*5 



broad base, lower ones two lines long. Perianth white, H-2 

 lines long, segments oblong, \ line wide, many veined, not 

 carinate, stamens a little shorter than the perianth, filaments 

 linear, Style slender, not longer than the ovary. 



Habitat. Natal. Newcastle, 3,900 feet altitude. January. 

 J. Medley Wood, No. 6,511. 



Differs from 0. pilosum by size of bulb, colour of tunics 

 number of leaves, which are not ciliated; and from inandense 

 by indument of leaves, length of peduncle, pedicels and bracts, 

 and colour of flowers. 



The third decade is now more than half completed, and will be 

 sent Home for publication when ready, and others will I hope 

 follow from time to time, as material is obtained. 



A few more plants were received for identification through 

 His Excellency the Governor, from Zululand, consisting of 

 species which have been used by the natives as food, and 

 amongst those received near the close of the year 1896 was one 

 that should have been noted in my report for that year but was 

 accidentally omitted. It is a singular aquatic plant known as 

 Trapa bispinosa, which bears very remarkable looking seeds. 

 These seeds are triangular in outline and are armed at the two 

 upper angles with two long spines, which are as long as the 

 body of the seed, and are furnished at the outer extremity with 

 opposite rows of retrorse spines, presumably for the purpose of 

 taking hold of any water weeds which they may meet with as 

 they float on the surface of the pond or river ; on each face of 

 the seed are three shorter spines, which are sometimes curved, 

 and which no doubt assist in securing the seed to whatever it 

 may have affixed itself. The body of the seed is very hard, and 

 contains a large quantity of farinaceous matter, and the late 

 Baron F. v. Mueller says of this species : — 



"Found also in Africa as far south as the Zambesi. The nuts 

 " are often worked for starch. They can be converted into 

 " most palatable cakes or porridge, and may be stored for food, 

 " even for several years ; their taste is pleasant. The produce 

 " is copious and quite maintained by spontaneous dissemination. 

 " In some countries, for instance in Cashmere, the nuts in a raw 

 " or cooked state form an important staple of food to the 

 " population. 



Another writer says that in Cashmere these seeds "feed 

 30,000 persons for 5 months of the year, and are so extensively 

 collected that the late Eunjeet Singh derived an income of 

 £12,000 per annum from them." Some of these seeds were sent 



