228 Plants and their Ways i7i South Africa 



carpels which spHt from a central beak. Each carpel carries 

 its seed with it, or it may split and throw out the seed. 

 Herbs or shrubs, often hairy — 

 A. Flowers regular — 



Monsonia. — Stamens 15, in groups of three. Annuals 

 or perennials with usually deeply cut leaves. Peduncles with 



two bracts above the 

 middle, and one, two, or 

 several flowers in umbels. 

 Flowers large and showy, 

 usually pink or marked 

 with pink. 



Sarcocaulon. — Sta- 

 mens 15, monadelphous. 

 Much - branched, fleshy 

 rigid shrubs, armed with 

 spines, formed from old 

 petioles. The stem is 

 covered with a thick 

 coating of wax and burns 

 with a pleasant odour. 



Fig. 225. — Snthcrlafidia/rittcscens. 



Fig. 226. — Inflated pod of 

 Sntheflaiidia friitescens. 



Found in very dry places of Eastern and North-Eastern 

 districts. 



Geranium. — Stamens 10, the alternate longer, with honey 

 glands at the base. Herbaceous plants, with alternate or 

 opposite leaves, palmately lobed. A small genus from the 

 Peninsula to Natal. 



Erodium. — Stamens, 5 with anthers and 5 without 

 anthers, and gland at the base of the latter. Common weeds 

 with simple leaves. Flowers mostly in umbels. The styles 



