143 
The stamens are exserted 3-4 lines beyond the tips of the perianth-segments, with stout, 
purple filaments half a line broad, but, according to Thunberg, the filaments are yellowish 
at the upper part and white at the base. He states that the flower is filled with a purple 
fluid, which, in the process of drying the specimen, may have stained the filaments, 
especially as I note that some of the perianth-segments are also tinted with purple. The 
style protrudes 3-4 lines beyond the stamens. 
Thunberg states that this very distinct and hitherto unknown plant grows “in the 
interior regions, flowering in August’; and that it has a thick stem 3-4 feet high, bearing 
a crown of spreading leaves 2 feet long, and a very dense Ng a foot long, of crowded 
horizontally spreading flowers. 
In the “ Gardeners’ Chronicle ” (1921), Vol. LXX, p. 6, I gave an account of the history 
of Aloe spicata so far as known to me at the time, in which I detailed how I had vainly 
tried to get a clue from his travels to the locality where Thunberg found this plant, which 
still awaits rediscovery. There is nothing at all like it in the Kew Herbarium. I am 
now inclined to think that Thunberg may have seen the plant in cultivation in some garden 
at or near Capetown. 
A. spiralis, Thunb., “Diss. Aloe,” p. 9 (1785). | 
The sheet of this species in Thunberg’s Herbarium contains a tuft of leaves of what 
I believe to be Apiera spiralis, Baker in “ Jour. Linn. Soc.,” Vol. XVIII, p. 217 (1880), 
and a detached inflorescence of some species of Gasteria, which is quite indeterminable. 
No locality is mentioned by Thunberg for this species, and the specimen is from a 
plant cultivated in the Botanic Garden at Upsala. 
1 do not know if Apiera spiralis, Baker, is identical with Apicra spiralis, Willd., in 
* Ges. Naturf. Fr. Berl. Mag.,” Vol. V, p. 273 (1811) ; itis a point that requires investigating. 
A. variegata, Thunb., `` Diss. Aloe,” p. 9 (1785), and DIE dap. p. s12. 
This is A. variegata, Linn., “ Sp. Pl,” ed. 1, p. 327. 
Thunberg’s specimen eonsists of two leaves, with the variegation upon them well 
preserved, and a single flower. 'Thunberg does not mention a locality for it, and no 
information is given on the back of the sheet. 
A. viscosa, Thunb., “ Diss. Aloe,” p. 9 (1785), and “Fl. Cap.,” p. 312. 
` Thunberg’s sheet of this species contains three flowering specimens. The central 
specimen, which I have marked (A) on the sheet, is larger than the others, and is Haworthia 
viscosa, Haw., ` Synop.,” p. 90 (1812). The lateral specimens, marked (B), may belong 
to a variety of Haworthia viscosa, Haw., or are possibly a distinct species allied to it. 
I have not seen any plant alive that is quite like them, so that living plants are required 
for their proper identification. 
From the above account it will be seen that Thunberg’s collection of the genus Aloe 
is rather a poor one in comparison with other genera in his Herbarium, as it contains little 
of interest except the type specimens of Aloe spicata, A. dichotoma, and the new species 
of Gasteria described above. 
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. 
Thunberg's collection of this genus is a very interesting one and consists of 109 sheets 
of specimens, many of which are excellent,although often small, some, are scrappy, and, 
as in the genus Aloe, in some instances there is a mixture of species either upon the same 
sheet or upon different sheets bearing the same name. 
When Sonder was preparing his monograph of this genus for the ` Flora Capensis,” 
he had Thunberg’s specimens to work with, but, upon examining them, I find that he has 
dealt with them in a most imperfect and ‘insatisfactory manner. In some cases he has 
wrongly identified Thunberg’s plant with specimens collected by Zeyher in a totally 
