ST A 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



ST A 



621 



species most allied toil, by its many-flowered peduncles; 

 colour of the corolla a dark red purple, variegated with short 

 transverse wrinkles of an almost black purple, and have the 

 edge of the segments of a dark violet colour. Native of the 

 dry deserts of Southern Africa. 



7. Stapelia Pulvinata; Cushion-flowered Stapelia. Stem 

 four-cornered, decumbent; branches ascending, flower-bear- 

 ing; bottom of the corolla raised and villose; segments round- 

 ish, wrinkled, acuminate, villose at the edge ; colour very dark 

 purple, with whitish wrinkles.- Native of Southern Africa. 



8. Stapelia Asterias; Starry Stapelia. Branches erect, 

 four-cornered, attenuated, flowering at the base ; peduncles 

 length of the corolla, the segments of which are ovate, acu- 

 minate, wrinkled, revolute, and villose at the edge. The 

 nectaries, or star, in the middle are white, the bottom is 

 very dark purple. Native of Africa. 



9. Stapelia Gemmiflora; Bud-flowering Stapelia. Branches 

 erect, four-cornered, flowering at bottom; peduncles length 

 of the corolla, which is rugged, with the segments acute, 

 ciliate at the edge, five-nerved above. It is of a dusky pur- 

 ple colour, or almost black, with small transverse stripes of 

 a paler hue ; the bottom is very dark, studded with minute 

 yellow clots. It is sufficiently distinct from all the other 

 species, in having the segments of the corolla five-nerved 

 above, and the outside of it yellow dotted with purple; 

 whereas, in the rest it is almost always pale and of one colour. 

 Native of dry places in Southern Africa. 



10. Stapelia Divaricata; Straddling Stapelia. Brandies 

 four-cornered, attenuated, divaricate, spreading, flowering 

 in the middle; peduncles longer than the corolla, which is 

 smooth, with the segments lanceolate, acuminate, rolled back 

 and ciliate at the edge, flesh-coloured. Habit slender, lax, 

 and spreading. Native of Southern Africa. 



11. Stapelia Rufa. Branches four-cornered, erect, flower- 

 ing at the base; peduncles shorter than the corolla, which is 

 wrinkled and starred at the bottom, with the segments lance- 

 olate, acuminate, ciliate at the edge, of a dark violet colour, 

 variegated with transverse streaks of a very dark purple, with 

 the bottom stellate and of an uniform rufous colour; nectaries 

 variegated. Native of Southern Africa. 



12. Stapelia Acuminata. Branches four-cornered, ascend- 

 ing, flowering in the middle; peduncles shorter than the 

 corolla, which is wrinkled, and the segments are ovate-cusp- 

 acuminate, ciliated at the edge. It is a little larger than that 

 of the preceding species, variegated with dark purple trans- 

 verse waved streaks, very finely fringed with white at the 

 edge. Native of Southern Africa, in Namaqualand. 



13. Stapelia Reclinata. Branches spreading, four-cor- 

 nered, ascending, flowering above the base; peduncles longer 

 than the corolla, which has a raised bottom with lanceolate 

 segments, ciliate at the edge, of a dark purple colour. 

 Native of Africa. 



14. Stapelia Elegans. Branches diffused, oblong, round- 

 ish, four-cornered, flowering in the middle ; peduncles longer 

 than the corolla, which is hispid with a pentagon bottom 

 and lanceolate segments, ciliate at the edge. It is less than 

 that of the preceding species, very dark violet, with a rufes- 

 cent bottom and yellow nectaries. Native of Southern A frica. 



15. Stapelia Csespitosa ; Tufted Stapelia. Branches pro- 

 cumbent, four-cornered, flowering above the base; peduncles 

 length of the corolla, the segments of which are lanceolate, 

 acute, revolute, and ciliate at the edge ; corolla five-cornered, 

 recurved in the middle; segments spreading, narrowed, folded 

 back, and ciliate; colour dark purple; size nearly that of 

 the preceding, with the bottom circular, greenish, and the 

 nectaries yellow Native of Southern Africa. 



16. Stapelia Arida; Dry Stapelia. Branches four-cor- 

 nered, erect, flowering at the top ; peduncles longer than the 

 corolla, which has a circular bottom, and oblong acute seg- 

 ments, ciliate at the top of the margin. Native of Southern 

 Africa, in Kannaland. 



17. Sta'pelia Parviflora; Small-lowered Stapelia. Branches- f 

 four-cornered, spreading, flowering in the middle on the 

 outside of the teeth; peduncles longer than the corolla, the 

 segments of which are lanceolate, bluntish, and ciliate at the 

 edge. The flowers are the smallest of the genus, not half 

 an inch broad, yellow, hairy, on deflexed purple stalks, 

 scarcely an inch in length ; nectaries orange-coloured. 

 Native of Southern Africa, in Namaqualand. 



18. Stapelia Subulata ; Awl-shaped Stapelia. Branches 

 four-cornered, attenuated, nodding, flowering below the top; 

 corollas nodding; segments oblong, acuminate, cusped, with 

 the hairs pointing one way. Native of Arabia Felix. 



19. Stapelia Concinnata ; Neat Stapelia. Stem four-cor- 

 nered, erect, branched at top ; branches spreading, simple, 

 flowering at the base; peduncles length of the corolla ; corol- 

 las hispid, with the segments ovate, acute, ciliate. It is ash- 

 coloured, with whitish bristles. Native of Southern Africa. 



20. Stapelia Glanduliflora ; Glandular -flowered Stapelia. 

 Branches spreading, four-cornered, flowering at the base ; 

 peduncles longer than the corolla, which is covered with hairs, 

 glandular at the tip, with the segments ovate, acute. Stems 

 green, erect, somewhat downy at the edges; flowers an inch 

 broad, tawny, or yellowish, clothed with erect club-shaped 

 glands, of very singular appearance. Native of Southern 

 Africa. 



'* Corolla Jive-cleft ; Segments smooth at the edge. 



21. Stapelia Pcdunculata ; Long-peduncled Stapelia. 

 Branches four-cornered, two or three toothed at the tip, 

 flowering in the middle; peduncles twice as long as the 

 branches; segments of the corolla lanceolate, acuminate at 

 the base, surrounded at the edge by pedicelled glands; colour 

 purplish-brown, varying to yellow. This is very distinct 

 from the rest in the length of the peduncle, and the structure 

 of the flower and branches: Native of Southern Africa, in 

 Camies Berg. 



22. Stapelia Aperta; Open-flowered Stapelia. Branches 

 four-cornered, three or two toothed at the tip, flowering at 

 the base; peduncles twice as long as the branches; corollas 

 wrinkled ; segments ovate, obtuse, smooth ut the edge, of a 

 dirty dusky-purple, wrinkled, with very short darker stains ; 

 bottom circular, ash-coloured, dotted with black. It resembles 

 the preceding species in the peduncle and branches, but the 

 flower is smaller and very different. Native of SouthernAfrica. 



23. Stapelia Gordon! ; Gordons Stapelia. Branches flow- 

 ering at the top, round, tubercled; tubercles spiny. Stem 

 erect, branched, a foot high, green, very thick, and obtuse, 

 beset all over with blunt tubercles, each bearing a prominent 

 thorn ; peduncles shorter than the corolla, which is five- 

 toothed, Hat, and wheel-shaped ; colour yellowish-brown, 

 with a whitish centre and black nectaries. Native of the 

 Cape, towards Orange River. 



24. Stapelia Piliftra ; Hairy-tuberded Stapelia. Branches 

 flowering at the top, round, tumid, with copious tubercles, 

 each tipped with a bristle; flowers sessile; segments ovate, 

 cusp-acuminate, smooth at the edge ; corolla dark purple, 

 with a small raised red circle in the middle surrounding the 

 genitals. It is eaten by the Hottentots, who call it Guaap. 

 Native of Southern Africa, upon very dry hills. 



25. Stapelia Cauuata; Tailed Stapelia. Stem rough-haired, 

 leafy; peduncles shorter than the corolla, drooping; segmeiU* 

 of the corolla linear, acute. Native of Southern Africa. 



