290 ON AN UNDESCRIBED SPECIES OF MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. 
collections, under the name of Mesembryanthemum brachyphyllum - 
(Plante peer exsicc., n. 307). 
e from Po eal soon afterwards, and a residence of 
several years in 1 West Tropical Africa, long prevented me from giving 
any attention to the Portuguese e flora, and it was not till recently, 
_ I was carefully examining and describing the species found by 
in Angola,* that my attention was directed anew to the plant 
cllcte in Algarvia, which I had considered to be new, and which 
w endeavoured to identify by means of the most recent revision 
of " Mesembryanthem um—in Harvey and Sonder’s ‘Flora Capensis,” 
vol. ii, p. 8386—460, where 295 onic of this elegant gene are 
bed. 
The difficulty of determining isolated species, especi ially w 
dried, is however very great, though much assisted by the mel 
tableof species, oe under two main groups — sixty-five sections, 
Iti 
is to 
referred, and it is always necessary to Satine the orm of the leaves 
and colour of the flowers, as well as the presence or absence of 
the mie under examination. 
The Portuguese plant comes under the Epapulosa, and falls under 
§ 25 aurea, Haw. There are neg two say with we it is re 
closely connected, If glaue ES ae aurantiacu 
pana which it is ‘deciaratete The ‘illowing is a eee rot 
Peta ESE BRACHYPHYLLUM n.sp.— Caulis 
erectus 3—1 ped. altus (vel basi oe patie aites cylin- 
dricus, lnevigato-nitens, rubens vel glau auco-roseus, parce medio 
glauca vel glauco-pruinosa, alia minora aeata in axillis foventia. 
Flores solitarii, e majoribus, flavi, circiter 1} poll. diametri, peduneulo 
ebracteato 1—1} poll. long um incrassato recto suffulti. Calycis 
turbinati (v. hemispherico-turbinati) 5 lobi levigata, lobis e lata -basi 
ovatis interioribus oblique ovatis latioribus margineque ate scarioso- 
membranaceis. Petala plana, basi beige n 2- (vel etiam 3- aut 4-) 
seriata, horizontaliter atentia inea lata, 8 lin. longa. 
Ovarium 5-loculare; styli 5 (vel 4, apes nempe connatis) crassius- 
culi e lata basi acuminati apice recurvi. 
Description or Tan, 136, 
Mesembryanthemum brachyphyllum, Welw. From a specimen collected in 
Algarvia in 1848 by the late Dr. Welwitsch, 
* See “ Flora of Siok Afrios, ? vol. ii., pp. 582-3—[ Ed, Journ. Bot. ] 
laucum, E. & Z., is altogether different from the species of Linneus, 
and is a member of a different section (crocea, Haw.). It is distinguished at 
onee by its 4-fid calyx, and is also separated by its 8—9 (not 5) stigmas. 
