434 Lxxxv. ASCLEPiADEiE (brown). [Orthantkera. 



or herbs with leafy stems trailing on the ground. Leaves opposite. 

 Flowers small or of moderate size, in pedunculate or subsessile umbels or 

 clusters, lateral or sublateral at the nodes. — Barrowia, Decne. in DC. 

 Prod. viii. 629. 



Species 3, one extending into South Africa and one inhabiting India. 



In Benthain and Hooker's Genera Plantarum, Orthantkera is united with Lgpta- 

 denia. I cannot distinguish Barrowia from Orthantkera, and as the latter name 

 claims priority it should be substituted for Barroioia. 



An erect bush, with stfaight glabrous branches . ,1.0. alhida. 



Stems herbaceous, trailing, pubescent or scabrous . 2. O. jasminifiora. 



1. O. albida, Schinz in Verhandl. Bot. Ver. Brandenh. xxx. 265. 

 A much-branched bush ; branches ereot, crowded, slender, white- 

 glaucous. Leaves distant, erect or ascending, |-1J in. long, J-1 

 lin. broad, linear, pungent-acute, channelled down the face, subsessile, 

 glabrous. Umbels lateral at the nodes^ 4-0 -flowered ; peduncles J-1 

 lin. long, white-tomentose, as well as the bracts and calyx ; bracts about 

 1 lin. long, linear-subulate ; pedicels -J lin. long or less. Sepals 

 1 lin. long, lanceolate, acute. Corolla-tube ^\-^\ lin. long, narrow, 

 slightly inflated below ; lobes 1-J lin. long, erect, linear, subacute, 

 whitish-pubescent outside, glabrous within ; sinuses between the lobes 

 with minute fleshy obtuse thickenings. Corona arising about J lin. 

 above the base of the 1 lin. long staminal-column ; lobes ovate-deltoid, 

 adnate, with free margins, erect between the anther-wings and scarcely 

 reaching to their tips. Anthers linear, with short acute appendages, 

 erect around the slender terete apex of the style, which does not exceed 

 them. — Engl, in Engl. Jahrb. xix. 148 ; K. Schum. in Engl. & Prantl, 

 Pflanzenfam. iv. ii. 266. 0. striata, Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. i. 

 694. 



iMOwer Guinea. Angola : Loanda, Monteiro ! in rocky maritime situations 

 to the south of the town of Mo>samedes, Welioitsck, 4259 ! German South-west 

 Africa: Hereroland; Modderfontein, north of Salem, Giirich, 11 (ex Enjler). 

 Zwartbiink Mountain, Stapff" (ex Sc?dnz). 



Also in Great Namaqualand, south of the Tropic. 



2. O. jasminiflora, X. E. Br. ex Schinz in Verhandl. Bot. Ver. 

 Brandenh. xxx. 265. Rootstock stout, woody. Stems 15-15 ft. long, 

 procumbent, branching, more or less scabrous or pubescent. Leaves 

 petiolate, scabrous-pubescent ; petiole 1-5 lin. long ; blade |-2|- 

 in. long, ^-1 in. broad, linear, linear-oblong, ovate-oblong, ovate or 

 elliptic, acute at the apex, rounded truncate or cordate at the base, 

 rather thick and rigid, often wavy or crisped on the margins. 

 Umbels lateral at the nodes, pedunculate, 2-13-flowered ; peduncle 

 J-l-| in. long, scabrous; bracts 1-2J lin. long, J-| lin. broad, subulate 

 or ovate-lanceolate, acute ; pedicels 2-7 lin. long, scabrous or pubes- 

 cent. Sepals l|-3 lin. long, J-1 lin. broad, lanceolate, acute or 

 acuminate, rather roughly pubescent on the back. Corolla cream- 

 coloured, strongly scented, pubescent all over the outside, and within 

 the tube ; tube 3J-9 lin. long, globose-pentagonal {i.e. with 5 inflations 



