PLATE 513. 



CRYPTOLEPIS OBLONGIFOLIA, SCHLTR. (Fl. Cap. Vol. IV, Sec. 1, Part IV, p. 529.) 



Natural Order, ASCLEPIADE.E. 



An erect much branched shrub, branches long and slender, terete, dark 

 coloured, very minutely rough, scarcely scabrous. Leaves opposite ascending, 

 glabrous, paler beneath, oblong, elliptic-oblong or lanceolate, quite entire, cuneate 

 at base, apiculate ; 1 -2 inches long, ^ to finch broad. Inflorescence axillary, 

 cyruose, cymes subsessile trichotomous, ^ to f inch diameter ; bracts minute, ^ to 

 1-lme long, soon deciduous, pedicels 1 to 1^ line long. Sepals under 1 line long, 

 oblong, obtuse, minutely ciliate at apex. Corolla glabrous, yellow-green, tube 

 1 line long campanulate, lobes 1^ to If line long, f to f line broad, oblong, obtuse; 

 corona lobes inserted at middle of corolla tube, ^ to ^ line long, subterete or clavate, 

 truncate, obtuse, fleshy ; anthers deltoid, very acuminate, filaments free, the con- 

 nective produced into a fleshy apiculus united to the dilated part of the style at 

 the base, more or less connate in a cone. Pollen granular, each granule formed 

 of 4 grains united ; pollen carrier more or less spathulate holding the pollen grains 

 in the concave portion. Style not exceeding the anthers. Follicles 3 to 4 inches 

 long about ^ inch diameter in centre, gradually tapering from near the middle to 

 a subacute point, green, glabrous. Seeds about 4 lines long, 1 line broad, 

 narrowly oblong, convex on one side, concave with a central ridge on the other, 

 minutely scabrous, crowned with a tuft of hairs. 



Habitat: NATAL: Near Umgeni, Krauss 132; Inanda 1800 feet, Wood 

 Field's Hill 1400 feet alt., January, Wood 11073; Palmiet, Gerrard 10; 595; 132. 

 Also in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. 



This plant has until very lately been known as Ectadiopsis oblongifolia (Benth\ 

 and under that name has been distributed by the writer, but the South African 

 species of the Order Asclepiadeae have been lately revised and published in the 

 Fl. Capensis, with the result that this species was transferred to Cryptolepis. 

 The plant is not uncommon in coast and midland districts at edges of woods and 

 stony places ; the flowers are not conspicuous, and the bark of the stems and 

 branches contains a strong fibre, but it is very doubtful whether the cultivation of 

 the plant on this account would be remunerative. 



Fig. I. calyx; 2, portion of corolla showing 3 corona lobes; 3, anther; 4, 

 pollen -carrier ; 5, ovaries and style apex ; 6, pollen granules ; all enlarged. 



