60 



lanceolate. Perianth 6 parted nearly to base, the three outer segments oblong, 

 2-21 lines long, f-1 line wide, green with minute brown spots ; the three inner 

 ones obovate, hooded or incurved at apex, equalling outer ones in size, white with 

 green keel, brownish at base. Stamens 6, shorter than perianth, filaments lanceo- 

 late, white. Anthers 2 celled, versatile. Ovary 3 lobed, lobes rounded, 3 celled, 

 many seeded. Capsule shortly clavate, deeply 3 lobed, seeds densely covered with 

 long white hairs. 



Habitat : NATAL: Coast to at least 2,000 feet above sea level. Inanda, Wood 

 No. '256. Near Durban, distributed from Botanic Garden as No. 107. Also in 

 Pondoland and Griqualand East. 



Drawn and described from specimens gathered near Durban, October, 1 898. 



This genus includes about 25 species inhabiting Tropical and South Africa, of 

 which 7 are found in Natal. It is distinguished from its nearest allies by the 

 dense woolly coating of the seeds. We know of no use to which the plant is 

 applied, and the natives do not appear to have any special name for it. 



Fig. 1, Tuber and leaf; 2, Peduncle with flowers, natural size ; 3, Flower 

 with two perianth lobes, and two stamens removed ; 4, Stamen front view ; 5, 

 Stamen back view; 6, Ovary, style and stigma; 7, Cross section of ovary; all 

 enlarged. 



PLATE 74. 



AOOKANTHEHA SPECTABILIS, Hook, f. 



Natural Order, APOCYNE^E. 



A shrub or small tree, 10-15 feet high, with milky glutinous sap. Bark of 

 trunk and branches rough and wrinkled, dark coloured ; twigs green, glabrous, 

 usually compressed at nodes. Leaves opposite, decussate, petiolate, exstipulate, 

 oblong, lanceolate, or oblongo-lanceolate, with a recurved mucro, quite entire, 

 coriaceous, margin reflexed, dark green above, lighter beneath, midvein promi- 

 nent beneath, lateral obscure, 3-5 inches long, 1-lf inches wide; petiole channelled 

 above, \ J inch long. Inflorescence in axillary many flowered panicles, or pani- 

 culato-racemose ; much shorter than the leaves. Calyx gamosepalous, 5 parted 

 nearly to base, lobes erect, oblongo-lanceolate, green, minutely pubescent, im- 

 bricate, 1|-2 lines long. Corolla salver shaped, tube terete, a little swollen below 

 the apex, minutely glandular-pubescent, especially in central portion, internally 

 pilose, 6-9 lines long; lobes 5, twisted to the left in bud, lanceolate, spreading to 5 

 lines diameter, pure white. Stamens 5, inserted on corolla tube just below throat, 

 included, filaments very short, and with a few pilose hairs. Anthers 2 celled, cor- 

 date at base, acute and with long hairs at apex. Style filiform. Stigma oblong, 

 pilose at apex. Ovary 2 celled, cells 1 seeded. Berry ovate, deep purple when 

 ripe, 1-2 seeded. Seeds compressed, ovate, 6-9 lines long. 



Habitat : NATAL : Coast districts, not uncommon. 



Drawn and described from specimens gathered on Berea, October, 1898. 



This plant was formerly known as Toxicophla3a spectabilis, Sond or T. 

 Thunbergii (Hort Williams), but the genus Toxicophlaea has been abolished, and 

 the name here given is the correct one. The genus Acokanthera contains 5 

 species, all natives of South Africa, two of which, viz., A venenata, and A specta- 



