M E S 



M E S 



the edges, with a wliite midrib : the membrane 

 at the base is cihate j the rest of the leaf nearly 

 smooth, or having distant small white hairs 

 scattered over both sides : the flowers are soli- 

 tary, terminating, rarely seen, openmg to a very 

 warm sun only in the forenoon. It is a native 

 of the Cape. 



The seventeenth species has ■'.voody stems, at 

 bottom bay : the branches yellow ish-brown, 

 procumbent, round at bottom, but somewhat 

 angular above : the peduncles, however, are 

 round: the leaves are acutely triquetrous, glau- 

 cous, somewhat shorter and thicker, rougher 

 and more rigid, with frequent tubercles larger 

 and whiter, especially on the back, than in the 

 fortieth sort : the flowers are solitary, few 

 (two or three), violet purple and shining, but 

 becoming paler, opening two or three times, 

 before and after noon : the petals mostly of the 

 same size, entire or slightly cloven at the end, 

 lirmly connected at the base; they end suddenly 

 in fdaments, which are not scattered, but col- 

 lected into a head about the stamens, like a 

 crown. It is a native of the Cape. 



The eighteenth has the leaves between papu- 

 lose and tubercled ; much rougher, more glau- 

 cous, and more acutely pointed, than in any 

 other reptant species : the branches arc angular, 

 and finally somewhat woody : in its triquetrous 

 leaves and reptant stems it is allied to the twenty- 

 fourth sort. In the open air it will extend the 

 branches above a foot and a half every way, and 

 ihey are fixed firmly to tlie ground at every joint 

 by strong fibres. It is a native of the Cape, 

 flowering in July and August. 



The nineteenth species has the stems slender 

 and round: the branches rather frequent, reclin, 

 jng, with much smaller and more recurved leaves- 

 having only one short spinule at the back : they 

 end in a spinule short and whitish : the stems 

 and branches, though rigid, are procumbent : 

 the leaves, and internodes, which are elonga- 

 tions of the leaves, investing the stems, are 

 dotted with small dots of a fuller glaucous 

 green colour, and not so white : the bark of the 

 stem rather of a yellow and brown dusky 

 whitish colour : the internodes are thickened 

 above, and narrower beneath : the flowers are 

 axillary, on leafy peduncles. It is a native of 

 the Cape, flowering from June to August. 

 There are diflercnt varieties. 

 The twentieth is an upright thorny shrub, 

 from two to three feet high, much branched : 

 the branches opposite, axillary, ascending, 

 loundish-compressed, with a smooth cinereous 

 bark, throwing out in various places branching 

 spines : the leaves aic in pairs, at an interval of 

 an inch or an inch and lialf, glaucous, with fre- 



2 



qucnt green dots, pellucid when held up to the 

 light ; all the angles blunt, slightly swelled at 

 the inner bases, vcrv firm to the touch, termi- 

 nating in a very small white cartilaginous point, 

 or harmless bristle : the upper leaves are much 

 shorter : the spines appear as if terminatin"-, 

 but soon cease to be so, from the protrusion of 

 young shoots ; they are branched, nearly hori- 

 zontal, divaricating and trichotomous, each 

 from half an inch to an inch in length, awl- 

 shaped, vcrv sharp, resembling those of the 

 common Hawthorn, but not so strong or 

 pungent, covered with a grayish bark, and be- 

 set with a pair of distinct, opposite, chiefly 

 barren leaves, like those of the branches, but 

 only a-third of the size : the flowers small, 

 pale violet purple, on slender, leafless, green 

 peduncles. It is a native of the Cape. 



The twenty-first species forms a low, much 

 branched, spreading shrub ; and, when old, has 

 a very large tuberous root, sometimes as big as a 

 man's head, partly protruded above the surface : 

 the stem woody, very thick at bottom, covered 

 with a bay-coloured bark : the branches bend- 

 ing, entwined: the leaves short, bluntly trique- 

 trous, with the back convex, the iimer or upjjcr 

 surface somewhat swelling, subglaucous, with 

 silver dots, so small as not to be visible except 

 when the sun shines : the flowers are at the ends 

 of the branches, on slender cinereous, or reddish 

 peduncles ; are small, of a pale red or vinous co- 

 lour: petals not numerous, broadish, blunt, equal 

 in size: the starnens collected into a bottle in the 

 middle. It flowers about noon, and is a native 

 of the Cape, flowering from June to September. 



It is observed, that in old plants the extren>e 

 branches sometimes become thorny ; whicli 

 thorns are the peduncles of the preceding year; 

 thorns also sometimes come out from the fork- 

 ings of the branches, instead of flowers. 



The twenty-second has the stems woodv^ 

 procumbent, slender, round, with a yellowish 

 bark : the branches from each of the upper 

 axils : the leaves on the iiiner surface flat, on 

 the outer convex, bright green, inclining ta 

 gray, from their slenderness often hanging 

 down, appearing dotted when held up to the 

 light : the flowers at the ends of the branches 

 solitary, on long slender peduncles ; they are 

 large, especially on young plants, pale scarlet^ 

 shining, and appearing powdered with sold dust 

 in full sunshine : the petals very numerous ; the 

 inner ones gradually smaller, entire or cuspidate 

 at the end, sometimes slightly bifid, cohering 

 at bottom : the flowers abundant, and opening; 

 several days successively about noon, especially 

 in June. 



According to Mr. Haworth, in many stages of 



