Classification of Plants 



253 



Loose 



Pollen masses 20, very small; anthers 4-celled — 

 Secamone, the "monkey-ropes" of the East, 

 climbing plants with leathery leaves. Flowers small. 



A. Pollen masses 10, hanging, forming an inverted y-shaped 

 yoke — 



B. Stamens without a crown — 



Microloma. — Corolla urn-shaped, lobes twisted to the left. 

 Tube furnished within with tufts of downward pointing hairs. 

 Usually twining. Umbels of beautiful 

 little waxy bells, scarlet, or pale red 

 with green tips. 



BB. Stamens with a single 

 crown — 



Gomphocarpus. — Crown single, 

 of 5 petal-like bodies, the edges folded 

 toward the stigma. Umbels at the 

 nodes or tipping the stem, many 

 flowered. Flowers greenish. Petals 

 bending backward. 



Fig. 255. — Pollen mass of 

 Stapelia. (From Henslow's 

 "South African Flowering 

 Plants.") 



Fig. 256. — Stapelia. Stem and 



Flowers. (From Henslow's 



"South African Flowering 

 Plants.") 



Shrubby or herbaceous. G. frtiticosus, with large spiny follicles and 

 linear leaves, is common in the Karroo. 



Pachycarpus has larger bell-shaped or globose flowers, 

 and a different corona from Gomphocarpus. 



BBB. Stamens with a double crown — 



Sarcostemma. — Corona of an outer fleshy ring and 

 5 inner leaves. Erect or climbing leafless shrubs, with fleshy 

 jointed stems and wheel-shaped corollas. 



AA. Pollen masses 10, erect, with the gland below. 

 Corona double — 



