Plate 113.—Fig. 1, tuberous root × ½; 2, portion of petiole and bases of leaf-lobes showing glands; 3, flower laid open showing entire and fimbriated sepals; 4, petal; 5, stamens side view; 6, stamen front view; 7, fruit; 8, longitudinal section of fruit showing seeds.
F.P.S.A., 1923.
Cape Province.
Haemodoraceae. Tribe Euhaemodoreae.
Wachendorfia, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 673.
Wachendorfia paniculata, Linn. Sp. Plant. 59; Fl. Cap. vol. vi. p. 2.
This plant is popularly known as “rooi knol,” because of the deep red colour of the tubers when cut, and it is also known as “Spinnekop blom,” as the colour and marking of the perianth resemble that of some spiders. The latter name is also applied to Ferraria undulata (see Plate 66 for an illustration of a species of the genus).
The species was known in England at least as early as 1767, as there is a record of its introduction into Kew Gardens in that year. The dull brown colour of the flowers, which is rare among South African plants, does not make the plant a very ornamental object in gardens, but as the plant is interesting botanically it should have a place in any collection of the native flora.
The family Haemodoraceae contains about 120 species, found principally in Australia, but species are also known in North and South America and in Asia. In South Africa the family is represented by less than 50 species, the largest genus being Sansevieria. The genus Wachendorfia is known by only two species.
Our plate was prepared from plants sent by Mrs. E. Rood, Van Rhynsdorp; they flowered at the Division of Botany in 1922.
Description:—Rhizomes a deep red colour when freshly cut. Leaves 5 to 6 to a plant, 16 to 23 cm. long, 1·2 to 1·8 cm. broad, long-lanceolate, acuminate, acute, narrowed below, sheathing at the base with 3 main nerves, glabrous and with ciliated margins. Peduncle, including the inflorescence, up to 60 cm. long, glandular-pubescent, with about 3 reduced leaves 5 cm. long, and long-acuminate from a broad base. Inflorescence a lax panicle. Bracts 1 to 3 cm. long, long acuminate, membranous, distinctly veined, pilose. Pedicels ·6 to 1 cm. long, pilose with glandular hairs. Outer perianth-lobes 1·7 cm. long, 4·5 mm. broad, oblanceolate, obtuse, many-nerved, pilose outside with glandular hairs; inner lobes 1·7 cm. long, 3·5 mm. broad, oblanceolate, obtuse, membranous, nerved, glabrous. Filaments 1·2 cm. long, linear, narrowing above, membranous, with a single vein, glabrous; anthers 2·5 mm. long, oblong. Ovary 2 mm. in diameter, bluntly 3-angled, very densely pilose with glandular hairs; style 1·95 cm. long, linear, glabrous; stigma simple. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2605.)
Plate 114.—Fig. 1, perianth segment; 2, stamen and single anther; 3, pistil showing side and top view of ovary.
F.P.S.A., 1923.
Cape Province.
Crassulaceae.
Crassula, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. i. p. 657.
Crassula congesta, N. E. Br. in Gard. Chron. 11 (1902), p. 171; C. pachyphylla,
Schonl. in Record. Albany Museum, vol. i. (1903), pp. 59, 67.
This little Crassula, which belongs to the section Pryamidella, is, as pointed out by Dr. Schonland, closely allied to C. columnaris, Thunb., but the shape of the leaves is sufficient to distinguish it from the latter species. It was described almost simultaneously by Mr. N. E. Brown and Dr. Schonland, but as Brown’s description was the first to be published we retain his name for the species.
Crassula congesta appears to be confined to the Matjesfontein and Laingsburg Divisions in the Karroo, and at present we have no records of the species outside these two Divisions.
We are indebted to Mr. A. J. Austin of Matjesfontein for living specimens which flowered at the Division of Botany in July 1922.
Description:—Plant succulent, about 9 cm. high. Stem glabrous. Leaves 1·7 cm. long, up to 2·7 cm. broad, decussate, connate, transversely oblong, convex without, concave within, glabrous. Heads many flowered, 2·5 cm. in diameter. Receptacle convex. Floral-bracts ·5 mm. long, ·75 mm. broad, linear, obtuse; ciliated, membranous. Calyx-tube 1 mm. long, glabrous, membranous; lobes 2·5 mm. long, ·5 mm. broad, linear, obtuse, ciliate. Corolla-tube 3·5 mm. long, membranous; lobes 5 mm. long, ·75 mm. broad, linear, obtuse. Filaments 2 mm. long, filiform; anthers 1·25 mm. long, oblong. Squamae 1 mm. long, spatulate and produced into a long claw. Carpels 2·5 mm. long, tapering from the base upwards; stigma simple. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2602.)
Plate 115.—Figs. 1, 2, leaf and section of leaf; 3, single flower; 4, corolla opened; 5, sepal; 6, bract; 7, scale; 8, carpels showing scales.
F.P.S.A., 1923.
Iridaceae. Tribe Ixieae.
Gladiolus, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 709.
Gladiolus psittacinus, Hook. in Bot. Mag. 3032; Fl. Cap. vol. vi. p. 158.
On Plate 6 we figured a variety of this magnificent species of Gladiolus, which differs from our present plant not only in the colouring of the flower, but also in the size of the perianth-segments.
It was figured in the Botanical Magazine (t. 3032) from specimens which flowered at Kew, and was known in cultivation in England at least as early as 1830, and in Holland before that date.
A bed of plants growing at the Division of Botany, Pretoria, made an exceptionally fine display this season (1923), and there can be little doubt that it is the finest native Gladiolus to be found in South Africa.
The plant is quite easily propagated, and forms new corms very readily. It is commonly known as the “Natal Lily.” Our plate was prepared from specimens forwarded by Mr. H. E. Forsyth, the Curator, Municipal Park, Benoni, and were stated to have been collected in Portuguese East Africa.
Description:—Corm 3 cm. in diameter, globose, covered with fibrous tunics. Plant 1 to 1·5 m. high. Leaves 10 to 12 to a plant, equitant, up to 70 cm. long, 2·5 to 3 cm. broad, ensiform, acuminate, acute, with a prominent midrib above and beneath, and with the lateral veins distinct, with a cartilaginous margin which is sometimes very minutely denticulate, glabrous. Spike ·3 to almost 1 m. long, up to 15-flowered. Outer spathe 8 cm. long, 2·1 cm. broad, ovate, acuminate, acute, closely nerved, glabrous; inner spathe 6 cm. long, 1·8 cm. broad, ovate, acute, 2-keeled, glabrous (in the flowering stage spathes are smaller). Perianth-tube 4 cm. long, 1 cm. in diameter above, yellow on the posterior side, red on anterior side. Upper lobe 5·5 cm. long, 3·2 cm. broad, obovate, narrowed to the base, shortly cuspidate; side lobes 4·5 cm. long, 3·5 cm. broad, ovate, obtuse; lower lateral lobes 3 cm. long, 1·5 cm. broad, elliptic, narrowed to the base, acuminate, acute; lowest petal 3·5 cm. long, 1·8 cm. broad, elliptic narrowed to the base, cuspidate at the apex. Anthers 1·6 cm. long, linear, sagittate at the base. Style 7 cm. long, terete, glabrous; lobes 6 cm. long, spatulate, papillose on the margins. Young fruit 4·5 cm. long, 3-angled. Seeds winged. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2711.)
Plate 116.—Fig. 1, plant much reduced; 2, longitudinal section of flower; 3, outer bract; 4, inner bract; 5, anther with part of filament; 6, stigmas with part of style; 7, young fruit; 8, seed.
F.P.S.A., 1923.
S.W. Africa.
Compositae. Tribe Arctotideae.
Venidium, Less.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 459.
Venidium macrocephalum, DC. Prodr. vol. vi. p. 494; Fl. Cap. vol.
iii. p. 463; Bot. Mag. t. 8845.
Our illustration was made from plants raised at the Division of Botany, Pretoria, from seed collected by Dr. J. M. Troup at Aus in South-west Africa. The plant flowers freely and makes a splendid display, and as a garden plant for supplying cut flowers it is well worth cultivation.
Seed was sent by the Chief of the Division of Botany to Kew in 1918, and the plants raised were figured in the Botanical Magazine (t. 8845). Mr. J. Hutchinson, who drew up the description for the Botanical Magazine, gives as his reason for retaining this genus separate from Arctotis (see Plate 3) that the latter has a well-developed double pappus, whereas in Venidium the pappus is either absent or very rudimentary.
The species of Venidium, in common with many species of Gazania, Arctotis and Dimorphotheca, are collectively known as “Gous Bloom.”
Description:—A herbaceous sticky plant with radicle leaves. Leaves 16 to 19 cm. long lyrate; the uppermost lobe 7 to 8 cm. long, 2·5 to 5 cm. broad, the margins lobed with broad oblong lobes, with three main veins, distinct above and prominent beneath, cobwebby on both surfaces; lower lobes 1 to 2·5 cm. long; ·7 to 1·3 broad, oblong, obtuse, cobwebby above and beneath; petiole flat above, convex beneath, with three distinct keels, scantily cobwebby; cauline leaves 2 to 9 cm. long, pinnatilobed, eared and somewhat clasping at the base. Stems up to 33 cm. long, terete, ribbed, covered with long glandular hairs. Heads solitary at ends of stems, 8 to 9 cm. in diameter when fully expanded. Involucral bracts in 4 rows; outermost 8 mm. long, acuminate from a broad base, green, covered with long glandular hairs; innermost 1·2 cm. long, glabrous, membranous. Receptacle 1·5 cm. in diameter, honeycombed, the margins of the cells membranous and produced into long awns. Ray-floret female, lemon-chrome, orange at base. Tube 3 mm. long, cylindric; lobe 3·5 cm. long, 7 mm. broad, lanceolate, minutely 3-toothed at the apex, 2-keeled beneath; at throat of tube are four minute black structures representing reduced corolla lobes. Pappus less than ·5 mm. membranous. Ovary 1 mm. long; style 4 mm. long, terete, thickened below the lobes; lobes 1 mm. long, oblong, obtuse. Disc-florets hermaphrodite. Corolla-tube 3 mm. long, 1·25 mm. in diameter above, slightly narrower at the base, sparsely glandular; lobes 1·5 mm. long, linear, obtuse. Anthers black, 2·25 mm. long, blunt at base. Ovary and pappus similar to those of ray-florets; style thin for the first 3 mm., then suddenly much thickened in the upper 2 mm. of its length; lobes ·5 mm. long, oblong, obtuse. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2599.)
Plate 117.—Fig. 1, basal leaf reduced; 2, outer involucral bract; 3, inner involucral bract; 4, longitudinal section through receptacle; 5, surface view of part of receptacle; 6, ray-floret; 7, stigmas and portion of style of ray-floret; 8, disc-floret; 9, stigmas and portion of style of disc-floret; 10, fruit.
F.P.S.A., 1923.
Cape Province.
Bruniaceae.
Lonchostoma, Wickstr.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. i. p. 673.
Lonchostoma monostylis, Sond. in Harv. et Sond. Fl. Cap. vol. ii.
p. 317.
This member of the family Bruniaceae differs from that previously figured (Brunia Stokoei, Plate 92) in having a tubular corolla. In this respect it is also unique in the family. The genus is a small one, comprising only four known species.
Ecklon and Zeyher collected this plant in the Palmiet River Valley, and since then it has not been recorded until recently, when Mr. T. P. Stokoe gathered it in the same locality. He sent fresh specimens to the Division of Botany, and from these the plate was made.
Lonchostoma monostylis is a graceful plant with long, thin, erect stems, at the apex of which the flowers are borne.
Description:—Stems simple or sometimes branched above, 40 to 50 cm. long, almost woolly, at length becoming glabrous. Leaves erect, adpressed to the branches and almost hiding them, 5 to 6 mm. long, 1·5 to 2 mm. broad, elliptic, obtuse, with a small black mucro, concave, pubescent without, glabrous within, long ciliate. Flower-heads terminal, 1·3 cm. in diameter, about 14-flowered. Bracteoles 5 mm. long, 1 mm. broad at the base, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, with a long black mucro, membranous long pilose and ciliate. Sepals similar to the bracteoles. Corolla-tube, 3 mm. long, glabrous; lobes 6 mm. long, 3 to 3·5 mm. broad, obovate, shortly acuminate, obtuse. Anthers subsessile, 1·5 mm. long, linear, sagittate at the base. Ovary 1 mm. long, globose, pilose; style 2 mm. long, terete, glabrous; stigma minutely bifid. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2600.)
Plate 118.—Fig. 1, corolla laid open; 2, bract and bracteole; 3, leaf and calyx; 4, anther; 5, pistil; 6, cross-section of ovary.
F.P.S.A., 1923.
Cape Province, Transvaal, Natal, Basutoland.
Orchidaceae. Tribe Vandeae.
Eulophia, R. Br.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 535.
Eulophia Zeyheri, Hook. f. Bot. Mag. t. 7330; Bolus Ic. Orch. Austr.-Afr.
ii. t. 24; Fl. Cap. vol. v. sect. iii. p. 43.
This pretty little orchid is quite a common plant in the grass veld during the summer months, and has been extensively gathered by botanical collectors, though strangely enough it is not generally met with in gardens. It has been known to botanists for about sixty years, but under the name E. bicolor, until Sir Joseph Hooker in 1893 pointed out that this name had already been assigned to another species in the genus, and published the present name E. Zeyheri.
The tubers resemble a string of large beads, and send out leaves and roots from the constrictions between the swollen portions. The plant has been successfully grown in Gloucestershire, England, by the late Mr. H. J. Elwes, and should certainly receive the attention of South African cultivators.
Our illustration was made from specimens collected by Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, C.M.G., at Irene, near Pretoria.
Description:—An acaulescent herb with large underground fleshy tubers 7 cm. long, about 5 cm. in diameter, and thick cylindric roots arising from the junction of the tuber and short stem. Leaves three to four to a plant, 19 to 30 cm. long, 1·5 to 3 cm. broad, lanceolate linear, subacuminate, acute, plicate, with the primary nerves prominent beneath, glabrous. Inflorescence lateral, racemose, about 26-flowered. Peduncle about 30 cm. long, surrounded by brown membranous sheaths 8 to 9 cm. long. Floral-bracts 4 cm. long, linear, acuminate, acute. Pedicels about 6 mm. long. Sepals 2·8 cm. long, 1·1 cm. broad, ovate-lanceolate, shortly acuminate, acute, the upper sepal slightly narrower. Side petals 2·6 cm. long, 1 cm. broad, lanceolate, acute. Lip 3 cm. long, 1·3 cm. broad, 3-lobed; the middle lobe, obovate, obtuse, sparsely covered with short filaments and produced at the base into 2 keels; side lobes deep purple, 8 mm. long, 9 mm. broad, ovate-oblong, obtuse, unequal sided; spur 5 mm. long, slightly curved, terete, blunt. Column 1 cm. long, 3 mm. broad, oblong, convex on the back, deeply concave on the face. Operculum ovate; pollinia ovate, attached to a single gland. Stigma kidney-shaped. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2650.)
Plate 119.—Fig. 1, plant much reduced; 2, bract; 3, median longitudinal section of flower; 4, sepal; 5, side petal; 6, 7, lip; 8, column.
F.P.S.A., 1923.
Transvaal.
Amaryllidaceae. Tribe Amaryllideae.
Hessea, Herb.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 720.
Hessea Rehmanni, Baker, Hanb. Amaryllid. 22; Fl. Cap. vol. vi. p. 190.
This species differs from the one we previously figured (H. Zeyheri, Plate 43) in not having a short perianth-tube above the ovary. The species here figured is evidently quite common in some localities in the High Veld, growing amongst the grass, but has not been extensively collected. Rehmann first found the plant on which Baker based his description, and it has since been found by Miss Saunders and Mr. E. E. Galpin near Johannesburg. Our illustration was made from specimens collected by Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, C.M.G., at Kaalfontein, between Pretoria and Johannesburg.
Baker in his description mentions that the pedicels are strongly angled, but we suspect that is solely due to drying, as in the fresh material the pedicels are quite terete.
Like many other plants belonging to the Amaryllidaceae, the seeds may commence germination before falling from the capsule.
As far as we are aware the species has no common name, and we would suggest “wit sambrieltje” for this little plant.
Description:—Bulb 1·8 cm. long, 1·5 cm. in diameter, globose, covered with papery tunics and produced into a neck about 1 to 1·5 cm. long. Leaves usually one, more rarely two, 9 cm. long, filiform, quite terete or with a shallow channel, glabrous. Peduncle 15 cm. long, terete, glabrous. Inflorescence a centripetal umbel of about nine flowers. Spathe-valves 2 mm. long, ovate, acute. Pedicels 8 mm. long, terete, glabrous. Perianth-segments 8 mm. long, 1·5 mm. broad, linear, much crisped, with 3 segments minutely and bluntly apiculate and with papillae at the apex. Filaments attached to base of perianth-segments, 5 mm. long, terete; anthers 1 mm. long, orbicular, basifixed. Ovary 2·5 mm. in diameter, globose, glabrous with a single ovule in each cell; style 7 mm. long, terete; stigmas 3, papillose. (National Herb. Pretoria, No. 2713.)
Plate 120.—Fig. 1, section of part of leaf showing shallow channel; 2, involucral bract; 3, median longitudinal section of flower; 4, perianth segment; 5, anther; 6, style and stigmas; 7, fruit.
F.P.S.A., 1923.