172 MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. 
fig-marigold : ftemlefs ; leaves roundifli, afcending, un¬ 
dotted, connate ; flowers eight-ftyled. Leaves numerous, 
either upright or bending upwards, rigid, thickand flefhy, 
about a finger’s length, appearing to be round, but flight¬ 
ly flatted on the infide, efpecially near the bafe they are 
deep green and glaucous, thickly fet with fmall green dots 
and fome tranfverfe lines, pointed at the end, the point 
purple or green. See Botany Plate VII. fig. 19. Flow¬ 
ers folitary, on a lhort Icape from the centre of the plant, 
large. Native of the Cape. Cultivated in 1717, 'as ap¬ 
pears from Bradley. 
17. Mefembryanthemum digitatum, or blunt-leaved 
fig-marigold : almoft ftemlefs ; leaves alternate, rotind, 
bluntflowers axillary, fefiile. 18. Mefembryanthemum 
pallens, pale or channeiled-leaved fig-marigold: leaves 
oppofite, embracing, diftinft, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 
bluntly keeled; teats minute. Found at the Cape by 
Mafl'on. 
II. With red corollas. 
19. Mefembryanthemum papulofum, or angular-ftalked 
fig-marigold : leaves oppofite, diftinft, ovate-fpatulate; 
•teats fubglobular ; calyxes angular, five-cleft; branches 
angular. Root biennial. Stem fliort, nearly the thick- 
nefs of the little finger. Branches oppofite, fpreading 
very much, obfcurely angular or round, herbaceous,green ; 
the lower ones procumbent, and a foot and a half long. 
Leaves thick, narrowing into a fliort petiole or fubfeflile, 
entire, flat, l'omewhat waved, oppofite on the branches, at 
the flowers Angle ; that is, the flowers come out fingly on 
a peduncle oppofite to a leaf. Thefe, the Items, pedun¬ 
cles, calyxes, and germs, are covered with minute Alining 
dots, which, when examined with a magnifier, appear to be 
clear drops like ice; calyx green, and deeply five-cornered; 
petals numerous, linear, Iharp, pale beneath, within flefli- 
coloured, on the outfide red. The flowers have no fcent, 
and are open from three to fix in the afternoon. Native 
of the Cape ; flowers from April to October. 
20. Mefembryanthemum cordifolium, or heart-leaved 
fig-marigold : leaves oppofite, petioled, cordate ; calyxes 
four-cleft; Item round. Root perennial. Stem rather 
Ihrubby, flefliy, upright, much branched, roundifli, fmootli, 
covered, as well as the leaves and calyx, with deprefl'ed 
dots. Leaves bright green on both fides, and marked 
with a central nerve. Flowers folitary, peduncled, erect; 
petals fcarcely fo long as the calyx, very numerous, red- 
difli purple, white at the bafe. Native of the Cape, where 
it was found by Mafion and others. It flowers from May 
to September. 
21. Mefembryanthemum limpidum, or tranfparent fig- 
marigold : leaves oppofite, fpatulate, blunt, rugged ; teats 
■oblong; calycine leaflets oblong, blunt, contrafted in 
the middle. Root annual. Stems round, branching, pur¬ 
ple, half a foot long or more, procumbent, the whole co¬ 
vered with icy blebs like M. cryftallinum. Leaves lanceo- 
late-wedge-form, bluntilh, quite entire, flat, fefiiie, but 
drawn out into a long narrow tail at the bafe; the longeft 
four inches in length. Flowers elegant, an inch and a 
half in diameter, void of lcent; petals about forty, linear, 
Iharpilh, flat, pale purple on both fides, with a deep red 
line along the middle ; filaments very deep red, fliort, 
converging into a cone. Native of the Cape. It flowers 
In July ; Jacquin fays in May. 
22. Mefembryanthemum bellidiflorum, or daify-flow- 
«red fig-marigold ftemlefs; leaves three-fided, linear, 
undotted, toothed in three rows at the tip. Leaves cluf- 
tered, decuflated, from an inch to two inches in length, 
deeply glaucous, flat above, but below produced into a 
ftiarpifh back ; towards the end, both above and below, or 
on all the fides, armed with ftiffifli fharp toothlets; they 
are fmooth, and do not appear to be dottecj unlefs they 
are held up to the light, but they have a few tranfverfe 
wrinkles. Flowers folitary, terminating, the form and 
/ize of a daify, whitifli with a tinge of purple, and ftreaked 
with-a purple line along the middle of each petal both 
within and without; they fpread ojit regularly In two op- 
three rows, and are fometimes entire, fometimes cut a lit* 
tie at the end. They open about noon. Native of the- 
Cape. Cultivated in 1717, as appears from Bradley. It 
flowers from June to Auguft. 
23. Mefembryanthemum deltoides, or delta-leaved fig- 
marigold : leaves deltoid, three-fided, toothed, undotted, 
diftindt. Peduncles one-flowered, two leaved ; corollas 
pale purple, fweet-fmelling, not longer than the calyx ; 
ftamens white, upright, and forming a cone ; antheras 
yellow. This grows to two feet and more in length, with 
a round ftem, the thicknefs of a finger, twifted at bottom ; 
from this at about two inches diftance arife oppofite 
branches, the bark of which on the lower part is brown- 
ifh, on the upper yellowilh, on younger plants and 
branchlets purple. They are almoft covered with fliort 
thick leaves, the angles of which are almoft equal; they 
have ufually three, but fometimes only two, tubercled 
teeth at the edge, ending in a purplifh lpinule ; they are 
green with a glaucous bloom on them. From each pair 
of leaves bundles of three or four pairs fpring out, which 
gradually become new branches. Flowers in a fort of 
umbel at the ends of the branches, fmelling like may or 
white-thorn, pale purple, with only one row of petals, 
which are commonly entire and blunt, but fometimes 
flightly cut at the end. In warm weather the flowers 
continue open day and night. 
( 3 . M. delt. majus, great delta-leaved. This has larger 
and paler leaves, with toothlets of the fame colour with 
the leaves themfelves. Flowers fomewhat larger and 
paler, rather more inclining to violet, and appearing three 
or four weeks later. 
y. M. caulefcens, fmall delta-leaved. Leaves fomewhat 
longer, with an even or untoothed back, and the fides not 
lo flat, but the inner part more bent in, and fomewhat 
more hollowed. Flowers of a pale roly-purple colour, 
numerous, opening in a morning as foon as the fun Ihines 
ftrongly upon them. 
Thele varieties all agree in having triquetrous leaves, 
Ihaped like the Greek A, of a fmooth and even furface, 
appearing porous when held up to the light. See Botany 
Plate IV. fig. 27. Natives of the Cape ; flower in May 
and June. 
24. Mefembryanthemum barbatum, or bearded fig-ma¬ 
rigold : leaves fubovate, papulofe, diftindf, bearded at the; 
tip. The leaflets of the calyx being bearded at the tip, as 
well as the leaves of the plant, Ihows the origin of the pe^ 
rianth. See the fame Plate, fig. 6. The leaft interior pe¬ 
tals, which furround the ftamens, are white. There are 
three varieties. 
a. M. ftellatum, fhrubby. Stems fomewhat woody, 
flender. Branches procumbent, frequent, loft and brittle 
when green, but becoming tough and flexible when dry; 
round, fomewhat cinereous, having a pair of leaves at lhort 
intervals at each joint, ending bluntly, tubercled, netted 
like a ferpent’s lkin, appearing dotted when held to th& 
light; having five, fix, or feven, radiating Ipinules at the 
end, at firft greenilh, then brownilh, and at length black, 
with a black dot in the middle of them : the leaves are 
not properly round or cylindric, but have the upper part 
fomewhat flat, and the lower convex ; their colour is deep 
green and glaucous. Flowers few, commonly folitary, 
middle-fized; petals in a Angle row, commonly entire, 
but fometimes flightly cut at the end, of a fine purple in¬ 
clining to a vivid violet, and Alining. The flowers open, 
when the fun Ihines, from feven or eight in the morning 
till noon, but flrat loon after noon, although the fun con¬ 
tinue to Ihine. 
/ 3 . M. hirfutum, fmall dwarf. This plant is feffile or 
-ftemlefs the firft and fecond year, but afterwards acquires 
a low ftem and ikfupine branches, dividing into many 
fliort branchlets,on which the leaves grow’ very clofe; they 
are fubhirl'ute, being very clofely fet with lhort hairs, dil- 
pofed in form of a lengthened net, and have whitifli fpi- 
jaules at the top radiating from a yellowilh centre ; their* 
3 . colour 
