848 ASCLEPIADEZ (Brown). [ Brachystelma. 
16. B. nanum (N. E. Br.) ; rootstock not seen; plant 2-3 (2?- 
43, Schlechter) in. high,‘ branching ; branches covered with exceed- 
ingly minute recurved hairs, apparently reddish-brown ; leaves 
spreading or ascending, 34-9 lin. long, 4-1 (1-2, Schlechter) lin. 
broad, linear (linear-elliptic or linear-lanceolate, Schlechter), acute, 
tapering into the petiole, flat or slightly convex above, with revolute 
or thickened (sometimes slightly crisped, Schlechter) margins and a 
prominent midrib beneath, sometimes recurved or revolute at the 
tips, occasionally twisted, glabrous, with a sparse ciliation of very 
minute adpressed hairs on the margins; flowers in pairs (1-3, 
Schlechter) at the nodes, very small; pedicels }-1} lin. long, with 
minute hairs, as on the stems; sepals about 4 lin. long, lanceolate, 
acuminate, glabrous (puberulous, sparsely ciliate, Schlechter) ; corolla- 
tube about 4 lin. long, cup-shaped; lobes free, campanulately 
spreading, about 14 lin. long, 2-3 lin. broad at the base, thence 
gradually tapering to the acute apex or in some flowers ovate or 
ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, apparently thickened and incurved- 
hooked at the tips, below which the margins are inflexed, forming a 
slight constriction, glabrous on both sides, not ciliate, apparently 
pinkish or pale purplish with darker tips ; outer corona-lobes arising 
4 lin. up the staminal column and much overtopping (or perhaps 
incurved over) it, }-} lin. long, divided nearly to the base into 
2 slender linear-subulate acute or obtuse segments, which are 
adnate in pairs at the base to the inner corona-lobes, puberulous 
on the basal part of the inner face with very minute flattened 
adpressed white hairs, not visible when wetted (glabrous, Schlechter) ; 
inner corona-lobes about } lin. long, slenderly linear, incumbent 
upon the backs of the anthers and exceeding them, with erect 
or recurving tips (incurved at the apex, Schlechter), glabrous ; 
staminal column } lin. long; follicles divergent-erect, 1}—2 in. 
long, 1} lin. thick, linear-terete, tapering at the base and into a 
beak at the apex, smooth, glabrous ; seeds } in. long, 1 lin. broad, 
linear-oblong with the margins much inflexed on one side, broadly 
margined, smooth, dark brown, with a tuft of rather short 
hairs at the apex. Lasiostelma nanum, Schlechter in Engl. Jahrb. 
Xxxvill. 37. 
Kaanarr Recron: Orange River Colony (not Transvaal, as originally stated) ; 
on stony ground near Rhenoster Kop, Zeyher, 509 (ex Schlechter), Burke, 509! 
and probably from the same locality, Zeyher, 1139! 
In this case, as in that of Fockea angustifolia, K. Schum., Zeyher appears to 
have distributed the plant under the same number as Burke, as well as under a 
number of his own. I have not seen Zeyher’s 509, from which Dr. Schlechter 
described, but so far as it goes, with the exception of the few discrepancies placed 
in brackets, his description quite agrees with Burke's plant, and I have no doubt 
of their identity. B, nanum is exceedingly like B. occidentale in appearance. It 
distinctly differs, however, in its leaves being slightly broader and having a con- 
spicuous and prominent midrib beneath, whilst in B. occidentale there 18 no 
_ evident midrib, the outer corona-lobes are also puberulous within and the inner 
corona-lobes have erect tips. Living plants may exhibit other distinctive 
a ; 
