South African Fibre Plants. 



573 



is harvested. Some plants, when growing in the open, branch pro- 

 fusely (Plates I and TV), others frequently show no tendency to do so 

 even under similar conditions. 



The stem and leaf-stalks are prickly. The leaves are deeply 

 divided and usually composed of 5-7 lobes (Plate II, Fig. 3). 



The flowers are borne on the main stem and branches on a very 

 short stalk in the axil of the leaf and open singly from below upwards, 

 in the early hours of the morning. The flowers are creamy-white to 

 yellow, with a dark purple eye (Plate II, Fig. 2). 



The seed capsule when ripe is globose, pointed, and bristly (Plate 

 II, Fig. 1). 



The plant has been observed by the writer as a common weed in 

 all the warmer parts of the Transvaal, especially in the Barberton, 

 Waterberg, and Zoutpansberg Districts. It also occurs fairly plenti- 

 fully in Zululand. 



■'H' * 



Photo by I. B. Pole Evans/l 



Plate HI. — Hlbucuti camiabinun growing in old mealie lands on the farm 

 Waterval, Duivels Kloof, Transvaal. 



Plate III illustrates a typical invasion of mealie lands by this 

 plant in the Zoutpansberg District. At the time when the photo- 

 graph was taken (10th September, 1917) practically all the seed 

 capsules were ripe and had shed their seed. 



Plate y depicts some plants taken from this heavily-infected tract 

 of land and tied into bundles ready for fibre extraction. These 

 plants were gathered, bundled, and forwarded to the Botanical 

 Laboratories, Pretoria, by Mr. Closterschulte, of the Westfalia Estates, 

 Duivels Kloof. In spite of tlieir age an excellent sample of fibre has 

 been obtained from them. 



In some of the areas mentioned above the plant thrives to such 

 an extraordinary extent that the writer has seen large patches, both 

 of virgin veld and " lands " so completely covered that it was almost 



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