114 



ASCLEPIADE.E. III. PIARANTHUS. IV. STAPELIA. 



Gussoneana, Jacq. ex bot. reg. t. 1731. Corollas yellow, 

 striped with brown, and tipped with purple. 



Gussone's Piaranthus. Fl. Ju.Jul. Clt. 1832. Shrub foot. 



6 P. A'RIDITS ; branches numerous, erect, tetragonal, florife- 

 rous at top : with spreading, acute teeth ; pedicels solitary ; 

 segments of corolla flat, ovate -lanceolate, setaceously ciliated at 

 top; bottom of corolla circular. ^ . S. Native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, in the dry desert called Karro. Stapelia arida, 

 Mass. stap. p. 21. t. 33. Corollas size of those of Cyndnchum 

 vincetoxicum, pale yellow, with a yellow, circular bottom, white 

 corona : having the segments dotted at the base, and pilose at 

 the apex, ex Willd. Teeth of branches curved, similar to spines., 



Arid Piaranthus. Fl. Aug. Clt. 1795. Shrub \ foot. 



7 P. INCARNA'TUS ; branches erect, tetragonal : with spreading, 

 acute teeth ; flowers aggregate, almost sessile ; segments of 

 corolla narrow, flat, acute, ex Mass., obtuse, ex Thunb. ^i , S. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope, in Saldanha Bay. Stapelia 

 incarnata, Lin. suppl. p. 171. Thunb. prod. 1. p. 46. fl. cap. 

 2. p. 167. Mass. stap. p. 22. t. 44. Burm. afr. p. 15. t. 7. f. 

 1. Pedicels rising, as in other species, from the angles beyond 

 the teeth. The herb is eaten by the Hottentots, ex Lin. 

 Flowers small, flesh-coloured, size of those of Stapelia pilifera. 

 Corona covering the gynostegium, with a greenish margin, of 5 

 yellow, erect, bifid segments, and other 5 linear, inflexed ones, 

 in the centre, ex Thunb. 



Var. ft, albus (Mass. stap. 1. c.) flowers white. 

 Flesh-coloured-fiowereA Piaranthus. Fl. April, Aug. Clt. 

 1 793. Shrub 1 foot. 



8 P. MAMMILA'RIS; branches hexagonal, bearing the flowers 

 in the middle : furnished with spine-like, recurved tubercles ; 

 pedicels shorter than the flowers ; corolla glabrous ; segments 

 lanceolate, with revolute edges. ^ . S. Native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, on rocks, about Olifant's river ; and towards the 

 north, near Hex river, in the Karro. Stapelia mammilaris, Lin. 

 mant. p. 216. Thunb. prod. 1. p. 46. fl. cap. 2. p. 166. 

 Burm. afr. p. 27. t. 1 1. Pedicels usually by fours. 



Mammilary Piaranthus. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1774. Shrub. 

 Cult. See Stapelia, p. 117, for culture and propagation. 



2. Column of fructification, or gynostegium, exserted, or semi- 

 exserted, appendiculate outside. Pollen masses pellucid on one 

 of the margins. 



IV. STAPE'LIA (named by Linnaeus, after Boderus a 

 Stapel, a physician of Amsterdam, Commentator on Theophrastus, 

 in 1644.) R. Br. in mem. wern. soc. 1. p. 23. Stapelia species, 

 Lin. and others. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Digy'nia. Corolla rotate, 5-cleft, 

 fleshy. Column of fructification exserted. Stamineous corona 

 double ; exterior one of 5 undivided leaflets ; interior one of 5 

 subulate leaflets. Anthers simple at top. Pollen masses fixed 

 by the base, having one of the edges cartilaginous and pellucid. 

 Stigma mutic. Follicles somewhat cylindrical, smooth. Seeds 

 comose. Fleshy, leafless, angular, usually tubercular plants, na- 

 tives of south Africa, in the desert plains called Karro. Flowers 

 for the most part showy, but with a nauseous, fetid odour. 



1 . Branches or stems alately tetragonal, donny. 



1 S. GRANDIFLORA (Mass, stap. p. 3. t. 11.) branches quadran- 

 gular, clavate, downy ; tubercles or teeth remote ; corolla large, 

 flattish : with ovate-lanceolate, acute segments, which are ci- 

 liated on the edges. Tj . S. Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Haw. syn. p. 16. no. 1. Plant grey, from down. 

 Peduncles 3-flowered. Corolla large, dark purple in the bot- 

 tom ; but the segments are lighter purple, ciliated with grey 

 hairs, and striped with white. 



Great-flowered Stapelia. Fl. Sept. Dec. Clt. 1795. Shrub 

 1 foot. 



2 S. SPECTA'BILIS (Haworth, syn. p. 16. no. 2.) branches 

 tetragonal, downy ; tubercles or teeth remote ; segments of 

 corolla ovate-lanceolate, furnished from the base behind the 

 middle with dense red hairs, and having pale stripes on the 

 upper surface, with black tips. Ij . S. Native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope. Stapelia grandiflora, Curt. bot. mag. 585, exclu- 

 sive of the synonyms. 



Shemy Stapelia. Fl. Nov. Jan. Clt. 1802. Shrub 1 foot. 



3 S. AMBIGUA (Mass. stap. p. 13. t. 12. Haw. syn. p. 17.) 

 branches erect, quadrangular, clavate ; teeth remote, incurved ; 

 corolla flat : with oblong-lanceolate, acute, hispid segments, which 

 are ciliated on the edges ; leaflets of the inner corona cultriform, 

 serrated on the back, and toothed at top ; peduncles 3-4- 

 flowered. fj . S. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. Jacq. 

 stap. 35. Corolla size of those of S. hirsuta, of a rufous, purple 

 colour, variegated with transverse, dark, violaceous stripes, having 

 the edges of the segments of an obscure violet colour. 



Ambiguous Stapelia. Fl. June, Nov. Clt. 1795. Shrub 1 

 to 2 feet. 



4 S. SORORIA (Mass. stap. p. 23. t. 39. Jacq. stap. t. 22. 36, 37.) 

 branches divaricate, quadrangular ; teeth remote, acute, incurved ; 

 segments of corolla lanceolate, villous in the centre, and ciliated 

 on the edges. Tj . S. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Lodd. bot. cab. 94. Corolla dark purple, with yellow, trans- 

 verse rugae. According to Masson, this species differs from S, 

 hirsuta, in habit ; in the divaricate, 5 -angled branches, which are 

 said to be tetragonal at the top ; in the drooping flowers ; and 

 in the self-coloured corolla. Stem purplish. Peduncles simple, 

 solitary, purple. 



Sister Stapelia. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1797. Shrub 1 foot. 



5 S. PA'TULA (Willd. enum. p. 281.) corolla flat, with vil- 

 lously ciliated margins, and hairy disk, the rest wrinkled and 

 glabrous ; appendages of inner crown, oblong, lanceolate, one- 

 toothed inside. Jj . S. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Perhaps a variety of S. sororia. 



Spreading-fiowered Stapelia. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1797. 

 Shrub 1 foot. 



6 S. RKFLE'XA (Haw. syn. p. 18.) leaflets of inner corona 

 sub-deltoid, having the interior process incurvedly claw-formed ; 

 seat of style impressed with a cross. f} . G. Native of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. S. deflexa, Hort. Jacq. stap. t. 5. bot. 

 mag. 1810. Very like the preceding, but one half smaller. 

 Corolla of a greenish-wine colour, with revolutely reflexed seg- 

 ments ; having transverse, waved, contiguous, whitish stripes at 

 the middle ; and furnished with long purple hairs inside, towards 

 the base. Ligulae dusky, rufous, recurved, cuneated at apex. 



Reflexed Stapelia. Fl. June, Aug. Clt.? Shrub i foot. 



7 S. LU'CIDA (D. C. cat. hort. monsp. 1816. p. 149.) branches 

 erect, floriferous in the middle ; teeth erect ; segments of 

 corolla with pilose edges, ovate-acuminated, revolutely in- 

 flexed, having the disks shining, and rather pilose ; leaflets of 

 outer corona oblong. ^ S. Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. This species is nearly allied to S. sororia, ambigua, 

 and deflexa : from the first it differs, in 'the branches not being 

 divaricate, but erect; in the peduncles being shorter than the 

 corolla ; in the wrinkles of the corolla not being yellowish ; and 

 in the bottom not being villous : and from the second, to which 

 it is more nearly allied, in the branches not bearing the flowers 

 at their base, but in the middle ; in the segments of the corolla 

 not being flat ; in the flowers being smaller, and of a deeper 

 colour : and from the third, in the leaflets of outer corona, and 

 in many other points. 



Shining-ftovtered Stapelia. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 1812. 

 Shrub foot. 



