Refugium Botanicimi.] 
[Sejnemher, 1870. 
TAB. 217. 
Natural Order Sterculiace^. 
Tribe Hermannie^. 
Genus Hermannia, Linn. 
H. coNGLOMERATA {Eck. et Zeijli. No. 352). Fruticosa, ramis griseo- 
villosis, foliis distincte petiolatis rotundatis inciso-crenatis plicatis 
supra glabris infra griseo-villosis basi truncatis vel late cuneatis, 
stipulis foliaceis, racemis terminalibus multifloris congestis, pedi- 
cellis perbrevibus vel subnullis, bracteis subulatis, calj^ce villoso 
dentibus deltoideo-cuspidatis tubo campanulato sequantibus, petalis 
spathulatis flavis calyce sesqui-longioribus, filameutis ligulatis 
antheris paulo longioribus. — Harv. Fl. CajJ. i. p. 194. 
A native of Cape Colony. 
A low copiously-branched shrub, the old branches woody 
and glabrous, the young ones densely clothed with soft shining 
spreading gray hairs. Stipules foliaceous. Leaves shortly -stalked, 
remarkably plicate, roundish, thick in texture, but not at all 
coriaceous, six to fifteen lines across each way, blunt, irregularly 
inciso-crenate, the base subentire, truncate or broad-cuneate, the 
uj)per surface green and glabrous, the lower paler and densely 
clothed with soft shining gray hairs. Floioers in copious dense 
clusters at the end of the branches. Pedicels very short or 
scarcely any. Bracts subulate, shorter than the calyx. Calyx 
two to two and a half lines deep, densely villose ; the deltoid- 
cuspidate teeth equalling the campanulate tube. Petals pale 
yellow, spathulate, half as long again as the calyx. Filaments 
ligulate, rather longer than the linear- oblong anthers. Ovary 
pubescent, globose, deeply 5-sulcate. 
Tab. 217. — 1, flower complete; 2, single petal; 3, entire flower, with 
calyx and corolla stripped away ; 4, a single stamen ; 5, pistil ; 6, hori- 
zontal section of fruit : aU magnified. — J. G. B. 
I received the seeds of this species of Hermannia, which is 
only of botanical interest, from my friend Mr. H. S. Poole. It 
is easy of cultivation, grown in a mixture of sandy loam and 
decayed leaf-soil, using small pots, and letting the plant have 
a cool airy greenhouse treatment. It is easily increased by seeds 
or cuttings placed in sand in a close frame. — W. W. S. 
