246 AMARYLLIDEE (Baker), [Vellozia. 
leaves laxly disposed all down, the lower spreading, the upper 
ascending ; leaves linear, glabrous, bright green, subcoriaceous, 4-6 
in. long, }-4in. broad, smooth upon the margin and midrib beneath ; 
peduncles slender, 1-—3-nate, glandular, glabrous, 4-5 in. long; 
perianth limb 3-2 in. long; segments oblong-lanceolate, white, the 
outer glabrous on the back; anthers lanceolate, 4 in. long; ovary 
turbinate, green, glabrous, 4 in. long; stigma oblong, overtopping 
the anthers; capsule oblong, 3 in. long. Talbotia elegans, Balf. in 
Proc. Bot. Soe. Edinen. ix. 192. Xerophyta elegans, Baker in 
Journ. Bot. 1875, 234. Hypoxis barbacenioides, Harv. MSS. 
Var. 8, minor (Baker); dwarfer, with falcate leaves 14-2 in. long; perianth- 
limb4-} in. long. Xerophyta minuta, Baker loc. cit. 
Easteen Reaton : Natal; Inanda, Wood, 1114! Fields Hill, Sanderson, 598 ! 
and without precise locality, Gerrard, 1555! Cooper, 2563! Var. 8, Natal, 
Gueinzius ! 
7. V. humilis (Baker in Journ. Bot. 1889, 4); herbaceous ; 
acaulescent, with a tuft of strong wiry root-fibres ; rosettes of leaves 
densely cmspitose, surrounded by dense mass of sheaths composed 
of parallel, drab, wiry strands of matted fibres }-$ in. long; leaves, 
linear, falcate, glabrous, rigidly coriaceous, strongly ribbed, 1-2 in. 
long ; peduncles very slender, 1-2 in. Jong, rough with glands; 
perianth-limb } in. long, segments oblong-lanceolate, the outer 
green and glabrous on the back; anthers linear, nearly as long as 
the perianth-limb ; ovary obconic, }, in. long and broad. 
KaLawaRI REGION: Transvaal; Bosch Veldt between Elands River and 
Klippan, Rehmann, 5138! Apies River, Burke, 122! and without precise 
locality, Greenstock ! 
Also Mozambique, Sir John Kirk ! 
Orper CXXXVI. DIOSCOREACEZ. 
(By J. G. Baxzr.) 
Flowers typically dicecious (universally so in the Cape genera). 
Perianth regular, with 6 biseriate subequal segments. Male flowers: 
Perianth campanulate, infundibuliform or oblong; tube short; seg- 
ments ovate, oblong or oblanceolate, Stamens 6, inserted in the tube 
of the perianth or the 3 opposite the inner segments absent or 
imperfect ; filaments short, incurved; anthers 2-celled. Pistil rudi- 
mentary. Female flowers : Perianth similar, but smaller. Staminodia 
minute. Ovary inferior, linear-oblong, acutely triquetrous, 3-celled ; 
ovules 2 in a cell, superposed; style short; stigmas 3, recurved, 
entire or bifid. Fruit in the Cape genera an acutely-angled triquetrous 
coriaceous capsule, with loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds flat, usually 
winged ; embryo small, surrounded by fleshy albumen, 
Rootstock tuberous ; stems twining ; leaves usually alternate, petioled, simple 
or compound ; venation reticulated ; flowers small, greenish, spicate or racemose, 
sometimes panicled ; bracts and bracteoles miuute, 
