APPENDIX 11. 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOUTH-AFRICAN 

 ECONOMIC FLORA. 



1. Aheriacaffra. Harv. 3Iss. (^Bixaceai) — Branches flexuose, 

 greyisli-white, spiny. Leaves exstipulate, short stalked, lo\ver- 

 ones fascicled, upper alternate, entire, ovate, blunt, veined, glossy, 

 perfectly smooth, reflexed. Flowers dioecious, axillary, small. 

 Fetals none. Male flowers cymose, female solitary. Calyx of 

 male flower 5 cleft; seipals oblong, fimbriato-ciliate. Stamens 

 12, erect, exserted. Calyx of female flower 7-8 partite, persistent; 

 styles 7, pilose. Fruit fleshy, 4 celled, 3-4 seeded, crowned with 

 the withered styles ; i^lacentoe 7, parietal ; seeds shaggy. 



A shrub or middling tree, and native of Caflfraria Proper. The fruit 

 (Kei-apple) having the size and appearance of a large plum or small 

 apricot, is of a sourish taste but edible, and makes good preserve. 



2. Adenogramma galioides. Fenzl. {Caryophylle^.^ Annual. 

 Stems herbaceous, procumbent, spreading, branched from above 

 the root. Branches slender, alternate. Leaves narrow-linear, 

 whorled, glaucous, acute, smooth. Flowers minute, crowded, 

 axillary, umbellate. C«/ya? 5 partite ; sepals oblong, blunt. Fetals 

 none; stamens 6', s^j/Ze simple; s^i/77?^a capitate; crt;^;^^/^ obliquely 

 acuminate, brown. 



This little herb, the Mugge-grass (Gnat-grass) of the colouists, 

 which during the wet season occurs abundantly, is regarded as superior 

 fodder for cattle, which fatten when feeding upon it. 



3. Asparagus laricinus. Burch. (Smilacece ) — Perennial. 

 Stem twining, smooth. Branches alternate, bent backward, 

 armed at base and at the axils of the leaves with solitary, short, 

 straight, reflexed prickles. Leaves subverticillate, clustered, 

 awl-shaped, sharp-pointed, stipulate, longer than the internodes. 

 Peduncles 2, very slender, one flowered, pendulous, nodulose 

 above the base. Flowers bell-shaped, patent, white, small. 



The young succulent shoots of this and several other wild species of 

 Asparagus furnish a most excellent dish ; they have an aromatic taste, 

 and are preferred by many to the European kind cultivated occasionally 

 in Cape gardens. The diuretic property of asparagus is well known. 



4. Aponogeton distachyon. Lin. {Saururece.) — JRoo^ tuberous, 

 fleshy, submerged. Leaves radical long stalked, oval or lanceolate, 



