22 an unknov;n plant v;hose position is doubtful. ^ It is not at all 

 the spme as M. ane-ustum var. heterorhTrHum, Kaw. , with v/hich it 

 has been confused by 3onder. It is described bv ilav/orth as a 

 sin><^ular and very distinct srecies having robust preen leeves 

 thpit are not dotted, the lower being somewhat like those of M, 

 canu"i, Hpv;. (not of Sers-^er), and the u^per somewhat like, but 

 not quite so large cs those of M. difforne, Linn, ^'-^othinc- more 

 is known of this species, ^avrorth (^-isc, p. 36) states "I once 

 saw tvjo nlents of this fine species alive in the collection of 

 i'essrs. i'e.lcoln, nurserymen, at .^''•enninfrton. " -t^lthough pieced 

 unde" the -Di:"formia groun by Haworth, I do not think it can be a 

 ST^ecies of CriottiDhyllura. 



I', surrectum, "aw., Hev., p. 101 (l82l). This species also 

 does not ani^ear to be a G-lottiphyllum, although r^laced in the 

 same ^rou'^ by Hpv/orth. According to a drav;ing of it at Kev; it 

 was raised in 1817 from seeds collected by ^owie. It is a very 

 distinct sr^ecies, with three pairs of ascending-spreading semi- 

 terete or nearly terete obtuse leaves about 2-2^ in. long, -g- in. 

 broad, and neerly as thick, placed at right-angles to •='ach other, 

 and not at all tongue-shaped, of a dark green colour and not 

 dotted. I have not seen anythinp- like it. _ 



N. S» Brown 

 (To be continued. ) 



Mesembryanthemum and some new stenera separated from it. 

 G-ard. Ghron. III. 71 : 44. 1922. 

 ■ (Gontlnuec. from page 22. ) 



LITH013, IT. S. BROWN. 



44 Ver^'' dwarf succulent nlents, in nature growing buried in the 

 ground with their tops scercely, or not st all, rising above the 

 level of the surface, consisting of a single growth or of tv/o to 

 many growths in a clump. 3ach growth a more or less obconlc or 

 rarel3'- comi^ressed cylindric body with a transverse fissure across 

 the tOT? dividin?' it into two short lobes, flf. t or convex on the 

 top dividing it into two short lobes, flct or convex on the top 

 v/hen adult, but in a juvenile state with only a central orifice 

 at the to^ , as in the genus Conophytum. S'lower solit-ry, from 

 the centre of the fissure, '^elyr. exserted from or p^. rtly include 

 ed in the fissure, more or less comr^ressed, without a tube above 

 the ovrry, 4-7 (usually 5-6) lobed. Corolla without a tube; pet- 

 els numerous, widely srreading. Stamens numerous, collected into 

 an erec"^ column. 3tvie short, sometimes almost absent; stigmas 

 4-7, filiform. 



The above Generic name which I give to the '■lants I now sep- 

 arate from ^'^esembryenthemum is formed from the 'j-reek woiSds lithos, 

 a stone, and ops, the fpce, on account of their resemblance in 

 colour and arinearance to the stones and pebbles they grov; among. 

 The remarlrable resemblance of these plants to pebbles is v;ell dem- 

 onstrated- by an sccount given by ^r. H, Ll^rloth in the Transactions 

 of the South African Fhiiosor>hlcal Society, "^ol. 15, p. 100, in 

 an interestin-^ description of the manner^ in which plants imitate 

 the ground and stones they grow among, ^^r. •'•\arloth states that 

 Mr. Hamipond Hook (? "7. Hgnmond TookeT, "firing a stay in the 

 Karroo had o-^ten used n certain footpath vrhich passed for some 

 distance over bare ground merel:'' covered with pebbles. ^ne de.jf 

 however, he saw some of these pebbles bearing bright yellow flov;ers, 



