PLATE 334. 
Vernonia kraussii, Sch. Bip. (Fl. Cap. Vol. Ill, p. 51 .) 
Natural order, CoMPOSiTiE. 
Herbaceous with deep pink or purplish flowers. Stem simple, erect, striate, 
finely silky, pubescent with silvery hairs ; reaching to 3 feet in height. Leaves 
alternate, distant, shortly petiolate, ovate, entire, acute, shortly acuminate, or 
sometimes obtuse, densely silky silvery beneath, in age glabrous above, veins very 
prominent beneath, conspicuous above; f to ]^ inch long, i to 1 inch wide; petiole 
1 to 2 lines long Inflorescence corymbose, many headed, 2 to 4 inches across. 
Involucral scales about 1 2 to 1 5, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, acutely acuminate, 2 
to 3 lines long, canescent. Corolla tubular, deeply 5-lobed, lobes lanceolate 
acuminate from a broad base ; pilose, especially in upper portion. Pappus in two 
rows, inner of long bristles, outer of short scales. Stamens 5, filaments glabrous, 
anthers sagittate at base. Achenes silky, striate. 
Habitat: Natal: Common on hillsides coast to midlands. Inanda, 1800 feet 
alt, October, W-od, No. 1065: Zululand, 1 to 2000 feet alt, April, Wylie {Wood, 
No. 5755) ; Zululand, March, Wylie (T'tooc/, No. 8593). Also in Transvaal. 
This plant is not uncommon in open ground, and is often found in large 
patches, its silvery foliage and numerous purplish flowers making it very con- 
spicuous. 
The Flora Capensis states that the variety " oligocephala" {Webbia oligocephala 
D.C.) seems " to be a starved variety." This may be so, but it appears to be quite 
distinct, in addition to its being a more slender plant. The leaves are mostly 
orbicular, and distinctly mucronate. There are fewer heads in the corymb, and 
the heads themselves are larger. The plant has no known useful properties, and 
so tar as we can learn the natives do not use it for any purpose. 
Fig. 1, involucral scale ; 2, hair from same ; 3 floret ; 4, two stamens ; all 
enlarged. 
