PLATE 396. 
Gloeiosa viEESCENs, Ldl. (Fl. Cap. Vol. YI., p. 526). 
Natural Order, Liliace^. 
Rootstock tuberous, often branched, white. Stems slender, elongated, climb- 
ing, green, terete. Leaves sessile, lower crowded, and with the central ones 
opposite or ternate, upper ones scattered and smaller, all oblong to oblong-lanceo- 
hite and produced into a tendril at apex, margins quite entire, midfib very pro- 
minent beneath ; glabrous, dark green and shining on both surfaces ; 3 to 5 inches 
long mcluding the tendril, 1 to 1^ inch wide. Floweis axillary or terminal on 
stem and branches , peduncles terete, green, strongly recurved at apex. Perianth 
segments <5, persistent, very strongly reflexed and curved, clawed, the margins of 
the chiw incurved ; lamina lanceolate, acuminate, marguis more or less undulate, 
edge of claw and lower portion of segment sulphur yellow, upper portion bright 
red, becoming darker in a<j:e ; central nerve very prominent beneath, and thickened 
at the very base ; 2|- inches long, by f inch wide. Stamens 6, hypogynous, fila- 
ments half to two thirds as long as the perianth segments, horizontally spreading, 
filiform ; anthers dehiscing laterally, and extrorsely. Ovary sessile, oblong, 3- 
celled, very deeply o-lobed, many ovuled, ovules superposed; style filiform, 
equalling the stamens, horizontal, trifurcate, often unequally so, the branches 
truncate and stigmatose at apex internally. Capsule coriaceous, septicidally 3- 
valved ; seeds globose, dark red and shining. 
Habitat: Natal: Sea coast only. Wood, 1583; Plant, 19; Gerrard, 736. 
Drawn from plants in flower, Berea, January, 1906. 
A very handsome plant well known in cultivation in Europe where it is much 
admired, but the roots are said to be very poisonous. A peculiarity in this plant 
worth notice is the very abrupt bending of the style almost at right angles. Of 
this genus there are 5 known species, the above described one being the only one 
indigenous to Natal ; in Tropical Africa the whole of the 5 species are found, one 
of which is also found in Tropical Asia, and O. virescens is also found in Madagas- 
car. The genus was formerly known as Methouica, and our plant has been known 
as M. viresctii.s ; M. virescens var. Plantii ; M. Peter siana and M. platypliylla. 
Fig. 1, tuberous rootstock; 2, a stamen; 3, pistil; 4, cross section of ovary; 
5, capsule ; fig. 1 and 5 natural size, 2,3, and 4 enlarged. 
