PLATE 304. 



DRIMIOPSIS MACULATA, Lindl. (Fl. Cap. Vol. VI., p. 473). 



Natural Order, LILIACEAB. 



Bulb tunicate, globose, 1 to 2 lines diameter. Leaves 2 to 6, petiolate, 

 petioles very deeply channelled, 1 to 6 inches long, blade cordate-ovate, 3 to 5 

 inches long, margin entire ; acute at apex, glabrous and shining, green with large 

 dark rounded blotches, on upper surface only. Peduncle 4 to 15 inches long, 

 terete. Raceme dense; 1 to 3 inches long, the lower flowers green, uppermost 

 white, central greenish white; pedicels 1 to Inline long, lower ones deflexed, 

 upper erect. Bracts none. Perianth 6-parted nearly to base, campanulate, per- 

 sistent, the 3 outer segments cucullate by inflexing of the apex, the 3 inner ones 

 broader and hooded by infolding of the upper portion of the margins. Stamens 6, 

 inserted at base of the perianth segments ; filaments short, dilated at base, 

 triangular ; anthers 2-celled, versatile ; as long as the filaments. Ovary sessile, 

 globose-trigonous, 3-celled, cells 2-ovuled ; style short, cylindrical ; stigma minute, 

 capitate. Capsule globose-trigonous; normally 6-seeded, but some or many of the 

 seeds often abortive. 



Habitat : NATAL : Near Durban, September and October, Wood ; Inanda, 

 September, Wood, No. 233 ; Nottingham, Buchanan. 



Drawn and described from specimens gathered near Durban, October, 1902. 

 Wood, No. 8654. 



A common plant in coast and midland districts, flowering in September and 

 October. The raceme is at first very short, the buds crowded together, and the 

 colour g.*eenish-white ; the lower buds soon become green, and the upper ones 

 white, the raceme increases in length, and the flowers become more distant from 

 each other ; as the buds open from the lower part of the raceme upwards they 

 become green, the upper ones remaining white until when all are opened the white 

 colour has quite disappeared, while the lower flowers have formed their capsules 

 or fallen off without bearing seeds. 



The genus is a small one, containing 11 species only, of which 7 are South 

 African, the other 4 Tropical African ; of the South African ones 6 appear to be 

 confined to Natal, and one is found in Transvaal. None of the species have any 

 ornamental or economic value, nor do the natives appear to have a distinctive 

 name for the one here described. 



Fig. 1, flower; 2, exterior lobe of perianth; 3, interior lobe of same; 4, 

 stamen, front view ; 5, stamen, back view ; 6, ovary, style and stigma ; 7, cross- 

 section of ovary j 8, capsule ; all enlarged. 



