate, shorter than the tube, ob- 
tuse or acute ; petals hirsute, the ovate vexillum longest ; ovary 4~ovuled ; 
legume obliquely rhomboid, scarcely longer than the tube. Benth. / l. ¢. 
p. 614. Thunb. ! Fl. Cap. p. 581. EB. & Z.! No. 1430. A. nigrescens, EE. 
Mey. ! E. & Z.! No. 1431. A. melanoides, EB. & Z.! 1432. A. pallens, E. 
§ Z.! 1433. A. deciduifolia, EB. § Z.1 1434. A. globulosa, E. Mey.! EB. & 
4.! 1424, Zey.! 2333. 
Var. 8. involucrata (Pappe) ; flowers capitate, heads involucrated with numerous 
broadly ovate or suborbicular, striate bracts. A. involucrata, Pappe, MSS. : 
Has. Hills &c. in the Cape and Stellenbosch Districts, common. Extending to 
Swellendam & George, E. ¢ Z./ River Zonderende, Zeyher. 8. Kuilsriver, Cape, 
Dr. Pappe! (Herb. Th., Bth., Hk., D., Sd.) 
A small, ramuliferous bush, 1-2 feet high, erect or spreading, variable in several 
characters, but readily known from others of this section by the broad, short, calyx 
lobes, and 4—ovuled ovary. Leaves 2-3 lines long, turning dark or black in drying. 
Flowers either in globular heads, or in oblong spikes, or scattered thinly toward the 
ends of the branches. Bracts sometimes (especially in var. 8.) orbicular or ovate, 
and ribbed, entire or trifid ; sometimes linear or oblong. Calyx either glabrescent 
or densely hirsute ; its segments either very obtuse and short, or longish and acute. 
Flowers blue or pale. 8. is a remarkable form with highly developed bracts, but 
connécted by many intermediate links with the ordinary state of the species. 
46. A. parviflora (Berg. Pl. Cap. p. 208); small and depressed, 
divaricate ; leaves tufted, filiform-subulate, short, blunt, pubescent or. 
~ subglabrous 3 flowers 3-4 in a short spike ; calyx pubescent, its teeth ovate 
or sublanceolate, acute, shorter than the tube 3 petals pubescent, carina ~ 
shorter than the ale ; ovary 2-ovuled ; legume obliquely ovate, acute, 
tather longer than the calyx. Benth./ l. c. p. 61 5. £. § Z.! No. 1429. 
Thunb.! Fl. Cap. p. 579, Zey.1 2332. Burch. 6 3.59. 
Has. Mountains of Swellendam. Gnadendahl, Drege! Alexander Prior! Pus- 
Mt = a Kochmanskloof, Z. §-Z.! Grootevadersbosch, Zeyher! (Herb. Th., Hk., 
A 
small, depressed or prostrate, much-branched, ramuliferous shrub, 6-8 inches 
long. Leaves 2 lines long, dryi green. Flowers 2-4 toward the ends of the 
branches in a spurious spike, or su itate, blue or pale. Like some of the smaller 
forms of A. nigra, but the branches are more slender, the flowers smaller and much 
less hairy, the calyx lobes longer and more acute, and the ovary constantly 2-ovuled. 
47. A. Forbesii (Harv.) ; robust, rigid, ramuliferous ; leaves tufted, 
short, blunt, linear, fleshy, pubescent or glabrous ; flowers capitate ; calyx 
hairy, its lobes lanceolate, rather longer than the tube; vexillum oval- 
oblong, villous, longer than the glabrous or pubescent carina; ovary 
2-ovuled. A. cephalotes, Benth.!1.¢. p. 615. non Thunb. nec. E. & Z. 
Hap. 8. Attica, ape 8 — Hk., Bth.) 
much- woo 2-3 feet high?). Branches tomentose. ‘Leaves 
2 lines long, very obtuse, subtrigonous or Sieces mciee when dry, Heads glo- 
ting short branchlets 1-2, rarely three inches long, the calyces much 
longer than the involucrating leaves, Calyx teeth 2 lines long, its tube rather 
roughly but shortly pubescent. Petals externally silky villous. 
48. A. spicata (Thunb. Fl. Cap. p. 578); virgate, slender: leaves 
tufted, dinear-subulate, long or short, submucronate, pilose or glabrous ; 
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