CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA. 25 



Clydesdale, 900 met., fl. March, Tyson (No. 1267 of Herb. Aust.-Afr., 

 MacOwan d Bolus). 



Var. y. LAXA ; ramis longioribus laxioribusque, ad 58 cm. longis, 

 paucifoliatis, internodiis longioribus, foliis majoribus ad 2 cm. 

 longis, racemis foliis 3-5-plo longioribus. Natal, Inanda, alt. 

 650 met., fl. Febr., Wood (Nos. 974 & 781 ; also No. 1140 of Herb. 

 Austr.-Afr., MacChcan d Bolus). 



A very variable species, allied to /. ovina, Harv., but with much 

 smaller leaves and longer racemes, proportionately to the leaves. 

 For the most part the common petiole is produced beyond the last 

 pair of leaflets, except in var. « ; but this character, which Harvey 

 relied upon to separate his sections FinnatcB and Producta, cannot 

 be absolutely trusted in this genus. I have not unfrequently found 

 them both with petiolate and sessile terminal leaflets on the same 

 plant. The var. « looks extremely different from var. y, but the 

 former occurs at a high elevation, and /3 seems to connect them. 

 A common character is the somewhat long and often hair-like 

 pedicel. The species may be placed next to I. sciicidosa, Harv. 



Carpacoce heteromorpha, Bolus. — Fruticulus humilis ro- 

 bustus decumbens ramosus ; rami validi adscendentes pubescentes, 

 dense foliosi, ramulis brevibus vestiti ; folia opposita imbricata 

 linearia acuminata connata, basin versus ciliata, patenti-recurva, 

 1-2 cm. longa, stipulis nullis vel cum vaginis foliorum connatis ; 

 flores axillares et terminales sessiles ebracteolati, inter folia fere 

 absconditi ; calycis lobi 4, erecti subaequales lineares ciliati, 6-7 

 mill, longi, tubum corolla? superantes; corolhe lobi 6-7, lauceolati 

 patentes, tubo 4-5 mill, longo subaequilongi, apice calloso-uncinati; 

 stamina 6-7, exserta ; ovarium turbiuatum, stylo villoso longe 

 exserto, corollam superante ; fructus turbinatus, lobis calycis coro- 

 natus, semine pyriformi, minute muricato, nigro. — Merciera hetero- 

 viorpha, Buck, in Eckl. & Zeyh. Kmun. p. 387 (1837). 



Hab : South-western Eegion ; Cape Colony : amongst rocks on 

 the Babylon's Tower Mt., fl. Aug., Eckl. d Zeyh. (No. 2421); 

 sandy hills near Elim, alt. 100 met., fl. July, Bolus (No. 6972). 



Diflerent in habit from the other species of this genus, and 

 somewhat resembling Merciera brevi/olia, A. DC. Buck, in describing 

 it, noted it as "a singular plant, most likely constituting a distinct 

 genus." Harvey distinguished it as a Rubiacea, but, probably from 

 want of good specimens, proceeded no further. The old specific 

 name fits its present position ; for it differs from its congeners by 

 its 4 nearly equal calyx-lobes, and by its 6-7-lobed corolla. The 

 peculiar hook with which the corolla-lobes are tipped is entirely on 

 the upper, not on the under side, as Bentham describes it in the 

 Geti. Plant, ii. p. 141. 



