pink Cephalophyllum ammoniflorum and its gleaming white 

 variety, both lovely things ; C. Pillamii, which has soft yellow 

 flowers with strawberry-coloured centres, and C, procumbent, 

 whose flowers are all yellow. These last two are always in 

 bloom very early on the edge of my terraces. There are many 

 other very beautiful species found in Namaqualand and up the 

 west coast which will not thrive here on account of our very 

 wet winters. I saw Cephalophyllum Alstonii making a grand 

 show in California, but it is not happy here. 



When I was collecting in Namaqualand and came on Car- 

 probrotus quadrifidus, I could hardly believe what I saw. The 

 plants had a way of flinging themselves over scrubby bushes 

 and then clothing them with the most brilliant pink flowers 

 as big as the top of a tea-cup. There is a form with glistening 

 white flowers which is even more lovely. They have done quite 

 well here in a very dry spot. 



The Mesembrianthemum is easily propagated by cuttings, 

 except the beautiful Drosanthemum speciosum, whose stems are 

 thin and wiry, but which comes easily from seed. I raise it 

 in tins in the shade in summer or in cement pots standing in 

 two inches of water in the full sun. Then the plants are ready 

 for putting out in April when the rains begin. It makes a grand 

 plant with its flowers of the loveliest flame-red for bedding 

 out or for a roadside display or for a splash of colour on a 

 slope, and it blooms a little later than the others. Most Mesem- 

 brianthemum can stand a little frost if the weather is dry, but 

 cold and wet together turn them into a soggy black mass. 



The little annual Dorotheanus bellidiformis or Bokbaai vygie 

 is one of the loveliest treasures of the garden. The nearest 

 thing to it is Portulaca, but the former has a range of much 

 softer colours. Here we sow in April, and it blooms in early 

 spring. It likes a sandy soil in full sun, and if left alone will 

 sow itself year after year. It is at its best on the sand-dunes 

 of the west coast where, on a sunny day, the sand appears to 

 be sparkling with jewels of every colour with the sea as a 

 background completing the beauty of the scene. The seed is 

 so fine that it is best when sowing to mix it with mealie meal 

 (sand is too coarse). It may be sown where it is to flower or 



