852 ASCLEPIADEZ (Brown).  — [{ Brachystelma. 
base, pubescent ; corolla-tube about as long as the staminal column, 
apparently nearly flat at the base, broadly saucer-shaped and 
scarcely 1 lin. deep, glabrous, spotted with very dark green or 
blackish, or entirely blackish outside and within in dried flowers ; 
lobes free, apparently incurved at the base then abruptly turned 
back and widely spreading, or in some dried flowers suberect, 4—7 
lin. long, 14-2 lin. broad at the base and nearly as broad in the 
upper part, narrowly oblong, acute or abruptly acute at the apex, 
constricted about 1 lin. above the base, where they recurve, with 
the margins apparently slightly reflexed, glabrous and apparently 
whitish or pale greenish outside, very minutely puberulous (glabrous 
to the naked eye) and “ bright metallic green” (Wood) on the inner 
face, ciliate at the base with long vibratile stout simple purple 
hairs ; outer corona-lobes arising }-} lin. up the staminal column, 
ascending-spreading, 1-2 lin. long, linear-oblong, bifid at the apex, 
puberulous on both sides, with the hairs at the tips rather longer 
than the rest; inner corona-lobes 2-24 lin. long, connivent-erect, 
linear, tapering to an obtuse apex, blackish, glabrous above, puberu- 
lous at the base, as is also the ? lin.-long staminal column below the 
corona. Benth. and Hook. f. Gen. Pl. ii. 781. Dichexlia Gerrardi, 
Harv. Gen. 8S. Afr. Pl. ed. 2, 241. Brachystelmaria Gerrardi, 
Schlechter in Engl. Jahrb. xx. Beibl. 51, 50, and Journ. Bot. 1897, 
293; K. Schum. in Engl. and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iv. ii. 268. 
Lasiostelma Gerrardi, Schlechter in Journ. Bot. 1899, 62. 
Eastern Recion: Natal ; Emyati, Gerrard, 1318! at or near Krans Kop, 
McKen, 18! Inanda, Wood, 455! 1607 ! and in Herb. Natal, 439! 
According to Gerrard the flowers are ‘‘dark green, approaching black, velvety 
above, pale yellow below.’ The outer corona-lobes are not so deeply divided as 
represented by Harvey. Gardenia Thunbergii has also been distributed by 
Mr. Wood under no. 439. 
22. B. macropetalum (N. E. Br.); rootstock not seen nor 
described ; stem #-2 ft. high, 1-2 lin. thick at the base, erect, 
simple, softly pubescent, leafy ; leaves ascending, sho ..y petiolate, 
$~14 in. long, 4-11 in. broad, ovate, acute, rounded to subcordate at 
the base, pubescent on both sides, but more densely beneath ; 
flowers solitary, lateral at the nodes; pedicels 3-1 in. long, softly 
pubescent, bearing a petiolate lanceolate or linear-lanceolate acute 
leaf-like bract 1-4 lin. long at their base ; sepals ascending-spreading, 
4 in. long, 3-1 lin. broad above the middle, linear-spathulate, acute, 
densely and softly pubescent ; corolla-tube scarcely any, flattish or 
saucer-shaped, about # lin. deep; lobes free, 9-10 lin. long, linear 
from a dilated 14-2 lin.-broad base, acute, erectly spreading, pubes- 
cent on the back, finely puberulous on the inner face, yellow 
(Thorneroft), greenish (Schlechter), brighter within, marked with 
reddish or brownish dots, but in the dried specimens apparently 
marked on the basal part only with dark green lines and spots or 
veining ; outer corona-lobes arising } lin. up the staminal column, 
