68 



ovate, all clawed and with a midvein. Corolla of 3 petals, which are united in a 

 sub-globose keel, the lateral ones oblong, longer than the central one which is 

 furnished with a fleshy 4-8 fid crest, whose lobes are obtuse, and minutely glan- 

 dulose. Stamens 8, united in a split tube and concealed in the folded anterior 

 petal. Anthers obliquely ovate, dehiscing by a large pore at apex. Style 1, 

 decimate, curved. Stigma spoon shaped, entire, pilose at apex. Capsule com- 

 pressed, oval-orbicular, 2-celled, cells 1 -seeded. Seeds oblong-ovate, densely pilose. 



Habitat : NATAL: In moist ground, Clairmont, Wood No. 7378, J. Sanderson, 

 No. 920. 



Drawn and described from specimens gathered near Durban, February, 1899. 



This genus includes about 200 species, which are found in most temperate 

 and warm climates. In Natal we have 1 5 or more species, three of which at least 

 have been cultivated, and are very ornamental, but the one described above is in- 

 conspicuous, and can hardly be distinguished from the grass amongst which it 

 grows. None of the species have any useful properties, so far as known to us, 

 though P. serpentaria, which is found all over South Africa had at one time a 

 reputation as a cure for the bites of venomous snakes. 



/ 



Fig. 1, Plants, natural size; 2, Flower; 3, Petals ; 4, Ovary, style and stigma, 

 side view; 5, Same seen from above; 6, Stamen; 7, Staminal tube opened ; 8, 

 Section of flower, petals removed ; 9, Sepals ; 10, Section of capsule showing 

 attachment of seeds; 11, Cross section of capsule; all enlarged. 



PLATE 84. 



CLUYTIA PULCHELLA, Linn. 

 Natural Order EDPHORBIACE.S;. 



A small erect shrub, l|3 feet high. Stems erect, simple or branched, terete, 

 glabrous, green. Leaves alternate, petiolate, exstipulate, ovate to ovate-oblong, or 

 ovate lanceolate, entire, glabrous, veins conspicuous on both sides ; green above, 

 paler beneath, ^-2 inches Ion?, ^1 inch broad ; petiole 1-1^ lines long, channelled 

 above. Flowers dioecious. Male flowers axillary, pedunculate, peduncles slender, 

 inch long. Calyx 5-parted, lobes ovate, imbricate, 1^ lines long. Corolla of 5, 

 broadly spathulate petals, alternate with calyx lobes, and equalling them in length, 

 alternating with as many 2-3-fid yellow glands, the receptacle being also studded 

 with numerous similar but smaller simple glands. Stamens 5, radiating from the 

 upper portion of a central column, and being surmounted by an abortive style and 

 stigma, which project slightly above the calyx and corolla. Female, calyx and 

 corolla similar to male, glands in one row at base of corolla lobes. Ovary ovate, 

 3-celled, glabrous. Styles 3, recurved, compressed, 2-lobed at apex. Stigmas 

 truncate. Capsule ovate, seated in the persistent calyx and corolla, 3-lobed, 

 glabrous, 3-celled, cells 1 -seeded. 



Habitat : NATAL : All over the Colony. 



Drawn and described from specimens gathered near Durban, March, 1899. 



Wood 7387. 



This genus contains about 30 species, natives of Tropical and South Africa, 

 and 3 in Arabia. It is somewhat remarkable on account of the stamens in the 

 male flowers being united in a central column, with the anthers radiating from it 



