138 SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWERING PLANTS. 



General DescrijJtioii of the Rose Family. 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees. 



Leaves — Simple or compound, stipulate. 



Flowers — Eegular, sepals coherent ; petals, 5 ; 

 stamens co, both being on a receptacular tube; carpels, 

 free, 1-x) , within the free or adherent tube. 



Fruits — Achenes, drupes, or drupels, pomes, etc. 



Crassulaceae. 

 The Crassula. Family. 



This order contains 400 species of 14 genera. It 

 is a very characteristic family of South Africa ; since 

 the country, especially the western half, is always 

 marked by great dryness, many plants possess the 

 means of storing up water for months, till the rains 

 come again. The commonest way is to make the stems 

 or leaves thick, fleshy, and massive. This is done by 

 the cells of the interior being very thin-walled, and 

 filled with gummy water or a milky fluid. This is 

 protected by a tough rind or skin, so that the loss of 

 water by transpiration is greatly retarded. 



There are two tribes, one in which the stamens are 

 as many as the petals, as in Cras'sula and Roch'ea — in 

 South Africa there are five genera in this tribe; the 

 other, in which the stamens are twice as many as the 



