Plate 44. 



CEKOPEG-IA teistis. 



Cape Province, Natal. 



Asclepiadaceae. Tribe Ceropegieae. 

 Ceropegia, Linn. ; Benth. et HooJc.f. Gen. Plant, vol. ii. p. 779. 



Ceropegia tristis, Hutchinson, sp. nov. ; affinis C. Haygarthii, Schleebter, 

 sed foliis sub antbesi bene evolutis, calyce majori, corollae lobis brevissime 

 stipitatis differt. 



Seandens • caulis carnosus, glaber. Folia breviter petiolata matura 3-5-6 cm. 

 longa, 1-5-3 -5 em. lata, late oblonga vel oblongo-ovata, apice breviter 

 apiculata, basi cordata, glabra; nervi laterales utrinsecus cireiter 4, 

 patuli ; petioli cireiter 1 cm. longi. Gymae axillares, triflorae ; pedicelli 

 usque ad 1-5 cm. longi, teretes, glabri. Sepala lineari-filiformia, 3-4 mm. 

 longa, glabra, marginibus leviter byalinis. Corolla basi subglobosa, supra 

 basin curvato-erecta, cireiter 6 cm. longa, superne turbinata, apice % cm. 

 diametro, extra glabra, maculata, intra leviter pilosa, lobis e basi lata 

 attenuatis in eolumnam brevem cohaerentibus, deinde apice corpusculam 

 globosam 5-fenestratum ciliatam formantibus. Corona exterior cupularis, 

 lobis 5 latis emarginatis columna staminalis aequilonga intra pilis longis 

 graeilibus ciliatis; corona interior erecta, lobis conniventibus apice 

 recurvatis. Follicula cireiter 14 cm. longa, falcato-recurvata, apice sub- 

 uncinata. — J. H. 



In our last number (Plate 39) we figured a species of 

 Ceropegia Rendallii, which belongs to a group of the genus 

 characterised by having the corolla-lobes united into an 

 umbrella-like canopy supported by five short stalks. The 

 present species has the corolla-lobes free at the base, then 

 connate into a slender column, again becoming free and 

 then connate at the tips, forming a small terminal cage- 

 like body. 



It shares this character with Ceropegia Haygarthii, 

 Sehlechter, and in this respect the two species are unique 

 amongst the South African species. In C. Haygarthii, however, 

 the corolla is very widely globose at the base, the calyx lobes 

 are longer, and the peculiar stalk to the corolla lobes is at 

 least three or four times as long. These differences seem to 

 warrant the description of a new species. The curiously 

 shaped flowers should make this species an object of interest 

 in the greenhouse. 



