PLATE 310. 



AMAKANTUS SPINOSUS, Linn. (Fl. Brit. India, Vol. IV., p. 718). 

 Natural Order, AMABANTACEAE. 



Herbaceous, annual. Rootstock, pink. Stems erect or spreading, glabrous 

 and shining ; 1 to 2 feet long, green, or sometimes coloured reddish, especially in 

 axils of the leaves. Spines axillary, pungent, J to 1 inch long or more. Leaves 

 alternate, petiolate, exstipulate, ovate to oblong-ovate, tapering to an obtuse apex, 

 cuneate at base, margins entire, undulate, veins pinnate, pink, prominent beneath, 

 sunk on upper surface, which has usually two rows of dull greyish green markings, 

 which form two sides of a triangle, the angle pointing to apex of the leaf, 

 glabrous; 1 to 4 inches long, f to 2 inches wide; petiole 1 to 3 inches long, 

 deeply channelled above, dull pink. Flowers unisexual, small, in small axillary 

 clusters on lower portion of the stem, or ia densely flowered spikes composed of 

 numerous clusters in upper portion, the spikes erect or drooping, the female 

 flowers in lower portion of the spike, male flowers in upper portion. Bracts 

 setaceous from a broad base, longer than sepals, with dark green keel. Sepals of 

 female flowers 5, ovate apiculate, of male flowers ovate acuminate. Stamens in 

 male flowers 5, filaments connate at base, anthers oblong, 2-celled. Styles in 

 female flowers short or ; stigmas 3, subulate. Ovary 1 -celled, 1-ovuled. Fruit 

 2-beaked, splitting across the middle (circumscissile). Seeds small, orbicular, 

 compressed, black and shining. 



Habitat .- 

 Wood, 1872. 



NATAT, : Coast and Midlands, near Durban, 100 feet alt., November, 



Drawn and described from specimens gathered near Durban, November, 1903. 



This genus contains 40 to 50 species, many of which are well known in culti- 

 vation. In Natal we have 3 species only, all troublesome weeds ; the one here 

 described is now quite naturalised in the colony, and is known in most tropical 

 countries. It was introduced into Natal most probably about the time of the Zulu 

 war, and is a most obnoxious weed, for two reasons ; first, on account of the 

 abundance of seed produced, even in the early stages of its growth, and next by 

 its sharp spines, which make it unpleasant to handle. All our species are known 

 to the natives as Imbuya, and the leaves and young stems of 'at least two of the 

 species are boiled and eaten as a vegetable. 



Fig. 1, bract; 2, female flower; 3, male flower; 4, utricle; 5. seed; all 

 enlarged. 



