326 Plants and tJieir Ways in South Africa 



marauder. As the bee lights on the fringe of the lower petal, 

 its weight bears down upon the keel, so that the pollen, which 

 has been caught in the spoon-tipped pistil, is pushed out and 

 rubbed off on the bee's body. It is then carried to another 

 flower and brushed off on the stigma, which is on the lower 

 side opposite the spoon-tip : 450 species from New Zealand 

 to Arctic Zone. 



Mundtia is a stiff bush, with spine tipped branches, 2 to 

 3 feet high. Flowers red or white. The berries are eaten by 

 birds and children. Common in dry, rocky places and on the 

 seashore. One species, M. spinosa, D.C. 



Muraltia. Usually small, rigid, twiggy shrubs. Leaves 

 often ending in a sharp point. Capsule furnished with four 

 horns or hornless. Flowers purple, or two petals white. Over 

 fifty species. 



The genus may be divided into two sub-genera : 



I. Eumuraltia. Flowers nearly sessile, leaves usually fas- 

 cicled ; capsules long horned. 



II. Psilocladus. Flowers on pedicels ; leaves solitary ; cap- 

 sules not horned. 



Order EUPHORBIACE^E. 



This large order is very prominent in South Africa. The 

 plants, found in dry, rocky places, frequently resemble Cactus, 

 which is represented in the flora of 

 this country only by one native 

 genus Rhipsalis, and Opuntia which 

 has become naturalized. Unless 

 the plants are in flower, it is often 

 difficult to distinguish the two 

 orders. The flowers of the Eu- 

 phorbia family are inconspicuous 

 and always imperfect. Both corolla 

 and calyx may be absent. The 

 fruit is a 3-celled capsule, which 

 often bursts with an explosion and 

 scatters the seed. 



Euphorbia is the most familiar genus of the order. Like 



FIG. 305. Diagram o a Cya- 

 thium of Euphorbia Pepliis, L. 

 (Eichler) containing one female 

 and five male inflorescences. 



