842 3 ASCLEPIADE (Brown). [ Brachystelma. 
and about as long as them. This may be the true plant, but all the figures appear 
to represent the cilia as simple fixed (not vibratile) hairs. The third specimen is 
from a plant cultivated at Kew in Sept. 1861, this differs as follows :—Leaves 4-3 
in. long, 1 lin. broad; corolla as in the figure of B. tuberosum in size, form and 
colour, but covered with long white (or pale purple ?) hairs within the upper part 
of the tube, and probably ciliate with them at the base of the lobes, but of this 
latter point I am not certain ; the corona is pressed out of shape, but appears to: 
have been very similar to that of the British Museum specimen above described. 
This plant is probably the B. tuberosum of K. Schum. in Engl. and Prantl, 
Phlanzenfam. iv. ii, 268, which is scarcely that of R. Br., as neither of the original 
drawings (preserved at Kew) of B. tuberosum nor their reproductions show any 
trace of hairs within the corolla-tube, but it cannot be definitely determined. 
6. B. decipiens (N. E. Br.) ; stem solitary? simple or slightly 
branched, densely puberulous with spreading or deflexed hairs ; 
leaves spreading, about 1 in. long, 1-2 lin. broad, linear or linear- 
lanceolate, subacute, tapering at the base into a very short petiole, 
apparently longitudinally folded, somewhat harshly puberulous on 
the under surface, glabrous above, minutely ciliate ; flowers 2—4 
together at the nodes ; pedicels 2-24 lin. long, puberulous ; corolla 
glabrous outside and within, dark purple-brown on the lobes, with 
their base and inside of the tube yellow, marked with transverse 
purple-brown lines; tube about 14 lin. long, campanulate ; lobes 
free, very spreading, about 34 lin. long, 14 lin. broad at the base, 
linear-lanceolate, acute, not ciliate; outer corona probably of 
5 pocket-like bifid lobes, puberulous on the inner face, but in the 
dried flowers the outer and inner corona are apparently combined in 
1 series of 5 dark purple-brown lobes, with their basal part } lin. 
long and 3 lin. broad, transversely rectangular with square obtuse 
shoulders, truncately contracted at the top into a linear obtuse 
middle tooth (really the inner corona-lobe) } lin. long, incumbent 
upon the backs of the anthers and not exceeding them. 
Coast Recon: Albany Div. ; near Grahamstown, Bolton ! 
In general appearance this much resembles the figure of B. tuberosum in Bot. 
Mag. t. 2343, but the corolla is entirely destitute of cilia (which I have sought for 
in vain in unopened buds), the corolla-lobes appear to be more linear in form, and 
the corona-lobes are not triangular as described for B. tuberosum. 
The Kew Herbarium contains a specimen collected at Grahamstown (Glass, 654), 
which seems closely related to B. decipiens, bat has rather broader and more acute 
leaves, a rather larger corolla (which appears to be of a uniform colour), and the 
inner corona-lobes are subulate and much longer than the anthers. As there 
is but one flower upon the specimen I hesitate to describe it. There 1s 
also at Kew a drawing of a plant introduced by Bowie in 1828, which is likewise 
nearly related to B. decipiens, differing in its oblong leaves, 3-3 in. broad, and the 
lobes of the drooping corolla 5 lin. long, suberect, not spreading and at least 
3 times as long as the tube. I have not seen a specimen like it. 
7. B. meyerianum (Schlechter in Engl. Jahrb. xxi. Beibl. 54, 14) ; 
plant dwarf, branching at the base, with several stems 14-7 in- 
high, puberulous on the upper part; leaves spreading ; petiole 
4-2 lin. long; blade 4~1 in. long, 3-5 lin. broad, linear-lanceolate 
to elliptic, acute or obtuse, cuneate at the base, varying tech rete ; 
