324 FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



spicuous flowers. The two families of plants are 

 widely separated from each other, almost as far as- 

 possible for plants to be, and yet the resemblance is 

 so great that in the absence of flowers it is difficult to 

 believe that they do not belong to one family. Not 

 only do they resemble each other, but they are also 

 " imitated " by plants of another family, the Asclepia- 

 daceae, of which the species of Stapelia might equally 

 be attributed to Cacti or Euphorbia. These plants 

 may be seen growing together in the " succulent 

 house" at Kew. 



Before leaving these succulent plants we may also 

 instance certain of the lily family, small aloes of the 

 genus Haworthia, 1 in which the fleshy leaves grow 

 close to the ground in the form of a rosette. In this- 

 instance the resemblance approaches to that of the 

 hoilse-leek family {Crassulacece), further removed than 

 even Euphorbia and Caches, for one belongs to Mono- 

 cotyledonous and the other to Dicotyledonous plants. 



If from these general features we turn to indi- 

 vidual plants, we shall find the number of examples- 

 greatly increased. Any one who has had an extended 

 experience will appreciate the difficulties which con- 

 stantly arise in determining even the " order " of an 



1 Two pairs of these plants may be compared— viz., Ha- 

 worthia planifolia with Echeveria aloides, and Haworthia- 

 atrovirens with Sempervivum armarium. 



