( 355 ) 



16. List of Plants collected in the Percy Sladen Memorial 

 Expeditions, 1908-1911, continued (Compositae). 



(With Text-figs. 1-16.) 



Introduction to Mr. J. Hutchinson's account of the Family Compositae. 

 —By H. H. W. Pearson.* 



The Compositae are predominant in- all the South African regions. f 

 In the western coast region, within which the bulk of these collections 

 was obtained, this family is said to include about 23 per cent, of the 

 whole phanerogamic flora, % a figure which the following list will 

 doubtless help to modify. The fact that the family plays so 

 important a part in the composition of the flora of the region gives 

 an added interest to the distribution of its species, and to their 

 occurrence in other South African floral regions. 



On the collection as a whole, Mr. Hutchinson makes the following 

 observations : — 



"Altogether there were gathered about 630 specimens of this 

 family, and some idea of the immense value of the collection as 

 a contribution to our knowledge of the Compositae of these regions 

 may be gathered from the following. 



" Some 269 species are represented, out of which 30 are new. 

 These, with two exceptions, are described in the following pages, 

 the majority accompanied by black and white figures in the text. 

 Certain genera are represented by a surprisingly large number 

 of species : such are Pteronia, 19 species, 2 of which are new ; 

 Helichrysum, 21 species ; Athanasia, 9 species, 1 new, and a new 

 variety ; Pentzia, 8 species, of which no less than 3 are new ; 

 Senecio, 28 species, 4 new ; Euryops, 7 species, 1 new ; Othonna, 

 14 species, 4 new, one of which, Othonna euphorbioides (Fig. 15), 

 is of a very remarkable habit closely resembling a spiny Euphorbia, 



* Eeport of the Percy Sladen Memorial Expeditions in South-West Africa, 

 No. 76. 



+ Bolus, II., Sketch of the Floral Regions of South Africa— Science in South 

 Africa, 1905, p. 199. 



X Bolus, loc. cit., p. 206. 



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