168 
Annals of the Transvaal Museum, 
DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF STAPELIA. 
By N. E. Brown, A.L.S., Kew. 
Stapelia leendertziae N. E. Brown. Cciules erecti, 7*5 - 10 cm. 
longi , 1-1*3 cm. crassly 4 angular es , velutino-puberuli, prope medium 
fto rentes et ramosi. Flores bini vel soli tarii. Pedicelli 2-2*3 cm. longi, 
4-4*5 mm. crassi , velutini. Sepala 8-9 mm. long a, lanceolata vel 
ovata-lanceolata , acuta , velutina. Corolla magna , campanulata lobis 
patentibus extra puberula , intra. prof unde transversim rugosa et usque ad 
medium tubi pills longis purpureis conspersa , atropurpurea ; tubus 
7*5-8 cm. long us , 8-10 cm. diam. ; lobi 5*5 -6*4 cm. longi , 
3*8-4 cm. lati , elongcito-deltoidei , acuti. Coronae exterioris lobi 4 mm. 
longi , suberecti , prof unde bifid i , fusco-purpurei ; lobi interiores erecti, 
inaequaliter bipartiti, fusco-purpurei, segmentis exterioribus aliformibus 
oblongis 6 mm. longis, 4 mm. latis apice denticulatis, segmentis inter ioribus 
subulatis. 
Habit somewhat lax, with erect stems, decumbent at the base, 3-4 in. 
high, f - -g- in. square, with slightly concave sides, toothed at the angles, 
velvety-puberulous, flowering near the middle and usually branching 
near the place of flowering ; teeth not very prominent, tipped with a 
minute rudimentary leaf \ \ lin. long. Flowers usually two together, 
sometimes solitary. 
Pedicels J-l in. long, 2 - 24 lin. thick, velvety-puberulous. Sepals 
4 - 4| lin. long, 1| - 2 lin. broad, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, 
velvety-puberulous. Corolla with a large cup-shaped tube and spreading 
lobes, puberulous all over the outside, inner surface everywhere rugose 
with very prominent transverse ridges, thinly covered with long dark 
purple hairs on the lower half of the cup, glabrous on the upper half and 
lobes, dark brownish-purple or blackish-purple ; tube about 3 in. long, 
3 — 4 in. in diameter at the mouth ; lobes 2J - 2^ in. long, about 1^ in. 
broad at the base, whence they taper in a nearly straight line to the acute 
apex, not ciliate. Outer corona lobes about 2 lin. long, sub-erect, divided 
to below the middle into two subulate erectly-divergent acute segments, 
with or without a minute tooth in the notch between them, glabrous, 
purple-brown. Inner corona lobes erect, glabrous, blackish-purple, divided 
to the base into an outer oblong w 7 ing 3 lin. long and 2 lin. broad, 
irregularly toothed at the top, and an inner triquetrous-subulate horn 
slightly longer than the wing and slightly recurving over it. Follicles 
erect, parallel, 4|- 5^ in. long, about fin. thick, fusiform, softly puberulous, 
mottled with dark green or dull purple on a lighter ground. 
Transvaal : near Heidelberg, Miss B. Leeyidertz, 2464. 
Described from a living plant and a flower preserved in formalin, sent 
to Kew by Miss Leendertz, who discovered it in November of last year. 
The very long cup-shaped tube distinguishes this remarkable species from 
all the other known members of the genus, its nearest ally being A. nobilis 
N. E. Br., next to which it should be placed in accordance with the 
arrangement of the species in the Flora Capensis. 
