PLATE 305. 



KNIPHOFIA NATALENSIS, Baker. (Fl. Cap. Vol. VI. p. 281). 

 Natural Order, LILIACEAE. 



Rootstock, neither bulbous nor tuberous. Leaves linear, elongate, 1 to 4 

 feet long, up to ^ inch broad at base, tapering to 2 to 3 lines at apex, strongly 

 channelled from base to apex, and sharply keeled beneath ; coriaceous, with 10 to 

 15 distinct veins between the midrib and the thickened margin, quite glabrous. 

 Peduncle terete, glabrous, 2 to 4 feet long, naked, with a few distant empty bracts 

 below the flowers. Raceme lax, 6 to 8 inches long. Bracts oblong-lanceolate, 

 scarious, with a distinct brownish midvein, inch long. Flowers yellow, buds 

 red, gradually becoming yellow as they open (in the variety condensata the flowers 

 are yellow in all stages). Perianth sub-cylindrical, constricted above the ovary; 

 1 to 1 J inch long ; segments 6 ; ovate, 1 line long. Stamens 6, hypogynous, as 

 long as the perianth, filaments filiform, the three opposite the inner segments 

 longest, and finally a little exserted, the others included ; anthers oblong, dorsi- 

 fixed, versatile, opening inwards. Ovary superior, sessile, ovoid, 3-celled, many 

 ovuled, ovules superposed ; style filiform, longer than stamens ; stigma minute, 

 capitate. Capsule 4 lines long, seeds angular, testa brownish black. 



Habitat : NATAL : In open ground all over the colony. Inanda, 1,800 feet alt., 

 Wood, No. 636; hills above Tugela River, Zululand, Wood, No. 3871 ; without 

 precise locality, Adlam; var. angustifo'ia, Tabamhlope Mountain, 6,000 to 7,000 

 feet alt. ; Evans, No. 411 ; var. condensata, near Manderston, 2,800 feet alt., Wood. 

 Also in Griqualand East. 



Drawn and described from specimens in Botanic Gardens, Durban, October, 

 1902, Wood, No. 8605. 



This genus is paid to contain 46 specimens, of which 32 are South African, 12 

 Tropical African, aid 2 outliers in Madagascar ; of the 32 South African species 

 10, or perhaps mor<3, are found in Natal. Most of the species are ornamental, and 

 are not uncommon :n cultivation. 



The variety " condensata " does not differ much from the type, except that the 

 flowers are yellow in all stages of growth, and we have seen it with both scape and 

 leaves longer than is usual in the type. Native name " i-quaquana." 



Fig. 1 , longitudinal section of flower ; 2, longitudinal section of ovary ; 3, 

 cross-section of ovary ; all enlarged. 



