264 



esious plant. In this state it remains ready to be wafted by 

 the first gale that blows ; but, to insure the ultimate object of 

 Nature, the transportation of the seed, the long capillary style 

 and its round stigma remain attached to it, and the latter 

 being too large to slip through the narrow throat of the 

 corolla, the seed is thus suspended by the style, and descends 

 to the ground somewhat in the manner of an aeronaut in his 

 parachute. 



" Amongst a great variety of plants almost peculiar to 

 South Africa, the Meseinbri/anthemmn, or Fig -Marigold, 

 deserves particular notice. The principal species of this 

 plant, of which upwards of one hundred * are enumerated, 

 seem admirably adapted for fixing the loose, shifting sand, 

 with which a great part of this country is covered. Spreading 

 over the ground from a central point, a single plant shades a 

 great extent of surface, and affords a singular relief to the 

 eye oppressed by the powerful reflection of light. In its 

 thick fleshy leaves, it possesses a magazine of juices, which 

 enables it to bear without shrinking a long privation of 

 moisture, at the same time that it gives shelter to the nascent 

 shoots of other plants which spring up in its bosom. The 

 mucilaginous capsules of the Mesembryanthemwn edule, or 

 Hottentot Fig, are the chief material of an agreeable preserve. 



" The sprouts of the Anthericum hispidum are eaten as a 

 substitute for Asparagus. They are by no means unpalatable, 

 though a certain clamminess they possess, which induces the 

 same sensation as if a person was pulling hairs from between 

 his lips, renders them at first unpleasant. The root of a 

 species oi Liane, which grows to upwards of a stone weight, 

 is eaten by the Hottentots, and goes by the name of the Hot- 

 tentot Melon. It is firmer in substance than a turnep, and 

 resembles it in taste, but without its acrimony. Might not 

 this root, if carefully cultivated, prove a good substitute for 

 the Manioc, with which the black population of South 

 America and the West Indies is chiefly fed? Even in its 



* Three hundred and sixteen in De Candolle's " Prodromus Systematis Vege- 

 tabiliuiu." Ed, 



