ee 
Babiana. ] | IRIDEZ (Baker). 115 
segment oblong-spathulate, # in. long, the others shorter, lanceolate ; 
stamens reaching to the tip of the upper segment. At. Hort. Kew. 
edit, 2, i, 104; Ker, Gen. Irid. 152; Baker, Handb. Frid. 185. 
Antholyza plicata, Linn. fil. Suppl. 96; Thunb. Diss. No.6; Prodr. 
7; Fl. Cap. i. 169. 
Sovrn Arrica: without locality, Masson! Hort. Fothergill. in 1788! 
Coast ReGion: Piquetberg Div.; on sand dunes near the seashore below 
Verloren Vallei, Thunberg / : 
WestEEN Reaion: Little Namaqualand; sandy places by the sea, near Port 
ay haa and Bolus, Herb. Norm,, 699! and without precise locality, 
CuLly, a: 
XXIV. MELASPHERULA, Ker. 
Perianth slit down nearly to the ovary ; segments oblong-lanceolate 
or lanceolate, very acuminate. Stamens short, inserted at the base of 
the perianth ; filaments arcuate, filiform; anthers oblong, versatile. 
Ovary short, 3-lobed, 3-celled ; ovules 2~3 in a cell ; style short, 
filiform, its branches entire. Fruit a membranous loculicidal 
capsule, with three deep, acutely-angled lobes. Seeds oblong, with a 
thin brown testa, thickened and spongy at the top. 
Distris. Endemic; monotypic. 
1. M, graminea (Ker in Bot. Mag. t. 615); corm globose, 3 in, 
diam.; tunics thin, brown; leaves about 6 in a distichous basal 
rosette, linear, thin in texture, 3-1 ft. long, } in. broad ; stem slender, 
1-2 ft. long including the inflorescence, which is a broad, lax 
panicle ; spikes few-flowered, with a very flexuose, slender rachis ; 
spathe-valves ovate, herbaceous, 4-} in. long ; perianth yellowish- 
green, 4-1 in. long; segments all very acuminate, with purplish- 
black veins, the lower narrower and more spreading ; stamens half as 
long as the perianth ; capsule 4 in. diam., very short, acutely 3-lobed. 
Ker in Konig and Sims’ Ann, i. 232; Baker, Handb, frid. 189. 
Gladiolus gramineus, Linn. fil. Suppl. 95; Thunb. Diss. No. 26; 
Prodr. 9; Jacq. Ic. t. 236; Andr. Bot. Rep.t.62. Aglea graminea, 
Eckl. Top. Verz. 44. Gladiolus ramosus, Linn, Sp. Plant. edit. 2. i. 53. 
Phalangium ramosum, Burm. Prodr. 3, excl. syn. Diasia iridifolia, 
DC. in Bull. Phil. 1803, 151; Red. Lil. ¢. 54. D. graminifolia, 
DC. loc. cit. ; Red, Lil. t. 163. Melaspherula intermedia, graminea, 
iridifolia and parviflora, Sweet, Hort. Brit. edit, 2, 502. 
Coast Reeion: Table Mountain, Cooper, 8206! Harvey! Bolus, 2827! 
Clanwilliam Div., Zeyher! Paarl Mountains 1000-2000 ft., Drege! Malmesbury 
Div.; near Groene Kloof, Thunberg! Bolus, 1485! near Malmesbury, 400 ft., 
MacOwan, Herb. Aust. Afr., 1544! Tulbagh Div., Galpin, 72! Knysna Div. ; 
Ruigte Vallei, under 500 tt., Drege ! 
- ipidifolia, G. Don, merely differs from the type by its shorter leaves of 
eee ee oe pests} Lodd, Bot. Cab. ‘i 1444, by its smaller 
flowers. 
XXV. SPARAXIS, Ker. 
Perianth with a short, straight, cylindrical tube, dilated into a 
funnel in the upper half, and six subequal, oblong, ascending seg- 
