PLATE 563. 



FuGosiA Gereabdi, Harv. (Fl. Cap. Vol. 2, p. 587.) 

 Natural Order, MALVAORiE. 



A diffuse decumbent brancliing undershrub. Stems and branches terete, dark 

 coloured, minutely and densely stellate pubescent. Leaves simple, alternate, stipu- 

 late, petiolate, varying from broadly ovate to reniform, f to 1 ^ inch long and wide, 

 3-5 veined, more or less stellate pubescent on both surfaces, more densely so on the 

 veins beneath, bluntly or indistinctly 3-lobed, occasionally the lobes of the lowest 

 leaves 3-angled ; petioles |- to 1 inch long; stipules leafy, oblong, tapering at base, 

 with midrib and lateral veins ciliate with longish hairs, and stellate pubescent like 

 the leaves. Flowers axillary, solitary, on slender peduncles which reach to If inch 

 in length. Involucel of 3 lobes, which are deeply 3-cleft, the centre tooth usually 

 the longest. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, the lobes oblong-deltoid, the interspaces 

 rounded, the whole calyx ^ inch long. Corolla of 5 petals ]^ inch long, ]-l|- inch 

 broad, attached to base of the staminal column, twisted in aestivation, yellow, 

 finely pubescent on outer and exposed surface, minutely gland dotted. Stamens 

 "united in a column, which is 5-lobed at apex, antheriferous in upper portion; an- 

 thers 1-celled ; ovary 3-celled, many ovuled ; capsule coriaceous, dehiscing loculi- 

 cidally, 7-9 lines long ; ripe seeds not seen. 



Habitat .■ Natal. On dry plains near Ladysmith, 3,000-4,000 ft. alt., Oerrard 

 G32 ; Camperdown, 2,000 ft. alt. Haygarth in Colonial Herbarium 1469; Pieters, 

 3,000-1,000 ft. alt., November. Wood in Colonial Herbarium 8772 ; Camperdo-wn, 

 2,000 ft. alt. October, Miss Franks. 



The genus Fugosia contains about 20 species, of which 3 are in tropical and 

 south Africa, the remainder in central and south America and Australia ; all of 

 them are shrubs or undershrubs, with the aspect of Hibiscus, to which genus they 

 are nearly related. F. Gerrardi is not uncommon in Natal, F. triphylla has been found 

 in Damaraland, and F. digiiatx in tropical Africa. None of the species have any 

 "economic or medicinal value so far as known to us. 



' Fig. 1, oalyx; 2, staminal column, style, and base of petals; 3, a stamen; 4, 

 pistil ; 5, cross section of ovary ; 6, capsule ; fig. 6 natural size, remainder enlarged. 



