10 



PLATE 208. 



Anthbbioum elongatum, Willd (Sp. Plant, ii, 136) var. holostachyum (Baker, 



Fl. Cap. vi. 389.) 



Natural Order, Liliaoej;. 



An erect herbaceous plant. Rootstock vertical, cylindrical, ^ to 1^ inch 

 long, crown not bristly, root fibres many, spreading. Leaves linear, erect, con- 

 cave half to two-thirds upward from base, convex below, upper portion terete or 

 subterete, surfaces glabrous, ciliate with minute bristles in the channelled portion, 

 which become much smaller and more distant upwards; dark green, veins about 

 8, obscure except at very base, where the margins are hyaline; 1 to 1^ foot long, 

 2 to 4 lines wide at base, tapering very gradually to a fine point. Peduncles 

 equalling or longer than the leaves, subterete, glabrous. Racemes 6 to 9 inches 

 long, laxly many flowered. Bracts subulate from a broad base, 1-|^ to 3 lines long, 

 white with dark central band. Pedicels solitary, strongly curved, lower ones 

 4 to 6 lines long, articulated at apex. Perianth 6, parted 4 to 5 lines long, 

 segments oblanceolate, recurved, alternate ones narrower ; with a conspicuous 

 brown band, which covers and conceals the 3 central nerves ; cucuUate at apex. 

 Stamens 6, hypogynous, filaments white, minutely muricate. Anthers oblong, 

 dorsifixed, versatile, dehiscing introrsely. Style equalling stamens, stigma minute. 

 Capsule turbinate, 2 to 2J lines long and wide, 3-celled, 3-valved. Seeds triquet- 

 rous, black at maturity. 



Habitat : Natal : Qerrard 662 ; Berea, Wood (Durban Botanic Garden distri- 

 bution) 72 ; Durban Flat, October, Wood 7659. 



Drawn and described from Wood's 7659. 



_ A rather pretty plant when in flower, and the only difference lietween the 

 variety and the type appears to be that in the type the I'acenie is branched, in our 

 variety it is simple ; we have not met with the type in Natal. The natives do not 

 seem to have any distinctive name for it. 



Fig. 1, corolla opened; 2, ovary and style; 3, stamen, front and side view; 

 4j section through ovary ; all enlarged. 



