THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

IRVINE

GIFT OF

PROF. ARTHUR S. BOUGHEY

, PLANTS AND THEIR WAYS IN
SOUTH AFRICA

THE

SOUTH AFRICAN SCIENCE SERIES.

Planned by Dr. MUIR, Superintendent
General of Education, Cape Province.

SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWERING PLANTS. For
the use of Beginners, Students, and Teachers. By
the Rev. Professor G. HENSLOW, M.A., F.L.S.,
F.G.S. With 112 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 53.

PLANTS AND THEIR WAYS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
By BERTHA STONEMAN, Huguenot College, Wel-
lington, South Africa. With 354 Illustrations, Dia-
grams, and Map. New Edition, revised and en-
larged. Crown 8vo, 53.

ELEMENTARY BOTANY. By H. EDMONDS.
Adapted lor South Africa. By Dr. MAR LOTH and
J. BRETLAND FARMER, D.Sc., F.R.S., Professor of
Botany in the Royal College of Science, London.
With 282 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 45. 6d.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GEOLOGY OF
CAPE COLONY. By A. W. ROGERS, D.Sc.,
F.G.S. , and A. L. DU TOIT, B.A., F.G.S., of the
Geological Survey of Cape Province. With a Chapter
on the Fossil Reptiles of the Karoo Formation by
R. BROOM, M.D., B.Sc., C.M.Z.S., of Victoria Col-
lege, Stellenbosch. With Illustrations and Coloured
Map. Crown 8vo, 95. net.

PHYSICS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS. To
cover sections A, B, and C of the Syllabus in
Elementary Physical Science for the Matriculation
Examination of the University of the Cape of Good
Hope. By GEO. W. COOK, B.Sc., Principal of the
Government School, Kronstad. Crown 8vo, 35. 6d.

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.,
London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras.

ALOES ON KHAMI RUINS
(Twelve miles from Buluwayo).

Photograj-h by the courtesy of J. D. Cartwright, Esq., M.L.A.

j>LANTS
AND THEIR WAYS

IN SOUTH AFRICA

BERTHA STONEMAN, D.Sc.

FELLOW-er'CORNELL UNIVERstS*!*"
PROFESSOR OF BOTANY, HUGUENOT COLLEGE, WELLINGTON, SOUTH AFRICA

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK
BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS

19*5

s?

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

FOR several reasons it has seemed desirable to extend the first
edition of this book into a second, and in doing so additions
have been made, in some cases with considerable reluctance.
Not that the first edition was by any means regarded as com-
plete. The book was first written with a view of attracting
young eyes to objects of interest in the plant world that could
be enjoyed without the use of a compound microscope. In
a measure the object was attained, at least sufficiently to
show that a microscope was by no means indispensable for
students beginning to observe plant life. When contemplating
revision, suggestions were asked of young teachers, and some
of them seemed to find the lack of a lesson on internal anatomy
one of the disadvantages of the former edition. In order to
meet their needs a short lesson on this subject has been added,
together with a more extended synopsis of the Natural Orders
of South African plants. While these additions appear some-
what as excrescences to the more elementary chapters of the
book, the hope is entertained that their usefulness to those for
whom they have been written will justify their insertion.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge gratefully my indebtedness
to those who have aided me in the work of revision. Miss
Alette Hugo and Miss Avrylle Bottomley have given valued
assistance in pen-and-ink drawings. Miss Pegler, F.L.S., and

viii Preface to Second Edition

E. J. Steer, Esq., have afforded me the use of photographs
which are acknowledged in the text. Miss Ethel M. Doidge,
to whose assistance as a student I was formerly indebted, and
whose admirable research along botanical lines has led to a
Doctorate in Science, has kindly looked over the proofs. The
subject-matter has also undergone the kindly but no less
searching glance of Dr. F. C. Kolbe, whose trenchant criticisms,
tempered with keen interest and rendered with genial humour,
have, for many years, been an incentive to me in my work.

Whatever of living interest is scattered among the pages is
largely due to walks and talks with a keen and loving observer
of Nature, J. J. van der Merwe, Esq., of Waterval, Wellington.

My Publishers, Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., have
extended unfailing assistance and courtesy.

BERTHA STONEMAN.

HUGUENOT COLLEGE,

WELLINGTON, SOUTH AFRICA,

April, 1915.

INTRODUCTION

WITH the introduction of microscopes into the secondary
schools, the early superficial study of plant "analysis," which
aimed at finding the names of plants, gave place to a study of
minute anatomy and the lower forms of plant life. The micro-
scopical method is of undoubted educational value, but the
student, who confines his attention too exclusively to minute
structures and forms of plant-life, is in danger of losing that
living interest which a wider outlook into the science alone
can afford.

There is yet a third method which considers plants as
living things, and the study of their life relations becomes
the new standpoint from which they are approached. The
influence of light, air, and moisture on the form and position
of stems and leaves, and how the conditions of soil affect the
development and distribution of plants, are questions not only
of interest in themselves, but likely to stimulate the reason-
ing powers of even young children ; and children are most
interested when they can be led to think for themselves.

This book has been written with a view to suggesting how
some of these conditions are met by plants in South Africa.
Some of the chapters as, e.g., IV, VII, and XVIII, are
intended as reading lessons. The object of others is to
furnish outlines for the study of plant forms, while there is
little except, possibly, the names of the parts of the flower
in Chapter XIV, which should be committed to memory.

x Introduction

Plants can be brought to the schoolroom and studied in
window-boxes. It is not enough to see the plants through the
stage of germination merely ;k they should be watched until
their life story has been told.

With the generous aid of the Education Department, it
is possible to add each year some simple, well-constructed
apparatus as a means of increasing interest in the work. It is
poor economy to use implements so crude as to give inexact
and unsatisfactory results, when, for a slight outlay, the correct-
ness and consequent value of an experiment may be insured.
Glass jars, flasks with rubber stoppers, retort stands, porous
flower-pots of various sizes, wire, thread, scissors, cork-borers,
glass and rubber tubing, U-tubes, glass funnels, and thermo-
meters are indispensable.

Valuable suggestions may be obtained from Prof. Atkinson's
"First Studies of Plant Life," from the "Elementary Text-
book," by Prof. L. H. Bailey, and the accompanying Lessons,
the Plant Physiologies of Darwin and Acton, MacDougal,
Ganong, and Cavers. "The Teaching Botanist," by Ganong,
Miss Johnson's "Text-Book of Botany," and "Plant Geo-
graphy," by Schimper, are excellent books. " Flowering Plants
and Ferns," by J. C. Willis, of the Cambridge Biological Series,
is a valuable guide in the study of morphology, geographical and
economic botany. To this list may be added Maud Going's
charmingly written books, " With the Trees " and " With the
Wild Flowers ".

My thanks are due to the generous advice and assistance
rendered by Dr. Marloth, Dr. MacOwan, Dr. Bolus, and the
Rev. Dr. Kolbe.

* It is also a pleasure to express my deep indebtedness to
my present and former students who have kindly assisted me
in illustrating the book, in particular to Miss Lucette Creux

Introduction xi

and Miss Hannah Albertyn for the illustrations furnished by
them, and to Miss Ethel M. Doidge for those bearing her
initials, to Miss A. V. Duthie for numerous drawings, and chiefly
to the untiring interest of Mrs. G. A. Bottomley, to whom the
greater number of the original pen-and-ink drawings are due.

The author is indebted to the publishers (Messrs. Long-
mans, Green, and Co.) for the privilege of using from
Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary Botany of South
Africa," Rev. Prof. Henslow's "South African Flowering
Plants," Thome and Bennett's " Structural and Physiological
Botany," and Farmer's " Practical Introduction to the Study of
Plants," the illustrations acknowledged in the text.

This work is the second of "The South African Science
Series," the first being Mr. Rogers' "The Geology of Cape
Colony," designed by Dr. Muir to promote the study of natural
science in South Africa.

HUGUENOT COLLEGE, WELLINGTON,
SOUTH AFRICA,
February, 1906.

CONTE NTS

CHAPTER

I. PLANT LIFE

II. SEEDS AND THEIR GERMINATION

III. GROWTH OF ROOTS, STEMS, AND LEAVES

IV. FURTHER GROWTH AND DURATION OF PLANTS
V. GROWTH OF BUDS AND BRANCHES .

VI. A STUDY OF LEAVES

VII. WATERWAYS IN PLANTS ....

VIII. CELLS AND TISSUES

IX. STEM AND ROOT STRUCTURE
X. THE RESPIRATION OF PLANTS .
XI. A SHORT LESSON ON SOIL
XII. THE FOOD MAKING OF PLANTS .

XIII. DEPENDENT PLANTS

XIV. PLANT DEFENCES

XV. NEW PLANTS WITHOUT SEED .

XVI. CLIMBING PLANTS AND PLANT MIGRATIONS
XVII. FLOWERS AND THEIR PARTS ...
XVIII. POLLINATION AND FERTILIZATION

XIX. FRUITS

XX. THE SEED'S TRAVELLING OUTFIT

XXI. KUKUMAKRANKA

XXII. CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS .
XXIII. THE BOTANICAL REGIONS OF SOUTH AFRICA ,
INDEX

PLANTS AND THEIR WAYS IN
SOUTH AFRICA.

CHAPTER I.
PLANT LIFE.

WHO has not watched and enjoyed growing things? The
baby is carefully weighed and measured ; the kitten, the garden,
and the flowers of the veld in turn absorb our attention.

Growth means life ; and every living thing has something
of interest to tell if our eyes have been trained to see and we
have learned to think about what we see.

In studying plants we find great differences in the plant
kingdom, and how as living things they can change their form
and habits of growth so as to fit themselves to widely differing
conditions of life, for plants cannot choose where they would
grow. In doing so, the members of one plant family come to
look so unlike one another that it becomes difficult to detect
any family resemblance; while members of different families
look enough alike sometimes " to be brothers and sisters," for
plants that have come from the same parents in past years are
grouped together in a family or order. We are surprised to
find that dodder, which fastens its threads upon lucerne and
chokes it and robs it of its food, belongs to the highly re-
spectable family of the sweet potato.

When lavish Nature sows her seed, some, it is true, " falls
upon stony places and withers away," but some lays hold of the
rocks and changes them into soil, so that one dainty pink-and-
white Crassula which grows on our hillsides rejoices in the
name Saxifraga, the rock-breaker.

It would be difficult to say where plants are not found ; on
the heights of the Drakensberg, and even higher ranges, flowers
I

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

blossom and die, where none but their Maker beholds their
beauty. Plants are found, beautifully white and delicate, deep
down in the darkest mines. They are able to withstand the
heat of boiling springs, and explorers from the frozen Antarctic
return with mosses and lichens. Germs of plants kept in
liquid air for six months at a temperature of — 190° C. have suf-
fered no injury, while others have remained for ten hours in a
bath of liquid hydrogen, 60° colder still, and have then come
forth and flourished.1 Plants are quite at home on cheese and

canned fruit, and an old shoe
cast upon a rubbish-heap
may boast its botanic garden.
These are the moulds, and
against them the housekeeper
is waging constant warfare.

Some plants are so small
that the sharpest eyes cannot
see them without powerful
microscopes. Of these, some
grow in the human body
better than anywhere else.
We call them germs. Sev-
eral kinds grow on the teeth
and cause their decay, un-
less the teeth are carefully
brushed. One kind, which

FIG. i. — Common mould {Mucor mu-
ct'do) : I. An entire plant with six
sporangia in different stages of de-
velopment (strongly magnified). II.
Single sporangium with spores b ( x
200). (From Thome1 and Bennett's
'' Structural and Physiological Bo-

passes part of its life in im-
pure milk or water, lodges in the throat and causes diphtheria ;
and another produces enteric fever, so that eternal vigilance is
the price of health.

1 To liquefy air requires intense cold. The temperature at which a
gas liquefies is called its critical temperature. Hydrogen requires the
lowest temperature of any gas yet liquefied. The particular pressure
under which a gas liquefies when reduced to its critical temperature is
known as its critical pressure. Thus, hydrogen gas liquefies at - 238° C.
_(the critical temperature) under a pressure of 15-3 atmospheres. The
critical pressure of oxygen is 58 atmospheres at a critical temperature of
— u8'8°. At temperatures below the critical temperature a gas liquefies
under less pressure.

Plant Life

Others of these minute plants are as useful as some are
harmful. When the housekeeper is mixing " sponge " for
bread, she is putting in as she stirs germs known as yeast plants
which abound in the air. If the sponge is set in a warm place,
the moisture causes them to grow
rapidly. The growth changes a part
of the starch of the flour into alcohol
and carbonic acid gas, which, rising
in bubbles, makes the bread light.
A sudden chill prevents their growth,
and the bread is heavy. Some germs
are necessary to cause milk to be-
come sour.

Flies should be kept from dwell-
ing-houses and their breeding places
destroyed, for it has been found that
they spread disease by the germs
they carry on their feet. Sometimes
a germ attacks a fly. It grows and
multiplies rapidly, and before the day
is over it completely fills the fly and
sends out little sticky threads, which
fasten it to the wall or window. You
may often see them in wet weather.

FIG. 2. — Fungus-filaments from

a rotten potato. (From FIG. 3.— Fly killed by mould. (From

Thome and Bennett's "Struc- Thome and Bennett's " Structural and

tural and Physiological Bo- Physiological Botany ".)
tany".)

Upon these threads little bodies — spores — are borne, which
blow about and attack other flies. Some serve locusts and
grasshoppers in a similar manner. It would be a good way of
getting rid of these plagues were it not that, for these spores
I *

4 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

to multiply rapidly, moisture is necessary, and the locusts are
not particular to time their visits to our gardens during the
wet seasons.

Lichens grow on rocks and trees where they lend splashes
of colour in many shades of red
and brown, grey and green.
They, too, have their place in
the plant-world, and do their
share of the world's work. They
can thrive in barren spots where
no flowers can beautify. Small
as they are, they can dissolve
and absorb small portions of the

Thom<$ and Bennett's " Struc- Gradually these plants crumble

tural and Physiological Botany".)

nourish some less humble plant.

Mushrooms " that spring up in a night " bear their fruit and
die. Contrasted with these small short-lived plants are those
that grow to immense size and live through generations. We
owe the oaks and the fir trees that beautify the western part of
Cape Province to the first European settlers, to whose unselfish
foresight they stand as lasting monuments. The historical oak
of French Hoek has blossomed and shed its fruit for two hun-
dred years, but no date in history records the planting of the
famous " Wonderboom " of Pretoria. Where the spreading
branches have taken root, new trunks have grown up until the
single tree has become a small forest.

The life histories of the moulds, yeasts, and disease germs
have been learned only in recent years, since microscopes have
been improved ; but the old Hebrew poets, who watched the
paths of the stars as they tended their flocks, studied the trees
and flowers ; and we know our Saviour cared for them, for He
often spoke of them in teaching His beautiful lessons. We, too,
may study them without books and without knowing their long
Latin names, though these have their uses. How unfortunate
it would be if Johannesburg or Springbokfontein had no names
when we wished to book our luggage for those places. The

Plant 'Life

5

long names of plants are not so formidable either, when stripped
of their Latin endings. Thus, MacOwaniana pays tribute to
one of South Africa's esteemed botanists, Dr. MacOwan ; and
how better could our world-wide authority on orchids be
honoured than by naming a new Disperis, Bolusiana ? The
paired leaf of Bauhinia reminds us of the twins, Bauhin,
who long ago devoted themselves to Botany. When we have

FIG. 5. — " Wonderboom " near Pretoria.

found the two forms of fruit on one head of flowers, Dimor-
photheca (two-formed capsule) seems a most appropriate name,
and once having seen the little crown of pappus hidden among
the long hairs of the ovary, we shall never forget Cryptostemma,
which means " hidden crown ". If you have not studied Latin
or Greek, ask help from your brothers and sisters who are in
college. To speak of plants and their parts, we must have
names, and the reader may skip any name in this book longer
than Hermanuspetrusfontein.

CHAPTER II.
SEEDS AND THEIR GERMINATION.

BESIDES maintaining its own life, a plant's activity is directed
toward reproducing its like in the lives of others. One of the
most usual means of reproduction with which we are familiar
is the seed. Seeds may be very small, like those of orchids,
heaths, or Streptocarpus ; or large, like the acorn and coco-nut.
In each seed there is a tiny plant. Before the parent plant
sends her offspring out into the world to fend for itself,
the seeds are well provided with a nicely fitting coat and a
generous supply of food, which serves them until they are able
to make their own. The pine seed is provided with one thick
hard coat, the sunflower with a very thin papery one, but many
seeds have two, which fit so closely that when the seeds shed
their coats the two come off together.

When seeds are soaked in water, the coats begin to swell.
In the bean they become wrinkled. As the water soaks in
farther the rest of the seed swells and fills the coat until it
bursts, and the embryo begins to make its way out. The seed
is said to germinate. This shows that the seed which was
so hard and dry is alive. It was alive all the time, but did not
grow.

What made it begin to show life ?

One of the simplest seeds to understand is the bean. It
is an old and useful friend. In order to make out the dif-
ferent parts of seeds, it is well to compare them with some
which have just begun germinating, for then the parts separate
more easily. For this purpose seeds may be put into a box of
clean sand. A biscuit-tin is good, but care should be taken
first to make holes in the bottom to insure drainage.
6

Seeds and their Germination

Plant broad and narrow beans, Indian corn, water-melon, or
pumpkin seeds, and any others which you may have gathered.

As soon as the bean plant begins to make its appearance
above the soil, an examination will reveal two thick leaves
placed opposite to one another. Between them there is a
small leaf-bud with one leaf folded
within another. They are attached to
the stem, which extends below the
first pair of fleshy leaves and joins the
root. It may be difficult to say where
the stem ends and the root begins.
Now compare a seed which has been
soaked in water a few hours. Before
removing the seed-coat notice the scar
or hilum where the bean was attached
to the pod.

At one end of the hilum is a small hole, the micropyle.
The seed-coat comes off easily and the seed splits into two
parts, which you will see correspond to the two fleshy leaves.
They are called cotyledons. Between these two halves there

FIG. 6. — Bean seed before
removing the coat.

FlG. 7. — Bean seed
coat removed.

FIG. 8. — Bean seed with one cotyledon
removed.

lies a small curved body, at one end of which may be seen the
two small leaves the plumule. The other end, which will
make the root, is called the radicle. So a seed contains a
whole plant, very small and compact, which will germinate
when warmth, moisture, and oxygen from the air are supplied.1
The small plant folded away in the seed is called the embryo.

1 Seeds of some South African plants require light in addition to these
three conditions, although light is usually unnecessary.

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Instructions for Work. — Make a drawing of the outside
of a bean seed. Carefully look
to see how the parts are placed
within. At which end of the
seed is the plumule with refer-
ence to the micropyle ? On
which side of the seed ? Com-
pare the arrangement of the
French bean with that of the
broad bean. Make drawings of
all that you see. Keep these
drawings in a book which you
will use for plants, or better on
separate sheets.

A loquat seed will separate
into two parts, the cotyledons ;
but the plumule and radicle
cannot be so plainly seen.

Now make out the parts in
the seeds of a pumpkin, water-
melon, or calabash seed.

In all these seeds all the
food which the mother plant
provided is stored within the
two plump cotyledons. But
there are seeds in which the
food is stored outside the em-
bryo. The pine seed shows
this nicely. Remove the thick,
hard seed-coat and cut the con-
tents across. A ring containing
food will be seen, the endo-
sperm, surrounding a central
part. If another is cut length-
wise, this central part will be
recognized as the embryo, with
the radicle pointing to the
Instead of two cotyledons, several

FIG. 9. — Seeds of Finns pinea in
different stages of germination.
/. Ripe seed in longitudinal sec-
tion : s, testa ; e, endosperm ; w,
radicle of embryo ; c, the cotyle-
dons ; y, the micropyle end of
seed, with the rootlet directed to-
wards it. //. Germination com-
mencing : A, Testa ; s, ruptured,
and rootlet ; w, protruding ; /-, red
membrane inside testa ; .v, rup-
tured embryo sac : B, portion of
testa removed ; e, endosperm : C,
longitudinal section ; c, cotyle-
dons : D, transverse section. ///.
Germination complete, the coty-
ledons, c , unfolding, and the hy-
pocotyledonary part of stem, he,
elongated, the main root, ?<•, de-
veloping lateral rootlets, n>'.
(From Edmonds and Marloth's
" Elementary Botany for South
Africa".) '

smaller end of the seed.

Seeds and their Germination

will be found. The plumule is too small to be seen without a
lens.

When drawing a pine seed, draw the seed-coat around the
endosperm. A thin papery layer will be found between the two.
It once contained food. Draw it by a light line inside the
seed-coat.

In the Hottentot fig or T'gaukum (Mesembrianthemuni)
the embryo is curved around the endosperm.

Examine some seeds of " mealies " or Indian corn (Zea

FIG. 10. — Seed of Mes- FIG. n.— Seed of Zea mays, a, embryo at one side
embrianthemum with of endosperm ; b, embryo removed ; c, seed cut
curved embryo. through, showing plumule, radicle, and side roots.

mays). Notice a small raised place on one side toward the

smaller end. By soaking the seed and removing the coat this

little body may be removed. It is the embryo. The greater

part of the seed is filled with

endosperm. The embryo has

but one cotyledon, which lies

close to the endosperm on one

side, and on the other is joined

to the plumule and radicle. They

are so covered by the folded

cotyledon or scutellum that only

the tips can 'be seen.

FIG. 12. — fj(Binanthns seed, a,
embryo ; fr, endosperm ; c, food
outside the endosperm partly
used ; d, seed-coat.

The large seeds of the "April Fool" (Hamanthus] have
but one cotyledon. The embryo is a small rod-shaped body
lying in the centre of the endosperm. Around the endosperm

IO Plants and their Ways in South Africa

there is another food storing region (perisperm). It can be
seen plainly in young seeds, and its position will remind you of
the thin layer in the pine seed.1

Examine a date and compare the seed with that of
ffcetnanthus.

" Water Uintjes " (Aponogetori) has one large green coty-
ledon, a thin plumule, and a very small radicle.
Its food is all stored in the cotyledon.

Plants which have two cotyledons are called
Dicotyledons, those with only one are Mono-
cotyledons. It is an important distinction.
Most monocotyledons have endosperm. " Water
Uintjes " (Aponogetori) is an exception. The
plants in each group have other characters in
common which we shall find out later.

In Hamanthus and date the embryos are so
very small that the food supply seems unneces-

FIG. 13. Seed sarily generous ; but it takes a long while for the

of " Water date to get a firm footing in the soil, and the

Uintjes (Ap- . . .

onogeton). i, "April Fool " is always liable to be overtaken by

cmykdon • V drought- Nature provides for her children gener-

uiumuie'; 3] ously, and we all know, when it comes to a ques-

smaii radicle. tjon of foo^ jt js Detter to have too much than

not enough.

By this time we have' examined enough seeds to find
evidence of provision for the future of the little plants, and as
we follow their histories we shall find other conditions admir-
ably fitting them for their struggle in life.

How SEEDLINGS BEHAVE WHEN THEY WAKE UP.

Zea Mays comes up Head Foremost. — You may mis-
take the little pointed object for a stem, but in a few days you

1 Perisperm is usually consumed as the seed develops. Strelitzia
and Mesembrianthemnm may be mentioned as setds in which it persists
in the ripened seeds. In the pine, only a small part of the thin layer inside
the seed-coat is perisperm, the remainder is the inner part of the testa
which splits away in the ripe seed.

Seeds and their Germination 1 1

will find it to be a hollow, pointed body l containing another leaf
rolled up within it. This pointed roll easily pushes up through
the soil. After it is safely up, watch the outer leaf split open
and the next leaf unroll.

The calabash seed has by this time backed out of bed.
Here the stem grows faster than the leaves. It makes a loop
above ground, and as it gradually lengthens it pulls out the
leaves. A little thought will show that this is the better way
for the calabash or pumpkin, as the leaves are not rolled, and
would have hard work to push up through the soil.

FlG. 14. — Zea mays FIG. 15. — The calabash backs out of bed.

(Indian corn).

Now pull up some of the pumpkin seeds to see what has
been happening below. The point at the lower end of the
cotyledons has grown out to form a small root. The seed-coat
has split open, and there is a little peg where the root is coming
out. Plants a day or two older will show that the arching
stem is splitting the seed-coat, and that the peg is holding the
lower edge firmly in the soil. How did the peg come to be
just there? What if the seed had been planted with the other
side down?

Let us find out by planting more, taking pains this time to
plant them flat. The pointed end, toward which the radicle
always points, is a little one-sided. The point is not quite
in the centre, and the micropyle is beside it. We can place
the seeds in one row with the point at the right, and those in

1 This pointed sheath is regarded as part of the cotyledon.

12 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

another row with the point at the left. Plant some pointing
downward. Remove the seed-coats from others and plant in
the same positions. Does the peg form in the same way ?
Port Jackson seedlings and the Silver Tree have a peg all around
the stem. Sometimes the stem below the peg grows too rapidly,
or the seed-coat is not held firmly enough by the soil. Then

FIG. 16. — a, b, the peg is spreading open the seed-coats ; c, the black wattle
seedling has a " peg " quite around the stem.

the peg fails to hold the seed-coat in place and the plant has
to get out as best it can. Do such seedlings look as thrifty
as others? In Fig. 17 the peg has done its work, and the coat
has been left underground.

The cotyledon (or scutellum) of the mealie has not made
its appearance. It remains down where the supply of food
was stored, which it has been absorbing and passing on to the
plumule and radicle. By the time these parts are green and
able to make their own food the seed will feel quite soft.
Cut a seed through the centre so as to divide the embryo
into right and left halves. By looking at the cotyledon with

Seeds and their Germination

a lens small channels can be seen through which the food
passes to the growing parts. The radicle was protected in the

FIG. 17. — Cala-
bash. The peg
has done its
work for the
little calabash
plant.

FIG. 18. — terminat-
ing embryo of Zea
mays, c, cotyle-
don ; r, radicle ;
sr, first side shoots
growing from stem.

Fig. 19. — Germinating bean seeds ;
a and b with one cotyledon
removed.

seed by a little pocket, as was the leaf. The cap does not
grow as much as the leaf-cap does, and the radicle soon pushes
through it.

In Zea mays (mealie) the first side roots come from the
stem just above the scutellum. They are a part of the embryo.
In the pumpkin they come from the radicle which forms the
tap root ; they are not formed until after the root begins to
grow.

Compare the germination of a common bean and that of
a broad bean. Both come up with a loop. Does the same
part of the stem form the loop? How do the cotyledons
behave in the kidney bean and in the broad bean? The
cotyledons do not grow as in the calabash or pumpkin. Notice
how they wither as the food they contain is given up to the
growing parts. When the loop pulled up the cotyledons in
the kidney bean, the tender leaves of the plumule folded
between them were also safely brought up. The plumule
grows out into two green leaves. Notice the little cushions

14 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

near the lower end of their .stems. Were these found in the
calabash seeds ? How is the plumule brought above ground in
the broad bean ?

" April Fool " seeds (Hcemanthus) may not wait to be
planted. The -juicy berries within which they grow supply
moisture, and after sufficient time for ripening they germinate

FIG. 20.— Bean seedlings.

of themselves. As growth begins the root is pushed out by the
cotyledon, the tip of which, remaining in the seed, absorbs
the stored food until the root is old enough to reach the soil
and do its work. After a few days the plumule thrusts up
its head through a slit in the base of the cotyledon. When
planted, does the tip of the cotyledon come above the soil ?
While studying the germination of April Fool seeds, com-

Seeds and their Germination 1 5

pare them with germinating seeds of onion and date. The
latter germinate very slowly. Plant them early in the year.
Watch for acorns that have been left on the ground for

FIG. 21. — Little "April Fool" plants (Ha- FIG. 22. — Growing

manthus). seed of Apono-

geton (" Water
Uintjes ").

several weeks after falling. Notice how the plant splits the
hard shell, and how the root pushes down and anchors the
seed.

Plant other seeds that are about your home. The Silver
Tree has large seeds which germinate readily. Arum " lily "
seeds may be compared with those of Htzmanthus. Apono-
geton seeds may be found soon after flowering. Notice how
little the radicle develops. A stem soon appears at one side
of the cotyledon which bears roots below and leaves above.

Kafir corn may be germinated with Indian corn. In
studying germination, take plenty of time to make simple
drawings of each plant. Drawings should be made to show
the plumule unfolded.

In the seeds we have studied the cotyledons have their
special work to do.

The cotyledons of the broad bean simply yield up their
food to the growing plant.

In Zea mays the cotyledon not only gives up its own store,
but absorbs and passes on the food in the endosperm.

A third form is found in the date seed, where only the tip

1 6 Plants and their Ways in , South Africa

of the cotyledon remains within the seed and absorbs the food,
while the lower part pushes the radicle down into the soil,
where it is safe from drying up.)

The onion does nearly the same as the date. The coty-
ledon (a) absorbs the endosperm, (fr) places the radicle,
(f) comes up with a loop and brings the delicate plumule
safely above the soil, (d] finally escapes altogether, becomes
green, and behaves like a foliage leaf.

The pine and castor-oil seeds have a different habit. In-
stead of remaining within the seed-coat where the food is
stored, the cotyledons pull themselves out, bringing the food
with them as little caps, which they consume on the way up,
and gradually become good-sized foliage leaves.

Black wattles and the French bean cotyledons come above
the ground, yield up their food, then wither and fall off.

The gourd family keeps the cotyledons, which grow and
become green.

Here are seven ways, and you may find others. If you
live in the East or near a botanic garden,' you should study
the seeds of Encephalartos (Kafir bread tree). Which type
does it resemble?

We have found that cotyledons (i) store food, (2) absorb
and pass on food from the endosperm, (3) surround and pro-
tect the radicle and plumule, (4) bring them into position,
(5) act as foliage leaves.

In no case have the cotyledons looked like the next leaves.
Have you found any more showy than the next leaves ? Have
any borne hairs? Are they ever compound?

In order to watch the growth without injuring the seedlings,
seeds may be planted in a frame having glass sides. Ask the
tinsmith to cut two pieces of galvanized iron the shape of
Fig. 23. Bend them along the dotted lines. Nail the piece
a-b to a board for support, and slip in on either side a piece
of glass. Discarded photographic plates will do nicely.
Several may be used. Fill with moist sand. Thin cloth may
be placed between the sand and the glass.

Ex. i. Place the seeds in different positions. Notice how quickly the
roots will turn down and the stems bend upward. The work of the roots

Seeds and their Germination

is to be done down in the soil, and that of the stems up in the light ; so
the sooner they get into these positions the better.

Fine white hairs may be seen on the root and its branches
to within a short distance from the tip. As the root pushes

FIG. 23. — Diagram for ends of
glass germinator.

FIG. 24. — Seedlings
showing root hairs.

on, the oldest ones are worn off, but new ones are constantly
formed towards the tip. They make their way in between the
fine particles of soil in search of water, and greatly increase
(from five to twelve times) the absorbing surface.

Ex. 2. Fasten some seeds, which have germinated until the roots are
about an inch long, to strips of wood. Place them in an inverted flower-
pot, in which the water stands to a height of 2 inches. Let the roots
in one dip into the water ; place the second.lot higher, taking care that they
are some distance above the water. After they have grown an inch or
two, note the absence of root hairs in the first lot. The drier the soil, the
more numerous are the root hairs. Some water plants, however, have
abundant root hairs.

CHAPTER III.

GROWTH OF ROOTS, STEMS, AND LEAVES.

Do all parts of the root continue growing as it pushes down
into the soil ?

Ex. 3. To answer this we must have the roots where we can examine
them. Germinating bean or pumpkin seeds may be placed upon moist
cotton wool and held in place by strips ot sheet
cork fastened together by rubber bands. Suspend
in an inverted flower pot over a saucer of water.
When the roots have grown about an inch and
a half, mark off equal distances on them with
ink (waterproof ink is better). Place the ger-
minator under cover, and observe the next day.
The spaces toward the upper end nearest the
seed will be the same distance apart they were
the day before. The root has not grown there
nor at the tip. Growth in length is greatest just
at the back of the tip.

In a similar way examine the growth
of stem and leaves. Mark off equal dis-
tances as before ; they may be a little
farther apart on the stem. The place on
a stem from which leaves are given off is
called a node. The part between two
nodes is called an internode. Notice
that the stem grows both below and above
each internode, but the greatest elonga-
tion is in the upper half of an internode. How does a leaf
become larger?

Now compare the results with the growth of monocoty-
ledons.

18

1 G^ 25. — Seedlings
marked to show the
place of greatest
growth.

Growth of Roots, Stems, and Leaves

Ex. 4. Place Zea mays seedlings where they are warm. When
the first blade is about 2 inches above ground, or as soon as the leaf
which it is protecting has burst through, separate carefully with a fine

FIG. 26. — Showing basal growth in Zea mays.

needle, and strip from the sheath to expose the base of the leaf within.
Mark off lines on the part exposed, carrying them across on to the sheath.
When growth has taken place,
so that the marks appear
above the sheath, it will be
seen that the place marked
has been pushed up by the
growth at the base of the
leaf.

Cammelina T will be a
good plant for studying the
growth of a monocotyiedon-
ousstem. Split the sheathing
base of the leaf and mark the
stem off. Mark other plants
— Flagellaria, or any of the
species of Asparagus (Wacht-
een-beetje}. Mark the stem
in Spring, when they are
growing rapidly.

Direction of
Growth of Roots
and Stems. — We have

FIG. 27. — Growth of the stem of Commelina.

1 Commelina is often cultivated ; it is found wild in the Eastern, Central,
and Kalahari Districts.

2 *

20 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

seen that the root tends to grow towards the centre of the
earth. The side roots extending obliquely in several direc-
tions, are well placed for obtaining their food. Pinch off a tip

of the main root. One of

the side roots now bends

down to take its place.

Which root does this?

Is more than one root

affected?

How does the root

curve ?

Ex. 5. Mark the roots of
seedlings in the germinator as
before. When the roots are an
inch or two in length, suspend
the germinator from the side.
Now observe where the bend
occurs. How does the shortest
curve compare with the position
of greatest growth ?

Mark other roots, and with

FIG. 28.-Stem curvature induced by a sharP knife cut off the extreme
gravity. t'Ps OI° some.1 Early the next

day notice the difference be-
tween the cut roots and the uninjured ones. None of the cut roots have
bent downward. They have lengthened, so that we know the growing
region or motor zone has not been injured. The root grows down
because it is stimulated by gravity. But from our experiment we have
seen that the tip is the part which is sensitive to this stimulus. It is called
the perceptive zone.

Ex. 6. The Direction of the Stem. — The stem has as strong an up-
ward growth as the root has a downward tendency. Place seedlings that
have grown in pots or in the germinator in a horizontal position. In
three or four hours a decided change of direction has taken place. In
Fig. 28 notice that the one at a is curving, although the end was cut.
Observe the stem curvatures of monocotyledons. Where does curvature
take place in the jointed stems of grasses ? In Commelina ?

After the seedlings have become upright, turn the pot half-way around.
Note how soon a change of direction may be observed. It will be made

1 The roots are injured by the shock, but an experiment which may be
performed to show this without injury requires an elaborate piece of ap-
paratus. If care is taken, the tip may be slit lengthwise. In spite of the
injury the root will still bend down as the root is not injured.

Growth of Roots, Stems, and Leaves 2 1

more apparent by thrusting into the soil two slender wire rods, one on
either side of the stem.

Growth Curvature affected by Water. — We have
been studying growth curvatures affected by gravity. While
the tendency of the main root is downward and that of the

FIG. 29. — Leaves of young castor-oil plant looTdng toward the light.

stem is upward, both are sensitive to other influences. Food
material which roots absorb 'must be dissolved in water, in
search of which they often go a long distance. The roots of
a tree growing by -a stream will reach far out on the side
toward the water. Young plants show this curvature.

22 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Ex. 7. Cover the outside of the glass germinator or of a funnel with
several thicknesses of flannel. Fasten seeds which have just germinated
by means of a narrow strip of flannel to the upper edge of the glass.
Keep the flannel moist, and the roots will follow the inclined face of the
germinator instead of growing vertically. The flannel must not be too
moist, or the roots will turn from it.

Ex. 8. Growth Curvatures caused by Light. — Place the germinator
in a box lighted at one end. Notice the seedlings in a day or so. The
stems will bend towards the lighted end. Will the roots show a turning
away from the light ?

The seedlings of sunflower are very sensitive to light. Place some in
a bright light and cover with black paper, leaving an opening at one side.
Notice how the cotyledons turn their flat surfaces to the light. As soon
as the next pair of leaves appear, reverse the position, so that they turn
directly away from the light. Will they turn back ? Try the experiment
with other seedlings.

Fig. 29 shows a young castor-oil plant. All the leaves, in-
cluding the cotyledons, have turned toward the window. The

FIG. 30. — The plant in this pot grew on the north side of a large rock.
The portion beside the pot grew on the south side in the shade.

stalks (petioles] of the cotyledons have curved so as to bring
the surface of the cotyledons into a favourable light position.

Growth of Roots, Stems, and Leaves 23

Ex. g. The cotyledons of the bean have no petioles. On the stem of
those which are turned away from the light, below the cotyledons, make
a row of ink marks. Place in a lighted window. In a day or so the
cotyledons will look toward the light. The row of marks will show that
the stem has twisted to bring them into position. When growth in that
portion of the stem has stopped, turn the plant halfway around. Will the
cotyledons again turn toward the light ?

Ex. 10. Remove the tips from sunflower seedlings, cutting off some
above and some below the cotyledons. Do the stems still curve toward
the light ?

Ex. it. Plant sunflower seeds and keep them covered so as to exclude
all light. At the same time plant others and leave them exposed to light.
When the cotyledons of the second lot are well expanded, compare with
those which have been covered. The cotyledons are still closely pressed
together. Cover those that were left exposed. After a day or two ex-
amine them again. Evidently light has an influence in spreading leaves
apart ; in darkness they close.

Notice Oxalis plants at night. Leaves and flowers are all
closed. In the morning they open. On very
bright days the leaves go to sleep, while the
flowers remain open. On cold days they remain
closed. There is a cushion-like joint at the base
of the leaflets made of thin-walled cells. When
the cells on the underside lose a portion of their
contents the joint bends and the leaf closes down.
Look for joints in clover. Are they in the same
position ? Do clover leaves lie down or stand up
when they go to sleep ?

If a plant remains in darkness, the leaves re-
main small and undeveloped, while the internodes
lengthen. The plant in Fig. 30 grew under the FlG —The
shelter of a large rock. The part in the pot grew boxed-up Kar-
on the sunny northern side, while the piece at the for°thPl Tshoot
left grew in a more shaded place on the southern in search of
side. Fig. 31 is the picture of a very compact tfe difference
little plant when it is growing at home near Beau- in position and
fort West ; but while lying in the box in which it
was posted, the tip of the plant started on a journey of its
own. During this growth the leaves formed were very small,
but the lengthening stem placed them far apart. It has long
been known that a plant grows faster at night and it is a

24 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

matter of common observation that a potato, e.g. which has
grown in a dark place, will have a very long stem. It used to
be thought that light hindered growth, but dark places are
usually damp. It has been found in experiments on bamboos
and other plants that light had no effect on their growth, which
varied with the humidity of the air and the temperature.
Growth is favoured at night when transpiration * decreases and
the cells are consequently distended with water. The food
supply also has an effect on growth.

1 See p. 30.

CHAPTER IV.
FURTHER GROWTH AND DURATION OF PLANTS.

BY the time the plant has germinated, that is, has unfolded the
parts formed in the embryo, and has used up the stored food,
the root, by means of the root-hairs, has become closely at-
tached to the soil. New roots are sent out with their root-
hairs, and the plant is able to get its own food material, partly
from the soil through the roots and partly from the air by means
of the leaves. While the embryo was unfolding, the plant was
not increasing in dry weight, but by the time the first new
leaves are forming the plant is beginning to add to its weight ;
growth has really begun.

In none of the seeds studied were the cotyledons and plum-
ule similar in appearance. In the bean, after the two plumule
leaves, but one leaf unfolds at a time. There appear to be
three, but they are all borne on one leaf-stalk. Notice the little
cushion at the base of each part.

One pupil kept her bean carefully watered. After a while
it bore branches. Each branch appeared in the axil of a leaf.
(The axil is the upper angle made by a leaf where it joins the
stem.) One day a white blossom was reported ; others fol-
lowed. They were short-lived, the pretty white part fell, and
she feared the plant would die. But in the centre of each
flower a pod came. Seeds appeared in the pods, and in each
seed a new bean life was formed. When the pods ripened,
they split open, and the seeds fell out. Then care and watch-
ing no longer availed. The plant's lifework was done. It had
borne fruit ; then it turned yellow, withered away,- and died.
This all happened in less than a year. A plant which com-
pletes its life history within a year is called an Annual, Some
25

26 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

FIG. 33. — Bulbs — A, of a. lily ; B, of H&manthus ; C, the same cut in two.

Further Growth and Duration of Plants 27

plants take two years to bear their fruit. The first year is
spent in making food, part of which is stored, usually under
ground. The second year a flowering shoot is sent up and the
food is used to ripen the seed. These are Biennials. In
cold countries, or where it is very hot and dry, work has to
stop for part of the year ; but in a mild climate the work of bi-
ennials may continue without interruption, and so the seeds
ripen in less than two years. Many are found in vegetable
gardens. Members of the carrot family are frequently biennials,
though some plants of this family continue their growth under
ground year after year, the part above ground dying down each
year. This is also the habit of many Pelargoniums (" Gerani-
ums "). If plants or their parts live more than two years they
are called Perennials.

The underground part which stores food is sometimes a
stem, sometimes a root. " April Fool " (Hamanthus) stores
food in a large bulb. A bulb is a short thick stem, surrounded
by the fleshy bases of foliage leaves. Gladiolus, Moraa, and
their family, the Iridaceae usually store their food in corms.
In a corm the swollen stem contains food. The frameworks
of foliage leaves often remain attached from year to year, giving
a characteristic appearance to corms of different plants. These
are called tunics. A corm may be taken for a bulb until cut
across. New corms may arise as branches of old ones which
are active only one year or the corm may be perennial and give
rise each year to a new leafy shoot from the axil of an upper
leaf. In Testudinaria and Boiviea they become enormous.

A potato is a tuber. It is the swollen end of an under-
ground branch. That it is a stem may be seen by the " eyes "
which are buds, in the axils of reduced scale leaves. The
tubers become separated from the main plant and each bud
may produce a new plant vegetatively. A sweet potato gives
off roots. The lower part is a tuberous root. The upper part
has more the habit of a stem, as new shoots for planting are
obtained from it.

Stems, more or less swollen, which creep under ground or
are partly exposed, are called rhizomes. Plants with
rhizomes can spread without being much exposed to the sun.

28 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Bulbs, corms, tubers, and rhizomes are abundant in South
Africa and other dry, warm countries.

Asparagus, Carrots, many Pelargoniums, and others have
fleshy roots for storehouses.

Just as stems are found under ground, roots often grow
above ground. The Rubber Tree has its large root only partly
buried.

The first lateral roots of Zea mays are formed in the

FIG. 33. — Corms with their " tunics ". i, Antholysa revoltela, Burm. ;
2, Gladiolus alatus, Linn. ; 3, Lapeyrousia Pappei, Baker ; 4, Babiana ;
5, Synnotia bicolor, Sweet ; 6, Romulea longifolia, Baker ; 7, Hypoxis ovata,
Linn, fi I.

embryo, in the axil of the cotyledon. A circle of roots is
formed in the axil of each leaf of the growing plant for some
distance up the stem. Some of these make their way out
through the leaves and down to the soil where they absorb
moisture and serve to brace the plant.

In the East and about Knysna, many of the orchids are
epiphytic. Epiphytes cling to other plants but are not
parasitic upon them (see p. 98). They form dense masses

Further Growth and Duration of Plants 29

of roots some of which serve to fix the plant, while others stand
out toward the light. They are green and assist the leaves in

FIG. 34. — White Potato.

FIG. 35.— The brae
ing roots of Indian
Corn (Zea mays).

doing their work, while their outer dead cells soak up moisture
like a sponge.

Roots borne in the air are called aerial roots. The ivy
and climbing cactus use their aerial roots in climbing. They
have underground roots which absorb food material.

THE WAY TREES GROW.

Some plants continue growth, both above and below the
surface of the soil, year after year. If such a plant grows to a
height of 20 feet or more, and the lower branches remain
undeveloped and fall off, so as to leave a central stem or trunk
exposed, it is a tree. If it forks continuously from the base
and has no strong central trunk, it is called a shrub.

Roots reach out over a large area or they may extend down
to a great depth, so that trees having the two kinds of root
systems may be planted close together. Should Oaks and Blue
Gums be planted side by side ? Shade trees around a garden
should have deep growing root systems, so that they will not
remove the surface moisture required for the flowers or vege-
tables.

Plants in the germinator showed root-hairs near the tip.
They died away further back where the side roots were forming.

3O Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Of the great root system of trees, only the tips are absorbing
food material. As they push forward, the tips are protected by
a short-lived cap of tissue, which is constantly being renewed
as it is worn off.

Water and solutes (mineral substances dissolved in water)
enter the root by osmosis * and diffusion, and pass into the
bundles of long slender tubes (vascular bundles), that continue

from the root through
the stem to the very
tips of the leaves. 'I he
tubes are not continuous
throughout the length
of the plant but the con-
tents pass from one tube
to another adjacent one.
Water is required for
food material, some is
retained within the cells,
the cell walls are per-
meated with it and part
of the water taken in
passes out through the
leaves and stem into the-
air. The escape of
water is called tran-
spiration.

Cell sap contains sugar and acids. These cause the inflow
of water by osmosis. The water constantly passes from cells
with less dense to those with more dense osmotic substances.
If transpiration hastens the upward ascent of water the solutes
are not necessarily hastened since they obey different condi-
tions.- Solutes pass from cells having a greater to those having
a less concentration of solutes.

The water, in its long journey, must not be dried up, and
to guard against this, under the thin outer dress of stems and

1 See p. 57.

2 In a tobacco field Hasselbring (" Bot. Gaz." Jan. 1914) found that
plants which absorbed and transpired the most water contained a smaller
percentage and quantity of ash.

FIG. 36. — G, central cylinder, consisting of
pith, vascular bundles, and pericycle ; ft,
cortex ; A', piliferous layer ; W, root-cap.
(From Edmonds and Marloth's " Elemen-
tary Botany for South Africa ".)

Further Growth and Duration of Plants 3 *

branches an undergarment of cork is found. This garment is
made of small cells also, but while the cells beneath have
spaces between them which admit air, cork cells fit closely
together, and the walls are water-proof ; so cork in trees serves
the same purpose that it does in bottles. The cork cells are
filled with air, and these air spaces, like the loft in a house,
assist in modifying the temperature.

To support and provide food for the branches which are
added to the tree each year, the stem must increase in thick-
nes*s! This it does by means of a ring of active cells just out-
Side the woody portion of the stem. These cells, the cambium,
are most active in spring when their walls are so delicate that
they are easily broken, and the bark may then be readily re-
moved. All the growth outside of this ring of cells is bark.
.J£very boy who makes willow whistles takes advantage of the
active season of the cambium, for it is when the cells are young
and tender that careful and judicious pounding with the handle
of a jack-knife will bring the bark off entire. Later in the
season the cambium is not so active (for the whistle-making
season is limited, "as every schoolboy knows "), and the cells of
the wood are not so large.1 The large and small cells alternat-
ing make the annual rings in the wood by which the age of a
tree may be determined. Rings are formed in the bark, but
they are not so well marked as those in the wood.

As the tree grows, the thin green over-dress gets too small ;
sap cannot get to it through the cork, so the cells of which it
is made starve for lack of food ; it cracks and peels off, and
the tree henceforth is clothed in more fitting shades of grey or
brown as become its years. Young cork cells stretch, but in

1 The cause of rings is not fully understood. The former explana-
tion of pressure of the old outer cork tissue is no longer held ; nor do they
seem to be regulated by the food supply. The oak during some seasons
puts forth an earlier and a later growth of branches in one season and
thus sometimes forms two rings in one year. These, you notice, occur
on the upper branches which have the best exposure to light and air.
Down below only one period may occur during the season. Phytolacca
dioica, L., a shade tree from South America and cultivated in this country
(Bellombra or Bella sombra) forms twelve well-defined rings in a year's
growth.

32 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

time they lose their elasticity and become top small also. Just
underneath lie special cells which keep it renewed. Different
trees fashion theincork after different patterns. In Blue Gums
the renewing cells form long narrow plates, and the old tattered
garment is shed in long thin strips. In the oak and pine the
pieces are small and narrow but thick, while pieces of cork in
the wild olive are thin, small, and rough. Cork does not fall
off as fast as it cracks apart, but from a tree you can remove
layer after layer that have been formed in successive years.
This portion of the stem as far in as the cork is formed is
known as the outer bark. So long as the renewing cells, off1
cork cambium, are not destroyed, cork may be removed
without causing the death of the tree, and so from the Cork
Oak, bottle cork is removed year after year.

In this bark a substance called Tannin preserves the
wood from decay. Unfortunately for the tree, tannin is ex-^"*

Fir,. 37. — Lenticels on the bark of Poplars.

cellent for preserving leather also, and so the beautiful Protect
cynaroides. Linn., Leucospermum conocarpum, R. Br. (Kreupel

Further Growth and Duration of Plants ' 33

boom), and Rhus lucida, Linn. (Taai bosch), are being destroyed
to obtain this substance.

In summer there are rifts in the bark which admit air and
also allow escape of water. These can be seen on young stems
as small light- coloured raised openings. Being lens-shaped,
they are called lenticels. In Cassia and the Cape Lilac
(Melia Azedarach, L.) they extend horizontally, and in Ery-
thrina they are vertical. They become very conspicuous in
poplars as the trunk grows, and give the peculiar marking
to the bark. Lenticel cells are also corky, but there are
openings between them through which water and air may pass.
When trees take their winter rest, a plate of cork seals
them, so there is no waste of material. When there is no
income there must be no expenditure. In spring, new
spongy cells ' stretch and burst these little seals, and so the
lenticels can serve another season. Cork extends down to cover
the roots except the growing tip.

Many of the trees introduced to this country from the
northern hemisphere are quite bare for a part of the year ; but
they have come to shed their leaves in July and August at the
time when they bear foliage in the north.1 Mingled with the
northern trees all through South Africa are trees from Australia.
Do you know any ? Do they shed their leaves so that they
are quite bare at some time of the year ? Can you tell how
long leaves remain on any evergreen tree ?

While roots are absorbing food material, leaves are taking
in air. In the green cells of the leaves water, with the dissolved
earthy matter, is combined with the carbonic acid gas obtained
from the air to form the food of the plant.

Air, earth, and water seem at first rather unsustaining diet,
but when we consider, we find that people, in common with
other animals, since they depend altogether upon plants for
food, are nourished by the same materials.

Leaf Fall. — Toward the end of the season when the work
of the leaf is nearly finished, preparation begins for cutting it off.

1 Chestnuts have not changed their time of flowering, so it is too cold
for them to bear fruit in the Orange Free State although they come from
a much colder country.

34 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

This takes place in various ways. A special separation- or
absciss-layer is formed by cells at the base of the petiole with
or without their renewed activity. The middle wall plate of
the absciss layer becomes mucilaginous, the cells round off and
easily separate. The veins which are last to be severed become
closed with gum and by pressure of surrounding cells. In the
meantime a layer of corky cells has formed just below the

FIG. 38. — Apple stem. Section through (L) a lenticel (winter). X, xylem or
wood ; Ca, cambium ; P, phloem ; Ck, cork ; Cor, cortex ; L, lenticel. (From
Farmer's " Practical Introduction to the Study of Botany".) Photo Micro.

absciss layer; these again may be the modified cells already
present, or division may take place, the active cells being con-
tinuous with the cork cambium of the stem. The cork
cambium may remain active for a time after the leaf has fallen,
the scar thus becoming well protected.

Pines, Araucaria (Monkey Puzzle), and its relatives cut
off dwarf branches which carry a number of leaves with them.

The absciss layer is formed by living cells. If a branch is
broken so that it hangs by the bark only, the water supply is

Further Growth and Duration of Plants 3 5

cut off ; the leaves wither and hang on the branches, for no
cutting-off layer can be formed.

When pressing heaths and other small-leaved plants, if they

FIG. 39.— A. Longitudinal section through the stem and base of the petiole
of a poplar. B. Part of the stem and petiole of A more highly magnified. S,
stem; P, petiole; V.B. vascular bundle; C, cork tissue; C.S. "separation
layer ". (From Farmer's " Practical Introduction to the Study of Botany ".)

are killed by dipping in boiling water, the leaves are less liable
to fall off when the specimens become dry. Plants in press
are liable to lose their leaves because darkness and a loss of
water are conditions that hasten their fall.

3*

CHAPTER V.
GROWTH OF BUDS AND BRANCHES.

PART of the food made by the leaves is used to form the buds
for next year's growth. In a dicotyledon a bud is formed in
the axil of each leaf, so that if all grew there would be as many
branches as there are leaves. Such is not the case ; many buds
are crowded out for want of light and air ; others lie dormant
low down on the branches as reserves, in case misfortune befall
those higher up. The tender tips of branches offer tempting
morsels to animals, and even after they are out of reach of
grazing animals their dangers are not past. A swarm of locusts
may pay an untimely visit, or a strong "south-easter " may
scorch and kill leaf and branch in the spring.

Asparagus wraps up its summer buds with little papery
coverings, while the evergreen Cunonia caflensis, L.1 protects its
bud by the large stipules of the pair of leaves below. Oaks and
poplars have retained the fashion that prevails in their cold
native climate of wearing thick coverings which protect from
wet and loss of water on sunny winter days when the roots are
taking up little water or none.

Some buds contain both leaves and blossoms snugly tucked
away together. Others contain only leaves or only blossoms.
When the poplars border the streams with a delicate violet
tinge, they are just shaking out their fringes of flowers to the
breezes. They have been getting ready for the display for
many months. Fig. 41 shows at a the flower-buds of a branch
picked in December. They are well along towards next

1 Cunonia capensis, Linn. (Red Alder, Dutch Roode Els) is a tree with
opposite pinnate leaves and dense racemes of greenish-white flowers
found by streams throughout the Colony and Natal.
36

Growth of Buds and Branches

37

spring's flowering time. The furry coats on the scales will pro-
tect the little flowers from the hot suns and drying winds of

FIG. 40. — Poplar fringes, staminate
catkins.

summer, and when winter rains come
they will do excellently for storm
cloaks until it is time for the long
feathery tassels to burst forth. So
long have they been storing food,
that no wonder spring comes with a

"burst". On the main branch, Fig. 41, are the scars of last
year's leaves, b, and just above each one a scar tells where
this year's flower-stalks were borne. Just above these scars
at the end of the branch c was a bud covered with scales. After
the flower-buds burst, this bud began to grow. When the
scales fell away they left narrow scars close together. By these
scars we may tell how much growth has taken place in a
season. The branch at the left has four flower-buds, and a
bud at the end to continue the growth. The ring of scars at
the base shows that a bud was there last year.

The oak branch in Fig. 42 began its growth this year at a.

38 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

The leaves unfolded along the branch above about the same
time that the catkins were hanging their pink-and-green tassels
of flowers at c, c. The branch a-b rested in its growth until the
acorns had "set" just below. After they were well formed,

FIG. 41.— Twig showing leaf scars and buds of poplar.

the resting bud unfolded, and the summer's growth commenced
at b. If the oak has two periods of growth during the season,
in estimating the age of a branch a year's growth will include
the distance between three bud-scars. Notice the terminal

Growth of Buds and Branches 39

bud of a vigorously growing branch. Determine what part of
the leaf protects the tip of the stem.

The terminal bud of a fig and of the magnolia is covered
by one pair of large stipules that are formed at the base of
each leaf. They fall off quickly and leave their scar encircling
the stern. Do any other trees have similar scales ? What pro-

FiG. 42.— Branch of an Oak.

tects the bud in Erythrina (Kaffir- boom) ? In the garden
pea? The castor-oil plant ?

A bud is a shortened stem covered by leaves. Bamboos
have very long buds covered by enormous scale leaves. A
cabbage is a large bud.

The life of a terminal bud determines the shape and

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

character of a tree. In the Blue Gum and Norfolk Pine x the

terminal bud continues
its growth throughout
the life of the tree. This
gives to the tree a tall,
erect habit. In Au-
stralia, where the Blue
Gums are not cut for
firewood, they become
the tallest trees in the
world.

If the terminal bud
continues for a few sea-
sons and then dies, the
tree has a broader,
bushier habit. A branch
of the Weeping Willow
(Salix capensis, Thunb.)
grows for a season and
at the close the terminal
bud dies. The lateral bud
takes the nourishment and
continues the growth. This
mode of growth gives a droop-
ing habit, the reverse of the
Norfolk Pine. A rose also
branches in this way, causing
the bush to spread.

Galls.— The tips of Clif-
fortia, Aspalathus, and other
shrubs often have peculiar
terminal buds. We know
they will not produce flowers.
Cliffortia has two kinds of
flowers, but they are not
borne at the tips of branches.
These swollen buds are Galls.

FIG. 44. — Galls on Cli/t

1Araucaria (Monkey Puzzle), see p. 34.

Growth of Buds and Branches 41

In spring, when the buds were tender and full of sap, insects
pierced them with a sharp lance they carry with them, the
ovipositor, and placed an egg in the centre of each one.
Shortly after, from each egg a small white grub was hatched,
which passed all that stage of its life in solitary confinement.

FIG. 45. — Branch thorns of Kei
Apple.

FIG. 46. — Branch thorns of Pome-
granate.

Its presence caused the bud to swell so that the few leaves
usually formed were not sufficient to protect the mass of tender
cells. A great number are stimulated to
growth which give the bud the appearance of
a small cone. Different combinations of
insect and plant give galls of various forms.
When they have reached full size (as shown by
last year's galls), you can split some through
the centre and view the cause of all the dis-
turbance.

Disguised Branches. — Some branches
are so altered in appearance that it is not at
first evident what they are. In the Kei Apple
and Pomegranate it can be seen that the
thorns are branches, because they rise from
the axils of leaves. In the Pomegranate the
end of a branch becomes a thorn. A leaf on
a thorn also tells us that it is a branch. Some
branches develop into tendrils. Collect as many tendril-bear-

FIG. 47. — Leaf-
like branches
of Asparagus.

42 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

ing plants as you can find, and tell by their positions whether
they are branches or leaves or parts of leaves.

Similarly, by their position we can see that the "leaves"
of Asparagus are branches. This will be difficult to understand,
especially in the broad " leaved " species, until we see that they
grow from the axils of small scale leaves.1 Leaves soon attain
their full growth while branches grow on indefinitely. There
are exceptions to these statements. The Asparagus branches
show an exception to the second statement, as do also the
dwarf branches that bear the foliage leaves of the pine, the
fruit of apple and peach trees, and others will be found.

The Law of Correlation of Growth. — This law has
been observed by plants for ages. What does it mean ? When
a part of a plant is destroyed, the plant's first work is to replace
that part. We see how beautifully the law is obeyed when
flowers are picked ; how many more come to replace them.
When leaves are destroyed by locusts or caterpillars, dormant
buds which might have remained for ever inactive are given
light and air ; the food that would have gone to the destroyed
part is turned toward these buds, which grow and unfold new
leaves. If shoots are destroyed, new shoots are produced ;
while if roots are destroyed, the first thing needed is new roots.
Leaves would not unfold if there were no roots to absorb
nourishment. When trees are transplanted, some roots are
necessarily injured at the tips. The roots are trimmed off,
whereupon a vigorous growth of new roots takes their place.

Fig. 48 shows a young pine seedling which has had its tip
cut off. Two buds soon appeared in the axils of the cotyledons.
The tip, which was placed in the ground, began to form the
lacking roots. This demand upon the plant retarded the
growth of the stem, which made no evident growth, while the
branches on the seedling increased nearly 3 inches. As
a pine tree grows older it loses the power of renewing lost parts.
If the tip meets with injury, a side branch will shoot upward
rapidly and take its place, leaving only a vacant space to tell

1 Asparagus, with broad green branches (Phylloclades), is often mis-
called Smilax, which has green leaves — not scale leaves.

Growth of Buds and Branches

43

the tale, until the light and air causing the neighbouring branches
to put forth extra energy close in the space.

FIG. 48.— Pine seedling.

Cut back the roots and replant a thrifty Acorn seedling.
When new shoots have formed
repeat the operation several times.
Have another seedling growing to
compare the growth.

The Japanese have long been
famous for their secret of pro-
ducing dwarf trees. Oaks, over
a hundred years old, grow com-
fortably in a small pot. Maybe
if you bear this law in mind you
may discover their secret — or a
new process.

According to this law, if one FlG 4g._Large and small leaves
part of a plant grows to a large of Carissaferox, E.M.

size it does so at the expense of other parts. The leaves on

44 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

horizontal branches of Carissa ferox, E.M. show this. They are
arranged in pairs. The leaves which are exposed to the light are
large, while the alternate pairs at right angles to these are not
so well placed to receive the light and, perhaps for this reason, or
because the pair on either side have developed at their expense,
they remain much smaller. Other examples of the same nature
may be seen in the study of flowers, where one whorl is often
developed at the expense of another. In the ray flowers of
Compositae, where the corolla is conspicuous, the stamens are
wanting ; this may give a chance for the ovaries to develop or
they too may be sacrificed, as in the sunflower. While in the
less conspicuous disk flowers where the stamens develop, the
ovaries may fail to form fruit as in Othonna, Osleospermum, and
Eriocephalus.

On page 17 a correlation was found to exist between the
development of root hairs and the supply of moisture.

CHAPTER VI.
A STUDY OF LEAVES.

How many can draw from memory leaf outlines of three dif-
ferent plants? From what plants were the leaves obtained for
the drawings on this page ? If you have never thought about
leaves, you will be surprised to find how many different shapes
there are, even on the same plant, and how differently they are
arranged on different plants.

FIG. 50.— Trifoliate leaf.

FIG. 51.- — Paripinnate leaf.
(From Edmonds and Mar-
loth's " Elementary Botany
for South Africa".)

Most leaves are green, but not every plant has leaves.
Mushrooms have none. Do all Mistletoes have leaves ?

In studying leaves, we may consider their forms, their parts
and positions on the stem, and see how they are all fitted to
do their work to the best advantage.

What is a leaf? It is sometimes difficult to know just how
45

46 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

much to call a leaf. In the bean we called what looked like
three leaves a single leaf. How shall we tell that the third
leaf in the bean was not three leaves? In studying branches,
we found that they were borne in the axil of each leaf. If you
examine a branch with leaves like those in Fig. 51, will
you find buds at the base of each part or only where the main
stalk joins the stem ?

Another test will help us to decide. Leaves remain on a
tree for a certain length of time and then fall. When a leaf
like that in Fig. 5 1 falls, does the stalk that extends through
the centre remain or fall off too ? A leaf that has several dis-
tinct parts or leaflets is a compound leaf.

The Parts of a Leaf.— Fig. 5 2 is the leaf of Hibiscus. It
has one large flat upper portion, the blade, a stalk or petiole,
and at the base two small leaf-like
bodies called stipules. If a leaf has
no stipules it is said to be exstip-
ulate. If the leaf-blade joins directly
upon the stem and has no stalk, it is
sessile. The needle-shaped leaves
of pines and heaths have no expanded
blades. Sometimes stipules are de-
ciduous ; that is, they fall off very
quickly, as the Fig and Oak. We
must examine young leaves to make
sure whether they are stipulate or ex-
stipulate.

The Veins of a Leaf.— Hold a
thin leaf up to the light and notice
how it is marked with delicate veins.
These are made up of the long hollow
tubes which carry the food material to its destination. They
also serve as a framework to prevent the leaf from tearing. Do
they serve like the framework of an umbrella to keep the leaf
sprea'd out ? You can answer this by looking at pumpkin leaves
which have withered in the heat on a sunny day.

The species* of Senetio (Fig. 53) has a thick leaf stored with
food, which would be wasted if the leaf were torn in the

FIG. 52. — Simple leaf of
Hibiscus with stipules.

A Study of Leaves

47

wind. It has a firm vein running around the margin which
prevents tearing. The thin broad leaves of a Banana have no
such border. The wind would bring such a strain on the trees
that they would be blown down were it not that the leaves tear
down between the veins. The younger leaves are rolled, so
that less surface is exposed to the wind. The Date Palm de-
fends itself in the same way, only the leaf splits earlier and has
a more tidy appearance. It looks like a compound leaf when it

FIG. 53. — Firmly bound leaf of Senecio sp.

is quite unfolded. Examine young date leaves. They are
plaited instead of rolled.

When leaves are branched, the branching depends upon
the branching of the veins. In some leaves there is a strong
central vein, from which other veins branch on either side as
the pinnae branch from the quill of a feather. Such venation
is termed pinnate. Or several strong veins may start from
the base qr lower portion of the leaf, and the venation is said
to be palmate (hand-like).

In most dicotyledons the prominent veins join each other
so as to form an irregular network ; the veinlets end freely arid

48 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

the margins are often notched. In monocotyledons they
usually run more or less parallel, the veinlets join near the
margin which is usually entire. Simple leaves are sometimes
cut. They are called lobed, parted, or divided, according to
the depth of the incisions.

The leaflets of a compound leaf are attached by a little
hinge or joint. Lebeckia linearifolia, E.M. has but one leaflet.

FIG. 54. — Banana leaves torn by the wind.

FlG. 55. — Compound leaf of
Orange with one leaflet.

The hinge at the base tells that it is a compound leaf which has
become reduced to a single leaflet. Other Lebeckias have
several leaflets. The same is true of the Orange and Lemon
leaf. The trifoliate Orange has three leaflets.

The Arrangement of Leaves on the Stem.— We
have seen that leaves are not well developed when covered
from the light. Light as well as air is necessary for green
leaves to do their work of making food for the plant. Too

A Study of Leaves

49

much light, however, is injurious. If we bear in mind these
two facts, it will help to explain the meaning of the forms and
arrangements.

Leaves also transpire ; but the plant must not lose too
much water. To be able to meet all these conditions, it is
not surprising that we find such a variety of forms and arrange-
ments.

FIG. 56. — Orchid stem with leaves arranged on opposite sides of the stem.

The leaves of the Orchid in Fig. 56 have broad bases
which encircle the stem. They are arranged in two rows, so
that, calling the lowermost leaf No. i, the third and fifth will
be directly over it. The distance from one midrib to another
is one-half the distance around the stem.

Canna and Kei Apple have broad thin leaves, the fourth is
over the first, so that the second and third are exposed to the
4

50 Plants and their Ways in South. Africa

light. The distance from the midrib of one leaf to that of
another is one-third the distance around the stem. What leaf
will come over the fourth? This may be found by drawing a

FIG. 57. — Spirals showing J, ?., ? Phyllotaxy.

spiral and dividing it into three sections. Imagine the centre
to be the tip of the stem. Beginning where one of the lines
cuts the outer end of the spiral, place leaf number one. Two
and three will fall on the other lines. The fourth will be in
line with the first. By placing each succeeding leaf one-third

A Study of Leaves 5 1

of the way around the spiral, the seventh will fall on the line
with the first and fourth.

Aloe ciliaris bears the sixth leaf over the first. The
distance from leaf to leaf is two-fifths of the way around the
spiral. What leaf will come over number three ? The
distance from one leaf to the one next younger is called the
angle of divergence. Other Aloes have different angles of di-
vergence. Besides the -£, ^, f divergence, the fractions f, T5¥, ¥8T
will represent the arrangement on Proteas and other plants with
leaves attached by narrow bases. Still other arrangements may
be found.

Besides the spiral arrangement, leaves are frequently placed
opposite to one another. When the alternate pairs of leaves
are at right angles to each other, as in Carissa and Sage, the
leaves are said to be decussate. Not all opposite leaves are
decussate. The Crassulas have opposite leaves, but some have
the pairs spirally arranged.

Making leaf spirals is excellent work for very warm or rainy
days. On pleasant days find as many plants as possible to il-
lustrate these spirals.

Phyllotaxy is the word used meaning leaf arrangement.
It is sometimes difficult to make out on branches placed hori-
zontally, as the leaves borne on the lower side turn so as to
face the light. Compare them with upright branches.

Instead of drawing spirals, long strips of paper, such as
telegraph messages are received on, may be coiled and marked
into divisions and then pulled out to represent the stem.

Dr. Kolbe has made an ingenious device for showing phyl-
lotaxy, which he has kindly described and illustrated for us.

DR. KOLBE'S PHYLLOTAXY APPARATUS.

"Take a strip of corrugated brown paper, about four
inches wide and about three yards long. Roll it up closely,
but not too tightly, and paste white paper round the cylinder
so formed. From the top the coil will look like this (Fig. 58) —

" On the outside of the white paper, divide the circumference
into fifths, eighths, etc., as far as you want to show the fractions
4*

52 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

— fifths and eighths alone are enough for me. I mark the

5 8

FIG. 58. — Phyllotaxy apparatus.

fifths with blue pencil, and the eighths with red. Side vie<

FIG. 59.

Now cut leaves of various sizes and number them in order,
the smallest being i for
convenience' sake,
though, of course, it is
the last in growth. Cut
the leaf thus —
FIG. 60. " Roll up the paral-

lelogram to form a petiole. These petioles will slip into the

A Study of Leaves
a b

53

Jlosette. fsection,)

FIG. 61.

Stem.

FlG. 62. — Branch of Bupleurum difform e, L. , showing variety in leaves.

54 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

grooves of the corrugated paper, and when you let go they
expand so as to fit fairly tight.

" Now put leaf i near the middle, pointing to one of the
fifths; go round the spiral, and put the next leaf facing the
second fifth from the first ; and so on, till you have some
twenty leaves in position. The phyllotaxy then becomes
evident.

FIG. 63. — Scablosa. The cut upper FIG. 64.— Branch of Rhus, showing th
leaves allow the light to penetrate simple leaf at the base of each branch,
below.

"If you have not twisted the spiral too tight, the central
portion will be found to be moveable. Push it down to
show a rosette of radical leaves ; push it up to show a stem.

"The stem is very conical, even comical, but the rosette is
almost an improvement on Nature.

" By taking coloured leaves for sepals and petals, wax-

A Study of Leaves

55

matches for stamens, etc., the same apparatus can be used for
making solid diagrams of flowers."

Have you noticed by what other ways leaves manage to get

FIG. 65.— Diagram of forms and margins of leaves.

light? Some have much larger leaves' below, so that the upper
ones cover only a portion. It is more economical for the
plant to extend the lower leaves on long petioles. The upper
leaves let the light to the lower ones in some cases by being
much cut or lobed. In this way the differences in the upper
and lower leaves of Bupleurum difforme, L., and Scabiosa come

56 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

to have a new meaning for us. Plants frequently lose all
traces of their early leaves, but the first leaf on each branch
of the Rhus shown in Fig. 64 serves to remind us of the plant's
simple habits in early life.

Attempts have been made to name the different shapes of
leaves. To name them all would be a difficult task, as no two
leaves are just the same shape.

Aside from the general outline, leaves vary in their margins.
They may be entire, or serrate (saw toothed), dentate (toothed),
crenate or scalloped, repand, undulate, and so on.

The diagrams of forms and margins of leaves mentioned
'by Linnaeus are shown in Fig. 65. You can find other shapes.

CHAPTER VII.

WATERWAYS IN PLANTS.

How Roots take in Water. — In Chapter IV we read of the
water passing from the soil into the roots and thence to the
leaves. It is now time to see how this is done.

Each root-hair is a small cell consisting of a jelly-like but
living substance called protoplasm surrounded by a thin wall.
Each cell absorbs water, which makes it
firm. This water holds salts dissolved in
it, which are obtained from the soil.
When a plant is supplied with water it
passes through the walls of the root-hairs
and on into other cells ; for the whole
plant is made up of millions of tiny cells.
To see how this is done, let us try an
experiment.

Ex. 13. A Bottle Cell — Take a small
wide-necked bottle and fill with syrup made
by dissolving a teaspoonful of sugar in half a
cup of water. Tie over the mouth a piece of
membrane.1

Be careful that the solution quite fills the
bottle before covering. Sink the bottle in a cup of fresh water and set
aside until the next day. The membrane now bulges over the mouth.
Water has been drawn into the " cell ". Into the remainder of the syrup
dissolve sugar until no more can be taken. Sink the cell into this thick
syrup and set aside for another day. What has happened ? The thick
syrup has drawn the water out. The water within has passed in the

1 Obtain a bladder at the butcher's shop. . Have the butcher remove
the surplus meat and inflate it. When a piece is required, cut it the
required size and soak it. It will become thick, but can be separated into
layers. Botanical supply companies supply diffusion cells for the purpose,
which are neater and more convenient, and should be obtained.
57

FIG. 66. — A bottle
"cell". I. Bottle con-
taining sugar solution ;
II. the bottle after re-
maining in the cup of
fresh water.

58 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

direction of the stronger solution. Try the same experiment with salt
instead of sugar.

Ex. 14. Dissolve out the lime from the shells of two eggs with dilute
hydrochloric acid. Place one in fresh water and the other in a salt solu-
tion. If the salt solution is of the right strength, diffusion will take place
and the egg will shrink, while the other will take up water by endosmosis
and will greatly increase in size.

Ex. 15. Remove the shell from one end of an egg, taking care not to
injure the thin inner membrane ; insert a slender glass tube at the other
end, letting it come into contact with the white and seal the join with wax.
Place the egg upright in a slender jar which has been nearly filled with
water to which a few drops of methyl blue has been added, so that the
water comes into contact with the uninjured membrane. In a short time
clear water will rise in the tube.

Ex. 16. Place the leaf stalk of a pumpkin in water which has had
salt dissolved in it. Leave for a few hours. How does the stalk look ?
Now wash off the salt and place in fresh water. Notice a few hours later. •
How has the stalk altered ?

Ex. 17. Boil a piece of beet-root or a green bean pod for a few min-
utes in water. When removed they arequite limp. The water is coloured.
When placed in fresh water they do not become firm again. Boiling has
killed the living protoplasm. The dead membrane cannot hold the col-
oured sap. Living cells can retain the sap until a certain amount of pres-
sure is set up within the cell. This keeps the plant firm. Protoplasm
acts because it is alive.

Roots not only draw material from the soil, but they send
out an acid which dissolves the hard rocks.

Ex. 18. Germinate seeds in a flower-pot into which has been placed
an inclined piece of marble having the smooth side up. Keep the roots
watered until the pot is well filled with their growth. Remove the marble,
and look on it for the etching made by the roots.

Ex. 19. Fasten to a glass slide with a rubber band a piece of blue
litmus paper, between the glass and a germinating seed. The glass and
paper should be previously moistened well with steam or distilled water.
Place within a covered dish. As the radicle lengthens, notice the faint
change in colour on the paper. Acid colours blue litmus paper red. It
may be the carbonic acid which is formed when roots breathe out carbonic
vacid gas, as we shall find out they do. Besides carbonic acid, an acid salt
is excreted from roots, acid potassium phosphate.1

How the Water is Lifted up.— Within the "bottle
cell," pressure made the membrane bulge. Cut off growing
bean stems below the cotyledons. Drops of water collect at

1 Not all roots excrete sufficient acid to show these tests.

Waterways in Plants

59

the cut end and run down the stem. Pressure from below
forces it up.1

In order to see how long this continues, we may try another
experiment. It will require a vigorous young plant such as a
Castor Oil, Pelargonium, or Grape Vine, a piece of glass tubing
as large as the stem, also some string and a stake of wood.

Ex. 20. Cut the stem an inch or two from the soil. Slip one end of
the rubber tubing over the glass and the other over the cut stem which
was left in the soil. Place a little
water in the tube to prevent the *>tem
from drying and tie the glass firmly
to the stake. Be sure that the rubber
makes a tight joint. It may be tied at
each end. The water will rise in the
tube. At the close of the day mark
the height at which the water stands.
Notice how much has passed during
the night. Mark the height at each
hour of the day. Are the marks the
same distance apart ? Does the water
constantly rise ?

Ex. 21. What becomes of the
water ? Place the upper part of the
plant cut off in the last experiment in
a slender jar of water. Pour a layer
of oil over the top to prevent evapora-
tion, or thrust the cut end through a
stopper and seal with wax. Cover
the whole with a bell-jar or a fruit-jar.
See that the glass is quite dry before
covering. In a short time the jar will
be lined with a thin mist, which will
collect in drops of water.

Water passes from the Leaves and Stem of a
Plant in the form of Vapour. As the leaves give off
vapour more water is drawn up to take its place.

Ex. 22. Soak strips of paper in cobalt chloride. Dry thoroughly, and
notice how they change from red to blue as they dry. Dry the inside of
the jar containing the plant. After remaining in the bell-jar for a while
the paper changes back to red. This also shows that vapour is passing
from the leaves.

1 This pressure accounts only in part for the upward ascent, which
is not fully understood. Evaporation from the leaf surface is doubtless
connected with the lifting of water .

FIG. 67. — Apparatus to demon-
strate root-pressure. The cut
stem is fastened to a glass tube
by means of rubber tubing. The
tube leads by an arm into the
jar ( J ). Both are filled wi th water
with mercury in the bottom of
the jar. As the cells in the root
force the water into the tube the
mercury is forced up into the
small tube, t.

60 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

This pretty experiment should not be omitted. Cobalt chloride may
be obtained from the chemist. Sixpennyworth will prepare sufficient
paper to last some time. It will keep, and the same piece may be used
repeatedly.

Ex. 23. Place under the bell-jar fruits of Erodium or Pelargonium and
watch them uncoil ; remove, dry in the sun, and repeat the experiment.

Ex. 24. Place a leafy shoot in a glass U-tube (a straight piece of
glass may be heated and bent the required shape). Connect the shoot to
the tube with rubber tubing so that no air can enter. The tube should be
filled from the other end with water. When the water has been nearly
drawn out of one arm, pour in mercury. The mercury, which is very
heavy, will be raised higher in the arm of the tube containing the plant
than in the other, so the leaves can do some heavy lifting.

Does water pass from leaves in any form but
vapour ? If so, it must be in drops. Place a pot of germin-
ating Indian Corn or Oats under a bell-jar overnight. The
next morning notice the tip of each blade where there are
small holes through which water can pass in drops.

After a warm night or in shaded places the tips of the
young blades in a corn field may be seen beautifully aglisten
with drops.

They are not dewdrops, for they are there when no dew is
formed on other plants. Other plants show the same nicely.
See the drops on Tropceolum (Nasturtium) plants where open-
ings on the leaves are placed at the end of each strong vein.

On a very warm afternoon in summer an entire Rose bush
may have the serrate points of every leaf glistening with a drop
of water.

Does vapour pass off in equal amount from both
leaf surfaces ?

Ex. 25. Place an Apricot leaf between two sheets of filter paper soaked
in cobalt chloride.1 The leaf should be dried from all surface water ; then
place between two plates of glass.2 On all place a light weight. In half
an hour, or less, eximine. The paper next the under side of the leaf will
be red, that on the upper surface will be only slightly changed. Moisture
given off by the leaf has changed the colour.

1 Try the same experiment with a Sunflower leaf; with a leaf from a
pepper tree.

2 Line two pieces of sheet cork with plush and cut holes in the centre
of each. Fasten a cover glass over each hole. This may be fastened
over the cobalt chloride paper with a rubber band.

Waterways in Plants

6l

The greater amount of water passes off from the
lower surface of the leaf. This is true of many leaves,
but not of all. Is the result the same for the lower broad
leaves and the upper narrow leaves of the Blue Gum? Where
does the water escape from the
Water-lily leaf? From silver
leaves? From "April Fool"
leaves ?

Why do plants usually lose
more water from the under
side ? How the leaf controls the
escape of vapour can be seen with
a microscope. A picture will help
to make it clear for the present.
Scattered over the under surface
of the Apricot leaf are very small
holes called stomates (singular
stoma) or stomata (mouths). Two
crescent- shaped cells surround the
opening. These lip cells open and
close. During the day they are
open, and evaporation keeps the
leaves cool. If leaves were as hot
as the stones around them they
would die. In very dry weather
the stomata close so that less water
escapes. These stomata open into
spaces within the leaf into which
water passes from surrounding cells.
On a summer day leaves lift up
and lose tons of water. Leaves
borne on the surface of water or cl^se to the soil have their
stomata on the upper surface.1

The Water Path from Root to Leaves.— Water does
not pass up to the leaves through all parts of the stem. If a
Begonia stem is placed in water coloured with red ink, in a few
hours the ink will mark the path it has taken. Cut the stem

1 An area on the under surface which could be covered by the capital
O on this page contains over 3000 stomata.

FIG. 68. — I. Horizontal section
through the epidermis of the
under side of the leaf of Eu-
onymus japonicus looked at
from below ; sp, stomata. II.
Course of development of the
stoma of Arthropodium cir-
thatum : spm, mother - cell
ready for division ; sp', sp",
sp'", successive stages of divi-
sion. III. Mature stoma.
(From Edmonds and Mar-
loth's "Elementary Botany
for South Africa".)

62 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

across and the paths will show as small round dots. They show
plainly in Pumpkin stems as strong slender threads. These
threads are bundles of still smaller tubes or vessels, and so the
strands are known as vascular bundles. Break off a Violet
leaf; the vascular bundle may be drawn out from the broken
end. The petioles of Plantain or \Vild Sago, which grows along

FIG. 69. — Leaf of Privet. E, epidermis of upper; E!, of under surface;
C, cuticle ; P, palisade cells ; V, vascular bundle enclosed in its sheath ; S,
stoma, G, guard cell ; Gl, gland. (From Farmer's " Practical Introduction to
the Study of Botany".)

sluits, show the vascular bundles nicely. They may be traced
to the veins of the leaves in which they end. They even pass
to all parts of the flower. In the Strawberry they may be easily
seen passing into each " seed " of the fruit. All parts of the
plant must be nourished.

Ex. 26. From a woody stem bearing leaves (a willow is good for the
purpose), remove a ring of bark down to the wood. Place the lower end
in water over which a layer of oil has been poured ; cover with a bell-jar.
The water will be used up and the leaves will transpire water vapour.

Ex. 27. Carefully separate the bark from the wood at the tower end
of the stem ; remove the wood and place the stem so that only the bark
is in the water. The leaves quickly wither. This shows that water is
carried up through the wood.

CHAPTER VIII.
CELLS AND TISSUES.

THE present chapter, which may better be omitted on first
reading, is intended to give a more detailed account of cells
and their association into tissues which have been mentioned
frequently in Chapters IV and VII. For this chapter a micro
scope should be used.

The term cell suggests honeycomb ; in fact the cells first
described were regarded as small cavities surrounded by walls,
but the more essential living part of the cell is that which the
wall contains.

In atypical cell there may be found (i) the protoplasm,
(2) the cell sap, (3) the cell wall.

(i) Protoplasm mentioned in Chapter VII as the living
part of the cell, includes : —

(i) The cytoplasm, a gelatinous substance having the ap-
pearance of the white of an egg. It is a complex structure and
consists of proteids — that is of organic compounds made up
of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, and usually
phosphorus.1 When living it is in constant activity, undergoing
continual breaking down and renewal and is besides in cease-
less motion. The rate of movement depends to a large extent
upon temperature.

Young hairs of Indian corn leaves reveal this motion if
examined under a microscope. The protoplasm here circu-
lates to and fro from the wall to a stationary body, called

(ii) The nucleus. This is a body of the utmost importance.
It is complex in composition, complicated in structure, and is

1 Living and dead protoplasm differ in chemical composition.
63

64 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

the centre of the cell's life and activity. It appears in its rest-
ing state as a denser shining portion of the protoplasm, spheri-
cal or lens-shaped. Volumes have been written on its structure
and behaviour, the rhythmic dance of its parts in the activity
of division which initiates cell division, and the preparation it
undergoes when about to fuse with another nucleus in the re-
productive process. A larger book must be consulted for these
changes.

(iii) The plastids are special little organs embedded with
the nucleus in the cytoplasm. Like the nucleus, these are
formed from pre-existing plastids. They have their special
work to do and are of three kinds : —

(a) Chloroplastids, bodies which contain the green
colouring matter by virtue of which the plant is enabled to ap-
propriate the energy of the sun's rays for photosynthesis (see
Chapter XII.). In brown and red seaweeds other colouring
matter masks the green. By dipping the plants in boiling
water these colours will be extracted and the green colour will
then become visible. By dipping again in boiling alcohol the
green colour will be extracted.

(b) Leucoplastids, which are bodies similar to chloro-
plastids but are colourless. They are often found in parts
concealed from light, as in potato tubers. When these parts
are exposed they may develop chlorophyll.

(f) Chromoplastids contain a substance which gives
colour to most yellow and red flowers and to carrots. When
fruits ripen or leaves take on their autumn tints of yellow,
chloroplastids change to chromoplastids.

(2) Cell Sap. — A young cell is filled with protoplasm.
In older cells the protoplasm does not increase in proportion to
the cell wall. Several vacuoles and in time a large central
cavity are formed within it. These are filled with cell sap.

' It consists of water in which are dissolved food material and
prepared foods. Blue and some red flowers owe their hues to
colouring substances dissolved in the sap.

(3) Cell Walls. — Not all cells possess walls ; bright orange
masses may be found on pine needles in damp places. They
are a stage of a low class of plants known as the Myxomycetes.

Cells and Tissues 65

Each cell of this mass is without a wall ; its protoplasm can
reach out in any direction and creep or stream from one
place to another. By placing some in a moist chamber this
streaming may be watched. Cells of higher plants have walls,
except some which are connected with reproduction.

Cell walls are commonly of cellulose. This is a carbo-
hydrate which varies in different plants. Its chemical formula
is (C6H10O5)re. It is derived from the cell protoplasm with
which it is always in contact in a living cell, and when active it
is saturated with water.

As cells mature they undergo a variety of changes. These
are alterations in chemical composition, in shape, and in
thickness of the wall.

Chemically the walls may become lignified or woody, when
they become highly elastic and permeable to water, suberized
or corky, as in the outer bark ; such cells are impermeable to
water and air and are therefore fitted for protecting. Cutin,
occurring in the walls of the epidermis as in cabbage leaves
and those of Othonna and Protea, is of the same service as
suber. Walls may become mucilaginous. They swell and
become gelatinous when soaked in water, they serve to fix the
seed to soil in the case of linseed and cress, and while food
material is usually stored within the cell cavity, mucilage, e.g.
in tubers of Orchids, and the thick cellulose walls in the seed
of Coffee and Date, are used as reserve food. In Acacia a
further change occurs and the walls change to gum which dis-
solves in water.

The shape of the cell which constitutes a whole plant in
itself may be round or nearly so, but when cells combine to
form tissues they become flattened, angular, and sometimes
much longer than broad. They may join each other by flat
surfaces or they may overlap by long pointed ends. Long
pointed cells are commonly found in wood and in the inner
bark. Such cells are called prosenchyma to distinguish them
from parenchyma where the cells are about equal in length
and breadth.

Cells placed end to end may lose their end walls and form
long continuous tubes or vessels. Vessels always lose their
5

66 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

protoplasm ; they have markings of different patterns due to
successive thickening layers which are laid down on the inner
surface of the walls and serve to strengthen them. Vessels
convey the transpiration current with its dissolved food
material in its upward flow and at length they may serve only
as air carriers. Because of the appearance given by their
markings vessels are known as trachea.

Fibres may have the same markings as vessels ; they are
then called tracheids.

Vessels and tracheids are found in the wood of plants.
The first vessels to be formed (protoxylem) have the thicken-
ing laid down in rings, or spirals. Those formed later on have
simple or bordered pits and ladderlike or scalariform markings.

Sieve tubes are found outside the cambium in the phloem.1
Their end walls are not wholly absorbed but are perforated in a
sieve-like manner. They have not the markings of vessels
and retain their protoplasm as long as they perform their
function. There is reason to believe that they serve to convey
rapidly food containing nitrogen from the place where it is
elaborated to parts below.

Besides wood vessels and sieve tubes there are latex
vessels or milk tubes. They branch and fuse, forming a
network. The walls remain cellulose and are but little if at all
thickened. Like the sieve tubes they are without markings.
Their contents, latex, are milky, e.g. Asclepias, Euphorbia,
Carissa, Sonchus ; watery in the poppy family (Papaveraceae),
where coloured latex is also found. Latex contains nutritive
substance and possibly waste material.

A variety of other substances are found within cells either
as food or as waste products. Of these may be mentioned : —

i. Starch. — This is one of the commonest forms in which
reserve carbohydrates may be found. In green parts it is
"formed as very small grains within chloroplasts. In storage
organs, however, as in seeds and tubers, they are formed on
leucoplasts and are large and conspicuous. A starch grain
shows an inner watery spot, the hilum, with layers around it

1 See p. 72. In some stems sieve tubes are also internal to the wood,
Some of these are mentioned farther on in the text.

Cells and Tissues 67

formed of denser portions alternating with more watery layers.
In Rice and Oat seeds they are compound.

2. Sugars, fatty oils, inulin are other forms of non-nitro-
genous reserve food. Inulin like sugar is found in solution,
but it may be crystallized out by irrigating the tissue with
alcohol. It may be found in tubers of certain Composite,
e.g. Dahlia, Othonna, in Campanulaceae and other orders.

Starch, sugar, inulin are like cellulose carbohydrates ; i.e.
they consist of the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, in
which H and O are combined in the same proportion as in
water.

3. Proteids. — Food containing nitrogen may be stored in
the form of proteid grains. These are larger and more easily
examined in oily than in starchy seeds. In the Castor Oil seed
the proteid is especially large. It consists of a proteid body
enclosing one or more proteid crystalloids and a mineral
granule globoid, made of a double phosphate of calcium and
magnesium. While the proteids are distinguished from the
oils and carbohydrates as nitrogenous foods they also contain
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and in addition sulphur and
sometimes phosphorus.

4. Amides are simpler forms of nitrogenous foods con-
taining carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. They occur as
reserve food chiefly in roots, bulbs, and tubers as asparagin,
tyrosin, and leucin.

5. Minerals. — Crystals of calcium oxalate are frequently
found in cells. These are generally regarded as excretions,
i.e. when once set apart they no longer function in the plant's
activity. Crystals may occur singly or in groups. They are
frequently octahedral. In the vine and in many monocoty-
ledons they occur as clusters of raphides or needle-shaped
crystals.

Calcium carbonate is more rarely found. It occurs in the
form of cystoliths, e.g. fustida, Ficus, Morus. In the develop-
ment of cystoliths an ingrowth appears on the wall of an
epidermal cell, forming a stalk and an expanded portion, the
latter appearing like a cluster of grapes. It diminishes in size,
and bubbles of COa are given off when the cystolith is treated
5 *

68 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

with hydrochloric acid, showing that the cellulose is encrusted
with carbonate of lime. At times there is an abundance of
lime while again it disappears ; it may therefore be an ac-
cumulation which is secreted and may be of further use, though
it also is commonly regarded as an excretion or waste product.

6. Resins and Ethereal oils, which give odour to many
plants, are probably excreted products. They remain in leaves
and are cut off at leaf fall.

7. Xannin-containing cells are found in abundance in
epidermis and cortex ; tannin is probably a waste product.

8. Enzymes which serve to digest food substances and
render them capable of absorption are secreted in special cells
in Cruciferae, Capparidaceae, and other orders.

To summarize : —
Cells may be —

1. As to chemical composition, of cellulose, lignin, suber,
cutin, mucilage.

2. As to growth forms parenchymatous, about as long as
broad, not pointed (rounded, oval, tabular, flattened, stellate).

Prosenchymatous, long and pointed.

3. As to thickening —

(a) Not forming patterns —

Collenchyma, angles thickened, unlignified with

contents.
Parenchyma —

Sclerotic cells, uniformly thickened, lignified

without contents.
Thick walled parenchyma, uniformly thickened,

retaining contents.
Prosenchyma —

Sclerenchyma, uniformly thickened, lignified,
without contents.

(b] Forming patterns —

Parenchyma with simple pits found in wood,

phloem, cortex, pith.
Prosenchyma and vessels, forming rings, spirals,

simple and bordered pits ; found in wood ; in

tracheae and tracheids.

Cells and Tissues

69

4. As to fusion —

(a) Without protoplasmic contents and with markings —

Vessels, end fusion complete, found in wood,
conveying transpiration current and air.

(b] With protoplasmic contents without markings —

Sieve tubes, ends perforated, found in phloem,

carrying elaborated food.

Latex vessels, end fusion complete, forming a
network, found in various parts, carrying latex.
All of the cells mentioned here except latex tubes may be
found in the oak stem (Fig. 72).

/?

FIG. 70.— Cell structure. A, young parenchymatous cells ; />, protoplasm ;
k, nucleus ; kk, nucleolus ; B, older cells showing vacuoles ; s in C, the vacuoles
have become larger ; y, the protoplasm has withdrawn from the wall and the
cell will become inactive.

5. As to contents —
A typical cell has

(a) Protoplasm consisting of cytoplasm

with outer layer, ectoplasm.
inner layer, endoplasm.
nuclear membrane, kinoplasm.

(b] Nucleus, with nucleolus.

7O Plants and their Ways in South Africa

[Chloroplastids.

(c) Plastids -! Leucoplastids.

I Chromoplastids.

(d) Cell sap
Cells may contain

Water and food material.

Air.

Reserve food

Non-nitrogenous f Starch, Sugar, Inulin,

Carbohydrates - - -I and other less familiar
Fatty oils. ' carbohydrates

Nitrogenous
Proteids.
Amides.

Latex which may contain tannin, proteids, fats, and starch.
Excreted, waste or by-products (probably)
Mineral matter.
Ethereal oils and resins.
Tannin.
Enzymes.

CHAPTER IX.
STEM AND ROOT STRUCTURES.

A. Dicotyledonous Stem. — For the study of stem structure
a Sunflower may first be examined. Cut off a vigorous stem
and leave the upper portion in methyl blue.1

Cut a portion of a stem across a short distance below the
tip and peel off a thin transparent strip, the epidermis ; this
takes with it the scabrous hairs with which it is clothed, show-
ing that they are out-growths of this layer. They disappear
lower down, leaving the stem rough with their bases.

Within the epidermis lies the cortex. Stain the cut end
with iodine and wash off. About a third of the distance
from the epidermis to the centre, a ring of small blue dots ap-
pears. They are starch grains which iodine stains blue and
are stored within the innermost layer of the cortex, the
endodermis. In the stem the endodermis may generally be
recognized by the starch it contains and is here known as the
starch sheath.

Surrounded by the endodermis lies the stele. It consists
of a mass of ground tissue or conjunctive tissue within
which lies a broken ring of tissue forming elliptical patches.
In a fresh stem they appear white toward the centre and
greenish without. These are the complex fibro-vascular
bundles. Iodine has stained the inner portion a reddish
brown. This region, the xylem, contains the wood vessels
and fibres. If the stem which was placed in methyl blue be
examined it will be seen that these cells have taken up the blue
since they serve for the upward path of the transpiration
current.

1 This stain does not injure the stem, a few grains should be dissolved
in water until the solution is a clear bright blue.

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

To the outside of the xylem other cells of the bundle will
take the same stain as did those of the endodermis ; they also
contain starch and are in the part of the bundle called phloem
or bast. In this region sieve tubes occur. With a lens they

cl —

m

FIG. 71.- — Stem of Helianthus (sunflower), cross section. Drawn by Miss
Averil Bottomley. E, Epidermis with hair (h), the outer thickened walls form
the cuticle. C, Cortex. The outer cells with thickened angles form collenchyma.
A resin gland (r) may be seen in the parenchyma. The innermost layer (<?), the
endodermis or starch sheath, contains starch. S, Stele or central cylinder con-
taining one fibro-vascular bundle. (Pc), pericycle : it forms a cluster of scleren-
chymatous cells just outside each bundle. Between these cells and the bundle
cambium (fc) (fascicular cambium) lies the phloem. The portion of the bundle
inside the cambium is the vylem. It contains rows of large thick-walled wood
vessels, (m) Medulla or pith, (i/c) Interfascicular cambium.

ca-n be made out by their larger size. Iodine stains their con-
tents, and those of neighbouring cells, yellow brown.

Within the ring of bundles, the ground tissue making up
the greater portion of the stem is known as the medulla or pith,
and between the bundles the medullary rays extend out to the
cortex. They carry material from the wood out to the cortex

Stern and Root Structures 73

where it is elaborated and returned to the bundle for distribu-

tion; some is carried to the pith where it may be stored.
Medullary rays thus serve in horizontal distribution as the

74 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

bundles serve for the vertical distribution of food and food
material. Starch is also stored here.

The cells outside of the bundles and within the endodermis
comprise the pericycle. This consists of several layers of
cells ; those just outside the phloem being developed into thick-
walled fibres serving as a protection to the delicate cells of
this tissue. The fibres stain with iodine nearly the same colour
as the wood. They are sometimes called phloem- or bast-
fibres, but they are not developed from the same region as the
bundles.

Between phloem and xylem the delicate cambium cells
are found. Some distance below the tip of the stem, the cells
of the medullary ray become active and by their division form
cambium (interfascicular cambium) which unites with the cam-
bium of the bundle and forms a complete cambium ring around
the stem. This ring, by the constant division of its cells, increases
in breadth and circumference ; some of its cells, those toward
the pith, form new wood ; toward the outside phloem is also
renewed by them (secondary xylem and phloem) ; the medul-
lary rays are also extended by the cambium.

Within the cortex and pith are small dots which indicate
the position of resin cavities. Where growth is vigorous resin
cavities are also found in the secondary phloem.

As the Sunflower is an annual, but little secondary wood
and phloem are formed, and correlated with this fact, little if
any cork is developed.

Bundles with cambium are known as open as contrasted
with those with no cambium which are closed, that is, closed
to further development.

The bundles of the Sunflower which have the characteristic
structure of dicotyledons are of the type known as collateral ;
they have the phloem lying to one side of the xylem and in
the same radius. In the Pumpkin family there is phloem to
the inside as well as the outside of the bundle, a bi-collateral
type. The phloem may surround the xylem ; the bundles are
then known as concentric.

Before proceeding farther it may be well to define a term
which has been frequently used in this chapter, the word tissue.

Stem and Root Structures 75

A tissue is a group of cells which have had a common
origin, have developed in a similar manner so as to have the
same appearance, and have the same work to do : for example
we speak of the epidermal tissue, ground tissue, vascular tissue,
cortical tissue. At the apex of the stem the cells are alike
forming one tissue — primordial meristem. Close behind

SI DP

FIG. 73. — The growing point (highly magnified) of the stem of Pinus
sylvestris. D, dermatogen ; P, periblem and plerome ; SI, scale leaf (highly
magnified). (Photo-micrograph by Flatters, Milbourne, & McKechnie.)

the tip, this tissue shows a change : three tissues may be found
— (a) the dermatogen (Sep/^a, skin ; yewaw, I bring forth) or
protoderm (wpajros, first ; Sep/za, skin), (b) procambial strands,
(c) ground meristem.

(a) The dermatogen divides by walls in two directions at
right angles to the surface walls, and, as the derivation of the
word indicates, forms the epidermis.

(b] Farther down the stem, the procambial strands elongate

7 6 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

and deve!6p into the three parts of the bundle : its outermost
cells form the first phloem (protophloem), the innermost the
protoxylem, while between the two regions the procambium
remains active and forms the cambium of the bundle.

(c] The cells of the ground tissue divide in all directions
and become marked out into the medulla, the medullary rays,
the pericycle, and the cortex.

Leaf Formation. — The dermatogen and underlying
ground tissue of the stem give rise to the leaf. The cells at a
node divide actively and form the leaf protuberance. The
vascular bundle supplying the leaf, begins forming at the node ;
the cells extending up into the leaf and down into the stem
gradually elongate until a continuous bundle is formed con-
necting the leaf with the food supply. In dicotyledons the
number of leaf bundles or leaf traces is relatively few ; they
run down the stem parallel to one another through one or more
internodes and fuse at the nodes. The bundles are common,
that is common to leaf and stem. The course they take as
they pass down the stem forms the ring which is seen in a
cross section of an internode.

B. Monocotyledonous Stem. — A monocoytledonous
stem is distinguished from that of a Dicotyledon by the fact
that in the former the bundles are closed ; that is all the
procambium passes over into phloem and xylem so that further
increase is prevented.

The bundles appear to be scattered irregularly ; as a matter
of fact they are arranged in more or less concentric circles.
The bundles are common, but in monocotyledons, which as a
rule have broad leaf bases, the leaf traces are more numerous,
and instead of running down the stem parallel to the surface
as in dicotyledons, they curve in the stem ; the midribs making
the largest curve extend nearly to the centre of the stem,
while the lateral veins of the leaf do not penetrate so deeply.

In many monocotyledons it is difficult to distinguish cortex
from stele as the bundles extend out from the centre close to
the circumference as in Zea mays ; in others, Ornithogalum for
example, a well-developed ring of fibres in the pericycle makes
the distinction evident. In Zea where this ring is wanting,

Stem and Root Structures

77

each bundle is surrounded by a fibrous sheath developed from
the ground tissue.

FIG. 74. — Part of a transverse section through the stem of Tradescantia
Sello'i : o, epidermis, with a sioma, sp ; R, cortex ; V, thickening ring with the
outer vascular bundles, g1 ; g" , inner vascular bundles ( x 75).

Secondary Thickening in Monocotyledons. — Since
the closed bundles of monocotyledons allow for no secondary
thickening, the structure of the mature stem resembles that of

78 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

the younger portions. In a few cases, however, for example
Aloe, Yucca, Dracaena, Aristea corymbosa, Benth., the pericycle
remains meristematic and continues to lay down bundles and
ground tissue by which the bundles are surrounded. These
secondary bundles are confined to the stem (cauline) and are
without the protoxylem of the common bundles.

f

FIG. 75. — Transverse section of Z^a mays. The cortex and pith are not
clearly defined in the ground tissue. Each bundle is surrounded by a bundle
sheath and contains two large vessels. An air cavity is formed by the breaking
down of cells in the region of the protoxylem.

Phloem in dicotyledons may comprise sieve tubes, with smaller com-
panion cells adjacent to them, phloem parenchyma and sometimes fibres.
In monocotyledons only sieve tubes and companion cells are present,
while in gymnosperms the sieve tubes have no companion cells.1

The secondary wood of gymnosperms with few exceptions consists of
tracheids with bordered pits. In angiosperms the wood is marked by con-
spicuous vessels and wood parenchyma is present. Tracheids on the
other hand are more rarely present.

Root Structure. — While a carrot is not a typical root it
is easily cut, and something of its structure may be made out
with a hand lens or even with the unaided eye. It is a large
conical tap root tapering to a slender point with secondary

1 A companion cell is a cell much smaller in diameter and companion
to a sieve tube. It is possible that their nuclei assist the activity of the
sieve tubes, which, although they act as living cells, strangely enough lose
their nuclei.

Stem and Root Structures 79

roots extending in four rows nearly its entire length. At the
base of each root a slender
horizontal slit is seen.

A cut across the carrot
shows a circle of tissue
about midway between
centre and circumference ;
this region is actively divid-
ing and adding to the thick-
ness of the root. A carrot
which has been left for a FJG 7fi_Root of carrot cross section

time in methyl blue will c, Cork ; cp, secondary parenchyma ;

show traces of blue in the sx' secondaT *ylem-
part enclosed within this circle which indicates, as in the stem,
the region of wood vessels. They are surrounded by an abund-
ance of storage tissue of which the carrot largely consists.
Although the carrot has been immersed, a layer of cork pre-
vents the surface of the carrot from absorbing the solution.

If a cross section is stained with iodine, the medullary rays
may be traced by the starch they contain. This is most abun-
dant outside of the active ring where the rays extend through
the phloem.

Either a cross section or one cut lengthwise shows the
lateral roots extending to the central portion of the root. Un-
like leaves and branches, they arise in deep seated tissue and
make their way through the cortex of the main root.

While points of resemblance may be seen between a stem
and a root, they show in their general form essential points of
difference.

1. A root is protected by a root cap which is constantly
worn away as it pushes its way through the soil. A stem is
protected by the young leaves which form the bud.

2. Roots give rise to roots, stems produce stems and also,
unlike members, leaves.

3. Lateral roots arise within deep-seated tissue (endogen-
ously) ; lateral branches and leaves arise from surface tissues
(exogenously).

4. The stele in roots is relatively small, that is, the rigid

8o Plants and their Ways in South Africa

part is nearer the centre, which permits bending in the soil over
obstacles and enables the root to resist the strain of the parts

FIG. 77. — Root of carrot. A, showing rifts made by lateral roots ; B, longi
tudinal section.

above and so it is fitted to support the plant. The rigid portion
of a young stem is nearer the circumference. This enables it
to bear a great weight and to resist the wind.

Microscopic Appearance of Roots.— As a root is pro-
tected by the root cap, the growing point is just behind the
tip. Three more or less distinct regions J may be made out

1 These three regions are more or less evident in the stem. Reference
to them is convenient, though less importance is attached to them than
formerly.

Stem and Root Structures 81

although there is considerable variety in the growing point of
different roots. In Fig. 36 D, the dermatogen (or calyp-
trogen) produces the root cap which is free from the root ex-
cept at the growing point. The cells P, the periblem, give
rise to cortex and piliferous layer, those marked PI, plerome,
to the central stele. The bean root in Fig. 78 shows a portion
of the cortex ; it is composed of parenchyma with large air
spaces between the cells. Its innermost layer, the endodermis,
does not store starch as in the stem ; thickenings on its radial
walls serve to exclude air and prevent the tissue within from
drying.

Around the pith in the centre of the stele, the strands of
wood and bast lie separated by conjunctive tissue and in dif-
ferent radii ; the arrangement is radial, not collateral, as in the
stem. Another contrast to the stem is shown in the position
of the small elements of the wood (protoxylem) which lie out-
side of the large ones (metaxylem).

The outermost layer of the stele, the pericycle lying just
within the endodermis, may escape notice. By division of
its cells, just outside of the wood strands lateral roots take
their rise, so that there are, as a rule, as many rows of lateral
roots as there are strands of wood.

In the carrot where a resin gland extends just outside the wood
strands which are two in number, roots arise on either side of each gland.
This accounts for the four rows of roots seen on the surface.

In the sunflower the endodermis becomes double layered, and resin
is stored in large cavities between the cells ; these cavities lie outside the
bast strands.

Roots are assisted in pushing their way through the cortex
by an enzyme secreted by some of the endodermal cells which
dissolves the cell walls in the path of the young root. The en-
dodermal cells themselves divide for a time and form a pro-
tecting pocket within which the young root is contained.

When- growth in thickness takes place in a root (which is

seldom in monocotyledons), a wavy ring of cambium is formed.

This arises partly from the pericycle outside the wood strands

together with the ground tissue just inside of the phloem where

6

82

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

activity is first evident. Once the ring is formed it lays down

wood to the inside, phloem to the outside, with medullary rays

at intervals, much as secondary thickening takes place in a stem.

When cork is formed, it also takes its rise in the pericycle,

FlG. 78. — Cross section of bean root, dia
outer piliferous layer, and inner endodermi:
d, primary phloem ; e, a ring of cambium

matic. a, Primary cortex, with

, pericycle ; c, primary xylem ;

formed of ground tissue between

the phloem and xylem, and of pericycle outside the points of protoxylem ;
ft secondary phloem ; gt secondary xylem ; //, primary medullary rays ; b' peri-
cycle which has formed an outer layer of cork, and secondary cortex within ;
a' remains of primary cortex cut off by the cork.

and in time cuts off the entire cortex ; so that a root in which
considerable secondary growth has taken place, may show very
little actual increase in diameter, as in C, Fig. 78.

The tissues of roots and stems will be understood better
by tabulating them : —

The primary meristem
Dermatogen

Periblem

Plerome

gives rise to

\

Epidermis

Cortical tissue

Stele

Epidermal system

[ Hypodermis
| General cortex
Endodermis

( Pericycle

j Medulla

I Medullary rays

System

of

ground
tissue.

[Phloem

Vascular -j Xylem
bundles ( Vascular j
iumj

cambi

Vascular

system

CHAPTER X.
THE RESPIRATION OF PLANTS.

LIVING things, plants as well as animals, respire both night and
day. All parts of a plant must be supplied with air for this
process.

If the soil of an orange grove is not well drained or if it is
so compact that the roots do not get enough air, the trees look
yellow and unhealthy. The farmer restores trees to health by
removing the soil and exposing the roots. Plants living in
moist places, like the arum or water lily, have large air chambers
running through the stem which supply air to the roots. The
hollow stems of the Pumpkins admit air to the part underneath
the large leaves.

Ex. 28. To show that Air Passages are Continuous Throughout
the Plant. — Partly fill a flask with water and provide it with a stopper
containing two holes. Into one insert the stem of a leafy plant, into
the other a glass tube. The cut end of the stem should dip into the water.
By placing your mouth over the end of the tube remove the air from the
space above the water. Bubbles of air will rush from the cut end of the
stem. The air enters the plant through the stomata. If a water tap is
available an aspirator may be used to withdraw the air.

Ex. 29. Insert a woody stem of a Poplar (or some stem on which
lenticels can be seen) through the stopper of a flask, seal the lower end
with wax, and let the water of the flask cover the stem for an inch or so.
Attach an S-shaped tube to the upper end of the stem by means of a piece
of rubber tubing. Pour mercury into the S-tube ; the compressed air will
find its way out through the lentice's into the water below.1

A little over three-fourths of the air (seventy-seven parts)
consists of the gas nitrogen (N) ; about one-fifth is oxygen gas

1 Prof. Osterhout uses a bicycle pump to compress the air. This
experiment must be performed when the leaves are active ; in winter when
the leaves have fallen the lenticels are closed so that no air is admitted
and no water escapes through them.

83 6*

84 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

(O), and a very small part of carbon-dioxide, '03 to 100. Carbon
dioxide is a gas compounded of one part of carbon and two of
oxygen, which hold on to each other very closely. CCXj is the
symbol or short form of writing this gas. Traces of other gases
are found. Hydrogen gas (H) is found free in extremely minute
quantities. It is combined though with O to form water
vapour. The proportion of nitrogen and oxygen in the air can
be shown by the following experiment : —

Ex. 30. Invert a glass jar with straight sides over a pan of water. Notice
how high the water stands in the jar. Now lift the jar and place under it
apiece of phosphorus fastened to a cork to keep it afloat. (Phosphorus
should always be kept and cut under water.) The phosphorus burns, that
is, it unites with the oxygen, forming dense white fumes. After a time the
fumes disappear. Where have they gone ? The water has absorbed them
and formed phosphoric acid. What else has happened ? The water has
risen and fills about one-fifth of the jar. The acid occupies less space than
the gas fumes, so the weight of the air outside the jar forces the water up
to take the place of the oxygen. The nitrogen does not burn but fills
the remainder of the jar.

Ex. 31. The amount of oxygen may be more accurately determined
by placing the phosphorus in a long specimen tube. The cubic contents
may be measured or the outside may be marked off into equal parts.
With a lens focus the sun's rays on to the phosphorus, or the tube may
be held in hot water until the phosphorus is melted and run down the
sides. The entire amount of oxygen will combine with the phosphorus.
After cooling, uncork the tube under water, mouth downward, and measure
the height of water which ascends in the tube.

Water also absorbs CO2 and holds it in solution or forms
carbonic acid ; but there is a very small amount of carbonic
acid gas in the air.

It is oxygen that we need for respiring. Nitrogen dilutes
the oxygen enough for us and for land-plants to breathe. But
fish and water-plants require the oxygen diluted still more with
water. If oxygen were not diluted with nitrogen we should
feel as uncomfortable " as a fish out of water ".

Respiration is essentially the same process in plants as in
animals. Oxygen is inhaled which enters into chemical com-
bination with the carbon of the complex contents of the cell,
breaking them down and forming simpler substances. As a
result of this alteration carbonic acid gas and water are ex-

The Respiration of Plants 85

haled. In plants, as in animals, this process takes place in all
living cells, but in plants there are no special organs like the
lungs in animals, which assist in the inhalation and exhalation
of the gases. Respiration has been regarded as a form of
combustion, but it is a more complex and a vital process and
so cannot be directly compared to the burning of a piece of
wood.

How do we know that plants inhale oxygen and exhale
carbon dioxide ?

Ex. 32. Respiration or " Breathing " in Germinating Seeds.— Soak

a handful of peas in water for twenty-four hours. Remove from the water
and put them in a glass jar. Cover tightly and set aside for twenty-four
hours. Light a splinter, uncover the jar, and thrust the flame into the jar.
It is extinguished. The oxygen which was in the jar has been used by the
seeds. They have given off a gas which suffocates the flame. Place a
short piece of lighted candle in the bottom of a tumbler. Pour the gas
into the tumbler (it is heavier than air). It puts outthe flame. What is it ?

Ex. 33. To show that Carbonic Acid Gas or Carbon Dioxide is
given off when Plants Respire. — Make some baryta-water by dissolving
barium hydroxide in water, and allow it to settle. Pour some of the clear
water into a test-tube ; breathe into it through a glass tube. The water
becomes cloudy and a white film of barium carbonate collects on the sur-
face.1 Place some baryta-water in a shallow dish. Uncover the jar of
peas and pour the gas into the dish. A white film appears on the surface.
The peas have exhaled the same gas which you breathed into the jar,
carbon dioxide.

Ex. 35. Another pretty experiment shows that carbon dioxide is given
off by plants while respiring. Place heads of flowers — daisies just open-
ing are good ones — in a flask. Invert the flask in soda-limewater, which
also absorbs carbon dioxide. Pour some mercury into the soda-limewater.
In a short time the mercury will be drawn up into the neck of the flask as
the carbon dioxide is absorbed. The mercury will continue to rise as long
as the carbonic acid gas is absorbed by the solution.

Place the flask in the dark and see if the mercury continues to rise.
Mark the height at which the mercury stands at night, and again in the
morning. A change in temperature affects the height. When the flask
cools, the gas within occupies less space and the mercury rises.

Plants get energy to do work by respiring. Un-
less our rooms are supplied with plenty of fresh air we become
dull and unable to work. Breathing decreases our weight but

1 Limewater may be used instead. The results are not quite so good.
These liquids should be kept corked.

86

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

sets energy free to do work. Ask some one who plays football
how much weight the team loses while playing a cup match.
The stroke oar in a rowing match will lose six or seven pounds
in twenty minutes or during a four-mile race. How hard you
breathe when you are playing. Did you ever try to get warm
by breathing deeply ? A plant loses weight and gives off heat
in respiring ; it also gets energy to do work.

Ex. 36. Place some peas that have just started germinating in a U-
tube. Cork tightly. Place the other end in a glass of pyrogallic acid.

Ill

FIG. 79. — Peas germinating, deprived of oxygen.

Since pyrogallic acid absorbs oxygen, the peas are deprived of the gas
necessary for respiration. The peas make no further progress in germina-
tion. In Fig. 79 the first jar contains water, the second caustic potash,
which absorbs CO2, the third pyrogallic acid.

Ex. 37. Dissolve a few grains of methylene blue in a test tube of
water, using only sufficient to make a bright but transparent fluid. Place
within the solution some germinating seeds and observe on the following
day. The fluid has become transparent as the germinating seeds have
deprived the dye of its oxygen. Pour off some of the fluid into a flask
and shake vigorou ly. As the fluid mingles with ths air in the flask
its colour is partially restored.

In a similar manner make a solution using this time methyl blue and
taking care as before not to have too deep a colour. Heat this fluid until
it becomes colourless and then breathe into it until the colour is restored.
Heating the fluid causes carbonic acid gas to expand and escape ; breath-
ing the gas into this fluid restores the colour. Now heat the fluid a second

The Respiration of Plants 87

time until it loses its co'our, and after cooling place germinating seeds
within the tube. Observe after half an hour and tell what gas has been
given off by the seeds.

Prof. Farmer uses methylene blue to show gas exchange in photo-
synthesis (see p. 94). By using the two colours, the exchange of gases in
respiration is well shown.

In this exchange, the important thing to remember is that
in respiration, the oxygen in uniting with carbon releases
energy. This energy is used by the plant in doing work,
that is, in the making of food, in growth, and reproduction.

While the terms respiration and breathing are frequently
used interchangeably, breathing in animals involves expanding
the chest muscles and inflating the lungs, for which there are
no corresponding processes in plants. You can see an animal
breathe, but you can see neither an animal nor a plant respire.

CHAPTER XI.
A SHORT LESSON ON SOIL.

WHEN the earth's surface cooled in former ages, it probably
formed solid rock. This was acted upon by wind, water, heat,
and frost and gradually became broken up into small particles
which formed inorganic soil. This process is still going on
and the results can be seen, for example on hills around
Cradock, where the sandstone in weathering, splits apart by
concentric coats, into sphere-like pieces. The soil particles
are washed or blown down from the mountain tops to the
valley where vegetation may appear which then plays its part
in the breaking-up of rocks. Fig. 1 16 shows the effect of wea-
thering. Soil has been formed on the slopes and at the foot
of the mountain range which shows the weathering sandstone
above. Inorganic soil is formed of such elements as calcium,
magnesium, silicon, sodium, sulphur, phosphorus, potassium
and iron combined with oxygen.

In travelling through the country different characters of
soils frequently attract attention, chiefly by their difference in
colour. There are the light yellow and brick red sandy soils,
black and brick coloured clayey loam, light and dark chocolate
soil and the rich red volcanic soil, the basaltic lavas of the
Drakensberg.

In gardens, wooded kloofs, under old Olive trees and
Ja4chals-Besjes bushes (Sideroxylon, Melkhout), rich dark soil
is found, called humus. This consists largely of organic
remains of plants and animals and contains oxygen, hydrogen,
nitrogen, and carbon. Humus which is poorly drained and
becomes acid is known as Peat.

A fertile soil depends partly upon mechanical structure, and
88

A Short Lesson on Soil 89

it must also possess certain chemical properties. The me-
chanical properties relate to the soil's capacity to admit air and
hold moisture and to allow drainage. If soil has too much
clay it becomes water-logged, while an excess of sand renders
the soil unable to hold moisture. Correspondingly, although
a clay soil may be abundantly supplied with moisture it yields
up but a small percentage for the use of plants while sandy
soil yields a large percentage of its moisture. A desirable soil
contains a mixture of sand, clay, and humus — clay and humus
retaining moisture, while sand renders the soil porous so that
water in excess may be drained off and a supply of air
admitted. Humus may be applied to a'dvantage by ploughing
under leguminous crops. To serve as humus they should be
used green ; they will at the same time increase the nitrogen
supply (see p. 101). Soil supplied with all the essential inor-
ganic elements will be unproductive in the absence of suitable
mechanical conditions.

Food material is obtained from the soil in the form of
salts.1 Soil bacteria play an important part in forming salts
containing nitrogen. Certain bacteria combine nitrogen and
hydrogen to form ammonia ; others take up the work and effect
a combination of ammonia and limestone or other substances
to form nitrites and nitrates. These are soluble in water and
may thus be absorbed by plants. Should soil contain so much
moisture as to exclude air, another set of bacteria breaks down
these salts setting free the valuable nitrogen and rendering the
soil unproductive.

Sulphur, which enters into the composition of protoplasm,
may be supplied in the form of magnesium sulphate.

Magnesium seems necessary for forming sugars and re-
lated substances in the plant although it does not enter into
their composition.

Phosphorus is of great importance in forming nuclei
and in assisting in the process of nuclear division. Unfortun-

1 A salt is formed by the chemical action of an acid with a base. E.g.
potassium sulphate is a salt formed when sulphuric acid unites with the
metallic base potassium oxide, and the action of nitric acid upon the base
calcium forms the salt calcic nitrate. Not all bases are metallic.

9O Plants and their Ways in South Africa

ately this element is generally lacking in South African soils and
must be supplied by artificial fertilizers.

Some salts, as calcic nitrate, magnesium sulphate, and
ammonium sulphate are readily soluble in water and so should
be applied at the time of seeding, while calcic phosphate should
be applied some time before in order that the acids in the soil
may set the phosphorus free and render it in a soluble form
for the plants.

Oxygen, as food material, is probably obtained from salts
and from water rather than from the free atmospheric oxygen
which is the source of that used in respiration.

Water not only serves to dissolve salts for absorption by
the plant but it supplies hydrogen, which is in all plant food,
and also serves to keep the cells turgid.

The service performed by some of the minerals found in the
ash of plants is not clearly understood. Substances which
alone in the soil are poisonous to plants, have their poisonous
effects neutralized when balanced by other substances. It has
been found that the poisonous effects of a sodium salt disappear
when calcic chloride is added. Similarly magnesium and po-
tassium salts which are poisonous when found separately lose
their poisonous effects when their action is combined.1

A great drawback to South African farmers is the large
areas of brak or alkaline soil due to sodium or magnesium
salts. In times of drought an abundance of white crystals ap-
pears by evaporation on the surface. Rain dissolves these salts
which are readily re-absorbed by the soil. Much of the under-
ground water brought to the surface by driven wells contains
so much of these salts that the soil becomes sterile. Progres-
sive farmers are finding means to remedy this condition. Under-
draining or in the case of clay or iron hard pan, dynamiting the
soil is effective in carrying away the accumulation of salts.
Another method consists in treating the soil with gypsum
(calcic sulphate) where sodium carbonate produces the black
brak. The calcium of the gypsum replaces sodium and forms
calcium carbonate, the sodium combines with the sulphur to
form sodium sulphate. The calcium compound thus formed

* Osterhout, " Bot. Gazette," August, 1906, August, 1909,

A Short Lesson on Soil 91

is useful in rendering soil porous, but sodium sulphate becomes
detrimental if an excess accumulates. Evaporation is checked
in dry farming by keeping the surface soil pulverized, so that
the crystals accumulate on the surface less rapidly, or the soil
may be shaded by shallow rooted plants. Plants belonging to
the Beetroot family have been found useful for this purpose as
they are halophytes and can take up brak-forming salts to a
considerable extent. None of these methods seems to be as
effective as under- draining.

Even in dry countries, soil drainage is as important as soil
irrigation. In the rainless districts of the Nile nearly as much
effort has been expended on drainage as has been in construct-
ing the immense dam at Assuan and the irrigating ditches.

Calcium is of further use as a vehicle for supplying nitrogen
in a soluble form as calcic nitrate. It ,also serves to neutralize
acid soils and oxalic acid which accumulates in plant tissues
as waste matter. Seedlings, in water cultures, without calcium,
seem less able to respond to the influence of light and gravity.

Silica is usually mentioned as valuable in giving rigidity to
stems such as the grasses where it is found in abundance. It
has been found, however, more abundant in leaves than in the
stems where it would be of advantage in supporting the heads
of grain. An interesting series of water cultures carried on in Dr.
Hahn's laboratory by Mr. Lundie showed that grains flourished
and came to perfection in the absence of any trace of silica in
the solutions. But the experiments suggested that its presence
might defend the plants against the entrance of the rust fungus.

Plants may be grown in the laboratory in the following
nutrient solution : —

Distilled water (HaO) .... 1000 c.c.

Potassium nitrate (KNOs) . . . i'oo gr.

Sodium chloride (NaCl) . . . 0-50

Calcium sulphate (CaSC>4) . . . 0-50

Magnesium sulphate (MgSO^ . . . 0-50

Calcium phosphate (Ca3(PC>4)2) . . 0-50

Ferric chloride (FeCla) . . . 0-005

Ferric chloride should be added when the seedlings are put
into the solution, which should be diluted with distilled water
to one-sixth the strength of the stock solution.

CHAPTER XII.
THE FOOD MAKING OF PLANTS.

BESIDES manufacturing their own food, many plants entertain
a gay society of flies, bees, butterflies, and their relatives.
Moreover a plant must provide for its large family of growing
seeds. In Chapter IV we found that air, water, and soil were
the sources of food, and in Chapters X and XI the composi-
tion of air and soil were studied.

Carbonic acid gas, which is exhaled by animals and
plants and which occurs in such minute quantities in the air, is
a waste product to animals when exhaled but it can be appro-
priated by green plants and made into living substance. This
process is known as assimilation. In leafy plants this pro-
cess takes place chiefly in the leaves. As protoplasm is formed
in the leaves it is broken down into simpler forms of food and
carried away by the phloem to build up growing parts. Part
of it is accumulated as reserve food in the day and used up at
night when most rapid growth takes place. Starch is a con-
venient form of storing food until it is needed for daily use and
biennials and perennials store enough one year to give the
plant a good start the following year. Potatoes are almost en-
tirely filled with starch. Some plants store food in the form
of sugar as the beet, while many composites store inulin.

We can tell where starch is found by staining with iodine,
as we did in case of the Sunflower stem. A tincture of iodine
may be obtained or the crystals dissolved in water. Scrape a
small portion of potato and place it in a tube of water. Add
a few drops of iodine. The liquid at once turns blue. Place
some maizena or laundry starch in slightly warm water. Allow
it to cool and add iodine. The same blue colour appears.
The particles of starch are coloured blue by iodine,
93

The Food Making of Plants

93

Treat a castor-oil bean or a piece of onion in the same
manner. No blue appears, because their food is not stored as
starch.

FIG. 80.— Learning plant ways in Eunice High School, Bloemfontein.

Ex. 38. Starch formed in Green Leaves.— In the afternoon of a
bright day, place a few green leaves in a strong solution of chloral

94 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

hydrate, which will dissolve out the green colour. Leave them overnight
or until the green has dissolved. Boiling hastens the process. Place
them in a porcelain or other dish with a white bottom, and pour over
them a solution of iodine. The starch in the leaf will become a dark
blue.

Perform the same experiment with variegated leaves of Coleus.
Thin leaves should be used, as the colour is dissolved more readily.
Starch will be found only in the green portions. In higher plants
chlorophyll is necessary for assimilation.

Ex. 39. Place a potted plant (Medicago, Oxalis, and Lucerne are good
for the purpose) in a perfectly dark place and leave lor forty-eight hours.
Dissolve out the chlorophyll from the leaves and stain with iodine. They
remain uncoloured. The accumulated starch has been used and none has
been formed in darkness because the chlorophyll grains cannot appro-
priate the carbon contained in starch, without the energy obtained by the
action of the sun's rays, and so the appropriation of carbon by the plant
is known as photosynthesis or carbon assimilation.1

The photosynthetic process may take place in the follow-
ing manner : carbonic acid gas (CO2) taken into the plant may
form a solution with the water (H.,O) which is brought up to
the green cells and a portion of the oxygen (O) then passes off
into the air, the solution deprived of its oxygen becoming
formaldehyde (CH2O or HCOH). Just what part the sun's
rays perform is not certain ; it may serve to disassociate the
oxygen from the carbon and hydrogen atoms. Formaldehyde
may be produced chemically by subjecting a solution of CO2
in water to a weak electrical current. The sun's energy may
be changed in the plant to electrical energy and effect the
same change.

The molecules of formaldehyde, which is found in plants in
small quantities, seem to be quickly grouped together in the
cells where it is formed. Six molecules thus grouped could
form grape sugar (glucose, Ct!H12O0). These stages may be
represented by the following formula : —

CO2 }- H2O = H2CO3 = H2CO + O,,

JThe old method of covering a portion of leaf with cork or tinfoil is
unsatisfactory. Carbon dioxide is excluded as well as light. Prof.
Ganong has invented an ingenious frame which will admit air to the leaf
while excluding light.

The Food Making of Plants 95

Besides glucose, fructose, also consisting of C6H12O6 but
having a different arrangement of atoms in the molecule, and
cane sugar C]2H2.2On are of frequent occurrence in plants.

After the action of light has brought about the formation
of sugar (or if a sugar solution is supplied to a plant) the
further steps in assimilation by which nitrogen, sulphur, and
phosphorus are combined with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
to form protoplasm, can take place in darkness. The process
is a complex one and by no means fully understood.

The accumulation of starch is a sign that carbon assimila-
tion is going on, although in many monocotyledons the food is
carried away so rapidly that no starch is accumulated in the
leaves.

Much of the food stored in seeds is starch. Remove a
mealie seedling from the soil. Cut the seed in two. Cut off
a portion of the stem about half an inch long just above the
seed. Cut this piece in two lengthwise. Place in a test-tube
containing an inch or two of water. Gradually add iodine.
Portions of the seed will show blue where some starch is still
left. The stem does not stain blue. The food cannot pass
to the growing parts as starch ; it has been changed to sugar.
The bundles through which the sap is passing up into the
leaves are stained a yellowish brown. In the North American
Maple, the sap is so filled with sugar when it is passing up into
the buds in spring, that it is drawn away through little troughs
placed in holes bored into the trunk as far as the new wood.
On a bright day a drop falls about once a second. Drop by
drop about twenty-five gallons of sap may flow from one tree
in a season, until the buds begin to unfold, and this will boil
down to about five pounds of sugar.

Ex. 40. How can we tell when a plant is making starch ? Place
in ajar of water a plant which grows in water. The green silky thread-
like plants in ponds are suitable. In spring, leaf-bearing plants may be
obtained in some ponds which should be used when possible. Place the
jar in the sun. In a few minutes bubbles will rise from the plant. Place
the plants in water which has been boiled. No bubbles are given off.
Boiling the water has driven off a gas which the plants need in making
starch. Breathe through a glass tube into some boiled water, and place
the plants in this water. Bubbles will soon begin to come off. Carbon

96 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

o

dioxide, the gas that was breathed from the lungs, is required by the plant

to combine with water to make starch.

Ex. 4t. What gas is given off when starch is made? Place a

glass funnel over the plants in the jar, with the small end under water.
Sink a test-tube into the water obliquely, so
that all the air may escape and the tube
fill with water. Without letting the open
end come above water, place it over the
small end of the funnel. As the gas rises
it drives out the water. When the tube is
full, light a long splinter, and blow out the
flame, leaving the end glowing. Quickly
lift the tube from the water and thrust in
the glowing splinter, which again bursts
into flame. We know from the last chapter
that oxygen is the gas necessary to light
a fire.

Ex. 42. To show that no Starch is
made without Carbon Dioxide. — Cut
under water two small shoots and place in
small vials of water. Lower the vials into
wide-necked jars and tie over the mouths
of each some cloth net. Sprinkle over one
net a thick layer of soda-lime ; over the
other a layer of sand. In a day or two
the plant under the soda-lime withers and
droops. A test for starch shows that none
has been made. The covering of soda-
lime absorbs the CO2 and prevents any
from entering. Carbon dioxide was ad-
mitted into the one covered simply with

S—

FIG. 81. — E, Elodea plants
in water, with the cut ends
of the stalks directed into
the glass funnel, F ; S, sup-
ports on which the funnel
rests ; T, test - tube ; O,
oxygen which has collected
in the test-tube. (From
Farmer's " Practical Intro-
duction to the Study of
Botany".)

sand, and starch-making was unhindered.

In making starch, plants give off the gas we require in
breathing.

In respiring, plants and animals exhale the gas which
plants require for starch- making, carbon dioxide.

Assimilation requires light. Respiration takes place
in darkness as well as in the light.

Assimilation takes place in green parts. Respiration
in all parts of the plant.

Assimilation builds up material and increases the weight of
the plant. Respiration breaks down material and the
plant loses in weight.

The Food Making of Plants 97

All rules have their exceptions, e.g. some fungi and some
bacteria appropriate carbon though they have no chlorophyll.
Green leaves or even white petals when removed from light
can assimilate if they are provided with carbon compounds as
sugar or glycerine in solution.

y

CHAPTER XIII.

DEPENDENT PLANTS.

SOME plants, like animals, cannot make their own food, but
depend upon other plants for their food supply.

Parasites and Saprophytes.— A plant which depends
upon another living plant is a parasite. Red rust is a para-
sitic plant which attacks corn-fields and gives the grain a sickly
yellow look. It may have been on the seed when it was sown
where the spores could attack the young plants as soon as they
germinated.

When it fruits, short threads break through the surface of
the straw or leaves of the grain, and on their tips small spores
are borne. Spores formed in the early part of the season are
red. Later, black spores are formed. The spores make red
or black patches on the plant. When ripe they are blown by
the wind on to other plants, "where they grow and send small
threads down into the grain again through the stomata. Since
they are taking the food, or some part of it, which the
grain-plant is making, the heads of grain do not fill out pro-
perly. For this reason, farmers try to get seed from grain
which is rust proof, for it has been found that certain varieties
of grain are resistant to the rust fungus, the fungus threads
(hyphse) are checked after entering the stomata of the resistant
grains. This remarkable discovery is of great importance to
farmers (Biffen, 1905-7).

Dodder (Cuscufa) and Cassytha are parasites which have
lost their leaves, roots, and most of their chlorophyll. At some
season of the year, however, Cassytha stems are quite green.
Try to loosen the hold of these plants from the plants around
which they are twining and they betray their means of living,

Dependent Plants

99

They send out root- like bodies which penetrate their host (as
the plant is called which supplies another with food) and
appropriate eall the food they require.

Mistletoe and its relative Loranthus penetrate their host in
a similar manner. They cannot obtain food from the soil of
themselves, but there is chlorophyll in their stems and leaves
so that they can manufacture the food from the raw material

FlG. 82. — Cuscuta Trifolii : A, parasitic upon
clover (reduced) ; B, a separate inflorescence
(natural size). (Krom Thom6 and Bennett's
" Structural and Physiological Botany".)

FlG. 83. — Cassytha, twin-
ing and parasitic flower-
ing shoot. (From Hen-
slow' s "South African
Flowering Plants ". )

they obtain from the host and the carbon dioxide which they
can take from the air. These are called partial parasites.
Those which derive all their nourishment from their host are
called total parasites.

Some plants which come up from, the ground are parasitic
on the roots of other plants. The beautiful pink-and-white
and crimson Harveya, the flaming Hyobanche, and Sarcophyte,
and curious Hydnora are root parasites. The leaves are re-
duced to mere scales.

100 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

A saprophyte is a plant which lives on dead or decaying
matter. Mushrooms, yeast
plants, the mould on bread
and cheese, and some,
bacteria are examples. ' Sa-.
prophytes are very; ^useful
members of plant society.
Mushrooms change decaying
vegetable matter into whole-
some food. When insects or

FIG. 84. — A piece of a branch
of an apple tree cut through
lengthwise, into which a
young mistletoe-plant has
driven its sucking roots (re-
duced). (From Thome and
Bennett's " Structural and
Physiological Botany".)

FIG. %$.—-8arcopkyte sanguined (order Balanophoraceae), a parasite grow-
ing on the roots of Ekebergia and Acacia in the Eastern Province. I. Pistil-
late. II. Staminate flower.

animals die, or leaves fall, there would be a great accumula-
tion of useless matter were it not for the saprophytes, which
seize upon this decaying matter and make it ready to be used

Dependent Plants 101

by living plants again. So the large trees and beautiful
flowering plants are quite as dependent upon saprophytes as
the parasites and saprophytes are upon green plants.

On roots of legumes or the pea family swellings or tubercles
.are formed. They are swollen latafqj[ roots containing
minute ^bacteria which make their way from the soil through
the rool hairs into the roots. They are, plants which obtain
nourishment from their host, but they enable the host to use the
free nitrogen which is abundant in the air. Nitrogen is a valu-
able and expensive food material, and can be obtained by
most plants only from compounds in the soil. Legumes can
not only obtain it for themselves, by the help of these little
bodies, but they leave nitrogen compounds in the soil, to be
used by other plants. Just think of all the plants in this
country which have pods and belong to the pea family ! How
they are enriching the soil ! * Yellowwoods (Podocarpus) have
little plants living in their roots which perform the same
service.

A lichen (see page 4), is made up of two plants, a green
alga which manufactures the food, and a colourless plant, a
fungus which provides the alga with the necessary salts and
water. The threads of the fungus grow around and cunningly
enclose the alga, which is thus prevented from drying up in the
exposed situations which lichens frequent.

Plants which live together in this way and are helpful to
each other are called SymbiontS. Plants are sometimes
symbiotic with animals. There is a kind of Acacia with little
holes in the base of the large hollow thorns. Within these
thorns ants make their nests. Other insects eat and injure the
leaves of the Acacia. The leaves manufacture a nectar which

1 It is for this reason that farmers in winter sow peas in their vineyards
and orchards and plough them under in spring. They should be ploughed
under before the seeds have ripened. That leguminous plants enriched
the soil was known in the time of Pliny, but the mystery was not solved
until 1886, by the scientists Hellriegel and Wilfarth. The group of
plants thus indebted to bacteria is larger than was at first supposed.
Bacteria for inoculating soils or seeds for different crops can now be
bought and the yield of grains and tomatoes as well as of legumes has
been much increased by bacterial inoculation.

102 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

is poured out at the very tips of the leaflets. The ants sally
forth in quest of the sweets, but on the way they make the first
course of their feast off the marauding leaf-eating insects.

Insect-eating Plants. — The Sundew (Droserd) obtains
its nitrogen from insects which the plant catches and digests
by means of a fluid excreted by the sticky
tentacles which are borne on their leaves and
stems.

Utricularia, which grows along the edges
of streams or in beds of moss, is another
FIG 86 - Bl 1 1 insect-catching plant. Portions of the leaves
from a leaf of utri- form little hollow bladders, which help to float
the Plants when growing in streams. Each

and Bennett's leaf has a little trap door opening into the

" Structural and 1,11 A/r- • i • • u

Physiological Bo- bladder. Minute animals swimming by,

easily push in the door and enter. They
never come out again, as pushing the door from the inside
closes it. Several small animals may be found imprisoned in
a bladder at the same time. Why not call Utricularia an
insect-harbouring plant ? It has never been ascertained that
these small creatures are restive in this confinement. It may
be that they live out the few days of their years in quiet con-
tentment, by no means unwilling to yield up their substance
eventually to the plants which have harboured them.

CHAPTER XIV.
PLANT DEFENCES.

SILVER leaves are favourite souvenirs for strangers who visit
our shores. The stranger finds that the Silver Trees which
wave their welcome from Table Mountain are but the harbingers
of many surprises that await him in the plant world. The
climate of South Africa is different from that of any other coun-
tries, and so plants look and behave differently.

In many parts of this country plants have to do their work
principally in winter, as the summers are too hot and dry. In
the east and north winters are cool and dry, and plants have
a warm summer with rains in which to do their work. In other
parts it rains neither summer nor winter for months — even
years ; and to tide plants over these seasons of drought innum-
erable devices are found.

In cold countries of the northern hemisphere, winter is the
sleeping-time of plants. When the leaves are cut off in the
" fall " of the year, they lie in sodden heaps beneath the trees
during the autumn rains and winter snows. In the spring
these leaves hold moisture and give it up slowly to the roots.
In this country very little decaying vegetation is left on the
ground. The ants could partly explain the reason if you asked
them. Have you ever watched them before a rain busily saw-
ing off twigs and carrying them underground? Even burnt
matches are regarded valuable timber by them. The ants
change the conditions for plants both above and below the
soil surface.1

1 It has been found that upon this material, some ants and termites
(so called white ants), cultivate vegetable gardens of fungi. These gar-
dens they tend so carefully that only one kind of a crop is grown in a nest.
103

104 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Plants that work in winter must be suitably clothed for
their work. Even when no rain falls, the Silver Trees on Table

Mountain are frequently enfolded by the fringes of the " Table
cloth ". We have seen that a great amount of water passes off
in the form of vapour. Vapour cannot pass off if the leaves
are water soaked and the exchange of gases, O and CO2 is

Plant Defences 105

also hindered. Place a silver leaf in water and notice how the
silvery sheen is brightened. The thick coat of hairs retains a
layer of air which the rain cannot replace. It is because of
this that vapour can pass off without interruption. A bamboo
leaf under water glistens on the lower surface quite as brilliantly,
but the upper surface comes out wet. The stomata which are
most numerous on the under surface are sunken, and protected
by projecting rods of wax. On the upper surface wax is want-
ing but the few stomata are protected in another manner.

FIG. 88.— Vegetation in the Karroo where there are long droughts. The
soil is alkaline.

Peculiar colourless cells of the epidermis lie in rows midway
between the veins. When there is sufficient moisture these pro-
ject above the surface. As moisture is withdrawn, they col-
lapse without injury, allowing the leaves to roll ; the stomata
lying on either side of these cells are thus covered.

A bamboo leaf which has withered for several days will re-
vive if a stream of water is allowed to flow over the upper sur-
face. While the wax rods make it impossible to wet the under
surface, thin walled cells on the upper surface actually absorb
moisture.

The sugar bush has another cunningly devised method of

io6 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

protecting its stomata. The cells bordering the stomata over-
arch, forming a little hut with an opening at the top (Fig. 89),
so small that the vapour can pass
out but a drop of rain will not run
in.

The heaths have small needle-
shaped leaves ; their edges are rolled
back so as to form partially enclosed
channels on the under side where
the stomata are placed. These

FIG. 89.— Section of sugar-bush , , , , ...

leaf through a stoma : a, the channels are protected by a lining
guard-cell;^ projecting dome; of hairs, making sometimes a close

c, thick cuticle.

white mat. Many plants have

strongly ribbed stems ; between which the stomata are placed,
so that transpiration is lessened.

FIG. 90. — Crassula pyramidalis, L.

Our finest heaths are found in the Caledon and Riversdale

Plant Defences

107

districts. Compare the rainfall of these regions with that of
neighbouring districts.

Fortunately for the plants, these waterproof garments are
also useful summer styles. The hairs reflect the bright light
from the plant, and keep a cool layer of air next the leaf, while
preventing too rapid evaporation, although transpiration helps
to keep the plant cool, just as it makes us cooler to perspire
in summer.

lata, Th.

The thick waxy coverings on the leaves of Senecios, Cras-
sulas, and Aloes, which shed rain, also prevent the escape of
water in summer. Low-growing plants are often protected
by incrustations of lime, which also absorbs and retains
moisture.

Besides especial coverings of leaves, many Karroo plants
have their leaves packed as closely as possible. In Crassula

108 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

pyramidalis, L., Fig. 90, the leaves shade one another, and no
unnecessary growth is expended in stem and branches.

A plant's success in life is estimated by its ability to pro-
duce fruit so that its kind may be perpetuated. Judging by
that standard, we cannot attribute failure to Cotyledon reti-

FiG. 92. — Crassula columnaris, L. , in cultivation. On the veld it is still
more compact with densely packed leaves.

culata, Th., in Fig. 91, although the plant looks as though it had
grown on the principle that the end justified the means. A
large supply of food is stored in the ungainly trunk faster than
the slender leafless twigs give it out. There is little waste, and
so the plant does not come to want during the long droughts
that occur where this plant loves to dwell. As an example of
untidiness it is perfect.

Plant Defences

109

Fro. 93. — Mesembrianthemum felinitin, Haw.

FIG. 94.— Mesembrianthemum Bolusii, Hook. A native of the driest part
of the Karroo coming from the neighbourhood of Prince Albert. The water-
storing leaves enable the plant to live through long droughts. Photographs 93
and 94 obtained by courtesy of Dr. M-irloth.

1 1 0 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Crassula columnaris, L., and the Mesembrianthemums shown
in Figs. 93 and 94, testify that the heat is no excuse for un-
tidiness. They can lay little claim to grace, unless on the
ground that the most graceful is that which is best adapted to
its use. They are painfully neat in their housekeeping ar-
rangements, and instead of reducing their leaf surface after

FIG. 95. — Satyrium candidum, Lindl.

FIG. 96. — Hydrophylax.
The leaves and stipules
form a cup which catches
and holds rain.

the fashion of their neighbours in the western part of the
Province, their leaves are much in evidence. The plants of
the Karroo defend themselves against the lack of rain by
storing water in their swollen roots or stems and leaves. The
leaves have thick cuticles, which are often encrusted with lime
or covered with wax. In the leaf depressions rain and dew
may be caught and retained, and the delicately tinted blossoms

Plant Defences

ill

that crown the labour of these plants declare that Nature need
seek no further devices for her Karroo garden. A drink of
water from a well driven in the Karroo shows the salty or
alkaline condition of the soil, and the fleshy leaves of the
Karroo plants remind us of the plants along the salt marshes
and sand dunes by the sea.1 It was once thought that roots
absorbed all the water required by flowering plants. The
water caught by the leaves of these plants suggests that they
also absorb moisture. Notice how the pitcher-like leaves of

FIG. 97.— A swarm of locusts leaves little green in its path.

Satyrium and the cups formed by the stipules and leaf bases of
Hydrophylax catch water.

A swarm of locusts leaves little green in its path, and in
times of drought animals are hot fastidious in their tastes for
herbage ; the juices of bitter or poisonous plants act as a
guard against destruction from browsing animals.

Plants are also protected by spines or a felt of hair. Hermas

'Plants living in dry situations are called xerophytes; while those
growing by the sea or by salt pans are known as halophytes.

1 1 2 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

gigantea, L. /, the "Tondelbloem," has the lower leaves well
protected by a dense hairy covering on both sides ; as they get
older, the hair is easily brushed
off. The fragrant oil in some
plants is distasteful to animals.
Instead of exposing the
precious store of water above
ground, it is stored by under-
ground reservoirs of bulbs,
corms, or root tubers which
abound in the Karroo. These
have often to give up their
stores to thirsty natives and
travellers.

Some plants have large
bulbs near the surface, or, as
in Bowiea, above ground, while
others send a long neck deep
down into the earth ; at the
end, patient digging reveals a
small bulb or corm.

Much of the gardener's labour

is in vain which is spent in carefully
FIG 08. — Crasuilabarbata, Th., with . * J

spine-protected leaves and bracts. hoeing UP the SDl1 around hls onions-
Compare the size of onions which

have had the earth heaped around them with those which have been cul-
tivated leaving their bulbs partially exposed.

Plants growing in dry places frequently bear their leaves
all in one plane, so that one leaf covers the leaf beneath it.
Some bulbous plants have the edges of the leaves, instead of
their flat surfaces, turned toward the stem, their bases, partly
sheathing the bulbs, lead the water down to the roots. Such
leaves are called ensiform.

Every one has noticed the two kinds of leaves borne on
the Eucalyptus (Blue Gum). The upper leaves are placed with
edges toward the noonday sun. The broad surfaces of the
lower leaves receive less light. At sunset, when the light is
not so strong, the upper leaves receive it on their broad sur-

Plant Defences 1 1 3

faces, and so are prevented from cooling too rapidly. It is the

FIG. 99. -Seedlings of Black Wattles (Acacia melanoxylon, R. Br.).

FIG. TOO. — Branch of Acacia melanoxylon, R. Br., showing phyllodes (a, b).
(From Thom6 and Bennett's " Structural and Physiological Botany ".)

position of the upper leaves which gives such a delicate tracery
against the sky.

1 14 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Sow Mimosa seeds, those of the Karroothorn and Black-
wood, or the Port Jackson " Willow ". Watch the seeds of
both come up " with a loop," bringing their cotyledons with
them. On the first leaves note the little bristle-like stipules.
Can you see them on both kinds of seedlings ? Are the next

FIG. 101. — The Black-wood trees lose all trace of the compound leaves
they had as seedlings.

leaves the same in each. Watch the seedlings until you find
how the Port Jacksons get their long narrow leaves and the
Mimosas get their thorns.

When petioles flatten and take the place of the usually ex-
panded portion of the leaves, they are called phyllodes (hav-
ing the form of leaves). The Mimosa and the Port Jackson
look very unlike as trees. But their early history shows that

Plant Defences \ 1 5

they are really closely related. Their flowers and fruit shows
the relationship also, so their book name is the same, Acacia.
The thorn tree of the Karroo is Acacia horrida, Willd. ; Acacia
melanoxylon, R. Br., is an Australian cousin (black-wood).

Notice the bushes and trees about your district. Are their
edges or their flat surfaces turned toward the sun ? The slender
green branches of the beef-wood tree (Casuarina) take the

FIG. 102. — A nosegay from the Karroo.

place of leaves. This tree also comes from the " land of
shadowless forests ".

At noon we spread rugs over the Karroo thorn trees when
we sit under them for shade. Place the tin of little Karroo
trees in bright sunlight. How do they protect themselves ?

Anacampseros pafiyracea, E. M., known in the Karroo as the
"yeast plant," has large papery stipules which completely
cover small fleshy green leaves. Their cells absorb rain and
8 *

1 1 6 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

dew and open out as water runs down their inner surfaces.
As this water is absorbed the stipules close over the leaves
again.1

It would take a much longer chapter than this to tell of all
the curious devices by which plants are protected against in-
SOlation or exposure to the direct rays of the sun. One of

FIG. 103.— Leave

n sleep position.

the most remarkable methods is shown by a group of plants
described by Dr. Marloth as possessing " window leaves "
(Fenster- Blatter}. These plants have the green portion of
their leaves underground, only the colourless tips being
exposed ; here the light enters and is diffused to the chloro-
phyll below. Beneath these " windows " in some plants, for
example Mesembrianthemum rhopalophyllum, S. and D., are found

1 This plant supplies a ferment which the natives in some curious
way have learned to use in raising bread.

Plant Defences 117

curtains " of cells filled with red sap which further protects

FIG. 104. — Anacampseros papyr
small green fleshy leaves.

E. M. Papery stipules cover the

the chlorophyll from the
chemical rays of the sun.

This chapter has dealt
with the way some plants
have become adapted to cer-
tain regions in South Africa
so that they have survived
in the "struggle for exist-
ence". Plants growing in
shaded forests or floating in
ponds have quite different
habits from these we have
been describing.

The study of plants in
relation to their surround-
ings is known as Ecology. It seeks to explain the origin of

FlG. 105. — Anacampseros papyracea, E.
M. A, small green leaf with large
papery stipule toward the axis ; B,
The stipule curled back upon being
moistened.

ii8 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

plant structures and how they have come to vary. If plants
become fitted to their surroundings they thrive and multiply,

FIG. 106.— One of the plants described by Dr. Marloth as " PJlanzen mil
Fenster-Bldttern" (Plants with window leaves). A. Bulbin* mesembrianthe-
moides, Haw., showing ground line. The tips of the leaf wither. The light
passes through the transparent flat surfaces above ground and is diffused to the
chlorophyll situated below in a narrow marginal row of cells. The central
cells are water storing. B. Mesemlrianthemvm truncatum, Th. (collected by
Miss Taylor near Kimberley ), a, opposite truncate leaves ; b, withered remains of
last year's leaves ; c, capsule of last year's fruit. The leaves beneath the ground
line d are green ; the portion of the leaves above the soil form a red sap in the
cells which protects the chlorophyll below.

if not they die out, and so the study is also connected with
that of geographical distribution and with the origin of plant
associations.

CHAPTER XV.
NEW PLANTS WITHOUT SEED.

FLOWERING plants usually reproduce by seeds, but reproduc-
tion may take place by other methods.

FIG. 107. — Lily grow
ing in ostrich egg.

Some species of Oxalis have a vigorous underground stem
system, upon which bulbs in great number are formed.1

1 In these species long roots filled with sap may be found in early
winter, As these give up their sap to the brood of young plants they
119

I2O Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Within these bulbs, on the tips of slender coiled steins, other
bulbs are formed, which send up new plants year after year.
Creeping underground stems are called rhizomes. In some
rhizomes (e.g. Pteris and Aspidiuni) the stem remains below
and sends the leaves above ground ; more frequently the end
appears above ground, while a branch continues below to
come above the following year. As the old parts die,
branches are set free, and so plants are multiplied.

The Lily growing in the ostrich egg (Fig. 107) had blossoms,

FIG. 108. — Kleinia articulata, Haw.

but the seeds did not set ; possibly for lack of food which
passed on to form little plants on the tip of each flowering
stalk. The little plants send out roots in search of food. If
they had been left in the mountain they would have been
more successful in their search. They are given a good start
in the world, for the wiry stems throw out each plant a long

become wrinkled and much shorter. This shortening pulls- the adventur-
ous plants down and keeps them sufficiently covered with soil. It is by
the pull of drying roots that bulbs with long "necks" are also pulled
further down into the soil year by year. Let a bulb dry and see if the
roots all wrinkle in the same manner.

New Plants without Seed

121

distance from the parent, and in a few years they will travel
far up or down the mountain.

A great many of the Cape plants reproduce by bulbs.
They may lie dormant in the ground for years. After the vege-
tation has been burned off these bulbs have a chance, and
then send up flowering stalks which turn the blackened veld
into a garden.

New plants are obtained by cuttings from old ones. Some-
times the stock is cut back so as to obtain a supply of shoots
for this purpose. It is in this way that sweet potatoes are pro-
pagated. Kleinia articulata^ Haw., Fig. 108, which grows about
Uitenhage, propagates naturally by cuttings. The fleshy stems
are jointed or constricted at intervals. A
strong wind breaks the plant at these joints,
and new shoots start from the axils of the leaves
In a seed the first root is formed ready to
push down into the soil. In reproduction
without seed (vegetative reproduction), new
K roots have to be formed from the stem ; these

roots are called adventitious roots.

Vegetative reproduction occurs when
plants grow in the shade or in rich soil.
When the soil becomes exhausted, seed will
be formed.

FIG. 109. — Grafting ; d, the stock to which the graft is attached. The
various elements in the process of budding. (From Thom6 and Bennett's
"Structural and Physiological Botany".)

Vegetative reproduction is sure and economical, a disad-
vantage arises from the close crowding of new plants.

122 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Grafting and Budding. — When plants are grown from
seeds they often differ from the parent plant, owing to the fact
that the ovules have been cross fertilized, i.e. pollen has been
brought from another variety or species. Grafting is resorted
to in order to ensure retaining a desirable fru t. By this method,
new and delicate varieties may be introduced into the country
by grafting on to hardy plants, as in grafting varieties of grape
on to the American vines.

Grafting has another advantage, as trees grown from seed
take several years to bear fruit. Buds of the first or second
order, that is, the bud at the tip of the main stem and those
that are borne in the axils of its leaves, do not develop fruit-
buds, but leaf-spurs. By using grafting scions of a higher
order, fruit will be borne much sooner.

To graft in a simple form, select two branches of the same
species ; cut from each a por-
tion of the bark and a little
wood, which will be bordered
by a ring of cambium. Bring
the two cut surfaces together
and bind them firmly. When
the two have united, one
may be cut from the parent
stock. Sometimes it is de-
sirable to graft a small scion
on to a larger stock. The
stock is cut off, the scion is
pointed at the lower end and
thrust in between the wood
and the bark. The stock is
prevented from drying by a
covering of clay or grafting
wax. Drying would kill the
cambium.

Budding is a form of
grafting. A single bud with a portion of wood is inserted
into a T-shaped opening of the stock. This method is used
with especial success with Oranges, Apricots, and Roses.

FIG. no. — \jz?A<ABryophyllum. Little
plants are borne all along the edges
of the fles'iy leaf. They send out
roots, fall off, and start new plants,

New Plants without Seed 123

An Apple will graft on to a Quince, but a Quince does not
take well to a Pear. A Pear will not grow well on an
Apple. Prof. Bailey tells us that Tomato- plants will grow
on Potato stocks, the combination forming Potatoes under-
ground and Tomatoes above. When Tomato plants are the
stocks, what will happen ? If you own a Rose bush, it will be
interesting to see how many kinds of roses you can bud on to
one stock. Try it.

Budding and grafting should be done when the sap is active
in the spring.

Pineapples and Bananas have lost the power of forming
seeds. The leafy stem above the Pineapple fruit readily sends
out roots when placed in the soil, and a new plant is grown.
How are Banana plants propagated ?

The mother fern, Bryophyllum, and Begonias are propa-
gated by means of buds formed on the leaves. The stem or
axis of the bud lengthens, and the leaves unfold ; roots are
sent out from the lower portions of the stems, and the little
plants fall off, forming new plants.

Mosses and Mushrooms do not form seeds, but are repro-
duced by spores. The fern spores are borne in spore cases
(sporangia) usually on the under side of the leaves.

CHAPTER XVI.
CLIMBING PLANTS AND PLANT MIGRATIONS.

IT is interesting to notice along waysides and waterways how
different varieties of plants dwell in congenial plant societies.
Many a delicate plant owes its start in life to the protecting
branches of some overhanging shrub or forest tree which it
afterwards uses to " rise in the world ".

We could not make a satisfactory classification of climbing
plants, because almost any family of plants might have climb-
ing members if their surroundings were such as to induce
climbing or made the habit an advantage. In fact, a plant
which may have quite an erect habit out in the open will
become tall and slender and in need of support if growing
among bushes.

Stem Twiners. — Microloma and Cyphia show a common
method of climbing by twining. The stems twine from left
to right, or counter clock- wise.1 Growing on the open veld
as they do, their support is seldom long enough for their
entire length, but the stems often twine several together in
a strand firm enough to bear their weight of pretty blossoms
up into the sunlight. You may watch them in the school-
room, if you place them in water, and see how at different
hours of the day the stems point in different directions The
tips of the stems make wide sweeps, but as they extend in length
the coil tightens around the support. One keen-eyed student
says she can tell from what hillside Aficroloma has been gathered
by the plant it entwines. On one hillside she seeks it on
Restiacea ; in another locality it twines about the rigid branches
of Montinia acris ; while elsewhere it mingles its scarlet waxy
flowers with the hoary heads of Eriocephalus.

1 With the sun in the southern hemisphere,
124

Climbing Plants and Plant Migrations 125

Tendril Climbers. — The Pea family, Grenadilla and other
plants, climb by tendrils. The pumpkin, cucumber, and
calabash seldom make use of their tendrils. Their heavy fruits
would be a great strain on the plants ; but several native rela-
tives, Luflfa and Lagenaria, with their lighter fibrous fruits, are
climbers, and Gerrardanthus megarhiza, T. and H., of Natal
climbs to the tops of highest trees.

FIG. 112. — The first leaf of the
FIG. in. — Microloma gets up in the world branch in the pumpkin family

by twining on stems of other plants. changes into a tendril.

The tendrils of the Pea are formed from the upper leaflets
of a compound leaf. This use of the leaf throws the responsi-
bility of making food upon the stipules or upon the broad-
winged stem. In the grape vine the main stem turns aside
to form the tendril and to bear the fruit, while the tendrils of
Clematis are formed from the pgtioles. What is the tendril of
the Grenadilla ?

The beautiful scarlet and orange blossoms of Gloriosa

126 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

are borne up against their glossy background of trees by the
coiled tips of their leaves. Littonia and Flagellaria (Fig. 114)
have a similar habit. No tendrils are borne on the tips of the
lower leaves. They can grow erect for some time without a
support.

Hook Climbers. — Some plants like Asparagus and Dog
Roses lean against others for support. The recurved thorns
or prickles which ward off animals serve to fix and support the
plant. The Ivy climbs by means of roots (haustoria) which
grow out along the stem.

FIG. 113. — The petioles of Clematis act as tendrils.

Plants in dry open places, on the other hand, are less con-
genial. It is to their advantage to appropriate as much soil as
possible to the exclusion of others of their own or of different
kinds. Some species of Brunsvigia and Hamanthus spread
their flat leaves closely upon the ground, preventing others
from gaining a foothold, and smothering any weaker plant which
may have taken root in the soil which their leaves can cover.
So the plants appropriate water and food material from a wide
area.

Foreign Immigration.— Have you ever thought how
much or how little South Africa owes to other countries for
its flora? Dr. Bolus, in his " Sketch of South African Flora,"
mentions as one of its peculiarities " its power to resist the

Climbing Plants and Plant Migrations 127

aggression of foreign invaders ". The bulbous plants offer a
most determined resistance to other plants. Even South
African plants seldom spread when removed from their re-
stricted locality. A Mimosa (Acacia horrida, Willd.) was
planted in Wellington as a thank-offering for a difficult journey

FIG. 114. — The leaf tips of Flagel-
laria serve as a means of support.

FIG. 115. — A Mimosa tree in Wellington.
Out of its natural habitat it thrives, hut
does not spread as does its relative the
" Port Jackson " from Australia.
(Photograph by Mrs. Aiken.)

successfully completed before the railway extended to Worcester,
more than thirty years ago. Beautifully green in winter, in
summer it is a fragrant mass of golden flowers. Fruit and seeds
are produced in abundance, but still it stands the only Mimosa
tree in the vicinity. However, it is much the same with
plants as with people who come to our shores. If they adapt
themselves to the conditions as they are, and make the most of
them, they are apt to thrive and find hospitable soil.

Have you ever thought how different Johannesburg would
look without the Australian Blue Gums ? How we should miss

128 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

the oaks which make French Hoek and Stellenbosch so delight-
fully shady, and how different the suburbs of Cape Town would
look without the European Pines !

For draining the fever district what tree could serve better
than the Blue Gums ? Their thirsty roots make enormous de-
mands on the water supply, while their vertically placed leaves
and slender erect habit allow the sun to penetrate to the soil.
The Pines or " Firs" and the Blue Gum, which belongs to the

FIG. 116. — Mount Hawakwa, near Wellington. The Australian Eucalyptus
softens the treeless landscapes of the Colony. (Photograph by L. Grant.)

Myrtle family, remind us of the prophecy in Isaiah LV. 11-13 :
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth ; it shall
not return unto me void, but shall accomplish that which I please.
. . . Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead
of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree : and it shall be to the
Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Along the coast the sands are ever shifting and piling up
new dunes. The native plants do their share in staying the
sands; the succulent creeping Mesembrianthemum (T"gaukum
and Paarde Vijgeri], and Myrica, with its spreading trunk half
hidden in the sand, all help to render the sands more stable.

Climbing Plants and Plant Migrations 129

The "Port Jackson Willow," from Australia, is admirably
adapted to aid in this work. Besides spreading by the count-
less seeds which it produces, the plant multiplies by tough
suckers, that run underground in all directions, forming a firm
foundation upon which their humus or decaying leaves mingle
with the verdureless sand. Moreover, these plants belong to
the great group of leguminous plants, the nitrogen gatherers.
Their innumerable roots are claiming quantities of the valuable

FIG. 117. — Myrica cordifolia, L. (Photograph by Dr. Mirloth.)

nitrogen of the air, and are giving wealth to the soil as fast as
it is being removed from the Kimberley and Johannesburg
mines. (See p. 101.)

Plants introduced into America have spread until they have
become pests. The same plants brought to this country for
their beauty of flower may grow, but seldom become noxious.
South Africa, with its wealth of beautiful flowers, can well
dispense with introduced flowers, except the Roses and Violets,
which are lacking in this country — and how they do thrive !

The lack of fuel and building timber in South Africa is not
9

130 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

a natural condition but one largely brought about by the agency
of man. When Vasco da Gama came to South Africa he named
it "Terra de fume " from the fires. From the time when the
Hottentot and Bushman were the sole inhabitants of South
Africa, grass fires have gradually destroyed the forests. Trees
that once occupied large areas now survive only along mountain
streams. Cunonia capensis, L., a handsome evergreen tree
growing by the borders of streams throughout Cape Province
and Natal, is one of these survivors.

Farmers point out barren areas which in their childhood
days were well covered with large trees.

" One of the early Dutch Governors made a rule that in
thinly wooded districts, every farmer in felling a tree should
plant two saplings in its place."1

Fortunately the Forest Department is doing valuable work
in restoring and producing forests.

1 Quoted from Dr. J. Brown by F. R. Sim, F.L.S., F.R.H.S., in " The
Forests and Forest Flora of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope ".

CHAPTER XVII.
FLOWERS AND THEIR PARTS.

Note. — This chapter will contain many new names. We must have
them when we study flowers. Do not try to learn them all at once, but
find as many flowers as you can and make out each part named in this
chapter. You will have the names in mind before you know it.

To understand the parts of a flower, it is better to take those
of the veld. Roses, Carnations, Chrysanthemums, and Dahlias
of our gardens delight us with their glorious masses of colour,
but by long cultivation they have lost some of the characters
which Nature originally gave them. Chrysanthemums (the
gold flowers), it is said, have been in cultivation for over 2000
years. Enthusiastic cultivators have so put their hearts into
showing what a range of colour and size is possible in these
old garden favourites, that the flowers themselves have yielded
up their own golden hearts to the cause. The centres have
grown out into flattened petals, which gradually reveal all the
colours they have caught from the sun.

" The lovely wild flowers are the flowers which God has
made." We repeat Jean Ingelow's thought when we come
upon Heaths, Nerine, and Orchids in some hidden inaccessible
place. But garden flowers have their beauty too — beauty ob-
tained by care and skill of those who love them. The wild
flowers were so made they can change most wonderfully under
cultivation, and lend added cheer and colour and interest to
the lives of those far from heath- covered hills or Disa-bordered
streams.

If you examine the flower of Crassula, you will find on
the outside a circle or whorl of green leaves — the calyx ;
each leaf is a sepal. The calyx is the cover of the flower. In
131 9*

132 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Dianthus (Carnation), Datura, and Hibiscus the sepals have

grown together, forming a cup.

Within the calyx, the second row of flower leaves is the
corolla, or little crown. It
is usually the showy part of
the flower. Sometimes the
calyx is brightly coloured,
and may at first be mistaken
for the corolla. Calyx and
corolla taken together make
the perianth.

The third whorl bears

FIG. us. — Crassuia centauroides, Httle resemblance to leaves.

Thunb. (From Edmonds and Mar- Tt rnndctc nf ac manv cl^nH^r
loth's " Elementary Botany for South ll conslsts ot as manY slender

Africa".) threads as there are petals ;

each thread ends in a yellow knob. They are the stamens.
The thread of the stamen is the filament (thread), and the
knob the anther. The anther contains the powder-box, and
each box contains very valuable powder, called pollen (micro-
spores). In the centre of the flower are several boat-shaped
bodies, tapering to a point. They are the pistils or carpels.
The lower part of the pistil is the ovary. It contains small
rounded bodies, the ovules, which are destined to form seeds.

Structure and Forms of Ovules. — The ovule consists
of a mass of cells, the nucellus, surrounded by one or two
seed-coats ; two integuments (or coats) are found as a rule in
Monocotyledons and Archichlamydeae T (Umbelliferae and Le-
guminosae may be noted as exceptions) and one in Sympetalae.
The place of attachment of nucellus and seed-coat is called
the chalaza. The stalk is known as the funicle, and the
scar formed on the seed at its place of attachment to the ovary,
the hilum.

The simplest form is the straight or orthotropous ovule.
The funicle, chalaza, and micropyle lie in a straight line. It
may be found in the orders Commelinacea, Xyridacece, Poly-
gonacece, Restiacea. A second form found in Mulberry and
Fig is known as amphitropous. The nucellus is straight but

1 A subdivision of Dicotyledons. See Engler's " System of Classifi-
cation," p. 209.

Flowers and their Parts

133

the whole ovule is so bent that a line drawn through the
funicle would cut at right angles, nearly at the centre, a line
drawn through the chalaza and the micropyle. The funicle is
partially fused with the seed-coat forming the raphe. The
anatropous ovule which occurs most frequently, is still further
bent so as to bring the micropyle down to the funicle, the
chalaza lying at the opposite end. The raphe extends the
whole length of the ovule. The campylotropous ovule,

FIG. 119.— Sections of ovules (diagrammatic). A, orthotropous ; B, ana-
tropous ; C, campylotropous ; D, amphitropous. f, funiculus ; at, outer
integument ; ii, inner integument ; k, nucellus ; m, micropyle ; em, embryo-
sac ; r, the point of union between the side of ovule and funiculus ; c, the
chalaza. (After Prantl.)

found in the narrow bean, is curved so as to lie at right
angles to the funicle which is not fused with the integument.
Now find the flower parts in Hibiscus. The stamens
here are joined by their filaments into a tube. Above the
stamens are five crimson velvety cushions, the stigmas.
Carefully split down the stamen tube, and see how these five
cushions are borne at the top of a long slender stalk, the
style. By following the style down its entire length, we
come to the ovary. A cut across the ovary shows as many
parts or carpels as there are stigmas. Within the cavities
or locules are the ovules. Remember that the ovules are
not at first seeds, any more than a new-laid fowl's egg is a
chicken.

1 34 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

When carpels are separate as they are in Crassula, they
are said to be apocarpous. When they are joined as in

FlG. 121. — Hibiscus cethiopicus,
L. (From Edmonds and Mar-
loth's ' ' Elementary Botany for
South Africa ".)

FIG. 120. — Flower of Thorn-apple
{Datura Stramonium, L.) (natural
size), showing gamosepalous calyx.
(From Thome* and Bennett's
" Structural and Physiological
Botany".)

FlG. 122. — Pistil of Lily, with
ovary, style, and stigma. (From
Thom6 and Bennett's " Struc-
tural and Physiological Bo-
tany".)

Hibiscus, they are syncarpous. The parts of a pistil are —
ovary, style, and stigma.

Crassula, Hibiscus, Ornithogalum (" Chinkerinchees "), and
other flowers have four whorls. Their flowers are complete.

Clematis (Traveller's Joy), Protea, and others have but

Flowers and their Parts 135

one whorl of floral leaves. Although it may be showy, the
one whorl is usually called the calyx. If any one or more
whorls of the perianth are wanting, the flower is incomplete.

After a few weeks the Clematis loses its sepals, and only
the seed-forming portion remains. The ovules within the
ovary cannot become seeds without the pollen from the
stamens ; so the stamens and pistils are called the essential
organs.

If the anthers are removed from any flower before they
shed their pollen, and the flower is then covered or removed
from any similar flower, the ovaries will wither away and form
no seed. If, after the stamens were removed, pollen were

FIG. 123. — Leucospermum ellipticum, L., has no corolla. The flower
is incomplete. (From Edmonds and Marloth's "Elementary Botany for South
Africa".)

brought from a similar flower and placed at the right time on
the stigma, the pistil would continue growing, and seeds would
be formed as though there had been no disturbance, even
though the petals and sepals were removed. A perfect flower
has both stamens and pistils. In the flowers which bear the
seed in the Silver Tree, mealie, or Montinia stamens are
wanting, while those that have stamens produce no seed.
Flowers in which either set of essential organs is wanting are
imperfect. If the pistils are wanting, the flowers are sta-
minate. If the stamens are absent, the flowers are pistillate
or fertile. A perfect flower is sometimes called bisexual or

136 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

hermaphrodite. The willows and arums have neither calyx
nor corolla. A flower may be reduced to a single stamen or a
single pistil, as in Euphorbia.
A complete flower has —

(1) Calyx, made up of sepals.

(2) Corolla „ „ petals.

(3) Stamens ,, ,, filaments and anther.

(4) Pistil „ ,, ovary, style, and stigma.
A perfect flower has —

(i) Stamens.
(a) Pistil.

Practise making out these whorls in flowers. Find other
flowers which are pistillate or staminate.

FIG. 124. — Diagrammatic sections of ovaries : /. the placenta, to which
the seeds are attached. A, apocaipous ; B, C, D, syncarpous. (From Ed-
monds and Marloth's "Elementary Botany".) A. B, with parietal; C, D,
with axile placentation.

Do not try to remember any of these names until you have
seen the parts themselves.

Different Kinds of Pistils. — The long style of Hibiscus

is necessary to bring the
stigma out beyond the
stamens. In some Or-
nithogalums and in Al-
buca the stigma sits
directly on the ovary.
The style is not in all
cases necessary to the
pistil. It depends upon
the shape of the flower.
If a flower has two or more carpels, they generally grow
together. A syncarpous ovary may be one-, two-, three-, four-,
or many-celled (or uni-, bi-, tri-, quadri-, or plurilocular).

FIG. 125.— I. Marginal placentation. II.
Unilocular ovary, with free central pla-
centa. (From Edmonds' "Elementary
Botany".)

Flowers and their Parts 137

As the ovaries are variously formed, the ovules are placed

IF

FIG. 126.— I. Stamen of Pinus sylvestris, L., with longitudinal dehiscence
(magnified). II. Stamen of barberry, the anther opening by recurved valves
(magnified). III. Stamen of Rhododendron, each anther lobe opening by a pore.
IV. Stamen of bay, Laurus nobilis, L., with two glands at the base of the fila-
ment, the anther opening by recurved valves. V. Stamen of Erica, the anther
opening by pores and bearing two appendages at its base (magnified). (From
Thom6and Bennett's "Structural and Physiological Botany".)

in different positions. In the bean they are placed on the

upper edge of the ovary ; in Orchids,

Violets, and Drosera the ovary is

made up of three or five carpels

which just meet at the edges. The

joinings make three thick ridges the

length of the ovary. The part upon

which the seeds are placed is called

a placenta,. In Ornithogalum and

Gladiolus the three carpels curve in

until they meet at the centre or axis

of the ovary. In Carnations, " Poor

Man's Weather - glass " (Anagallis),

and Portulacaria (Spekboom), the

ovules are borne on a column, the end

of the flower-stalk or receptacle;

they are free from the wall of the

ovary.

These three kinds of arrangement or placentation are
marginal, which includes the parietal and axile, and " free

FIG. 127. — One-celled swing-
ing anthers of Restio.
(From Edmonds and Mar-
loth's " Elementary Bo-
tany for South Africa ".)

138 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

central placentation," including basal, where the axis is not
prolonged.

Different Kinds of Stamens. — Stamens may have long
filaments, but in some flowers they are very short. Like the
style and the petiole of a leaf, the length is adapted to place
the essential part of the organ in a favourable position. When
filaments are wanting the anthers are said to be sessile. In
S.A. Proteacece, where they seem to be wanting, they have
fused with (are adnate to) the perianth lobes.

Anthers are differently attached to the filaments. In
Gladiolus, Lobelia, and some Heaths the filament is joined to the

dV

FIG. 129. — Section through flower of
Barosma crenulata, Hook., after the
removal of the petals (magnified) : st,
fertile stamens ; sto, barren stamens
(staminodes) ; d, lobes of disk. (From
FIG. 128. — Stamens of Cyanella ca- Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary
pensis, L. Botany for South Africa".)

base of the anthers (basifixed). In Jasmine the filaments ex-
tend between the anthers (adnate) In grasses and in Bulbinella
the filaments are so joined to the centre of the anther at the back
that they easily swing (versatile). Versatile anthers are fre-
quently found where pollen is conveyed from them to the stigmas
by wind. The continuation of the filament to which the anther
is attached is called the connective.

Examine anthers in buds. Usually the anther consists of
two lobes. On cutting across the anther, each lobe will be
seen to contain two pollen sacs or microsporangia. When
the pollen grains or microspores are ready to be discharged,
the tissue separating the two pollen sacs of each lobe is broken
down and the two cavities merge into one. Such anthers are

Flowers and their Parts 139

frequently called two celled, although they were originally four
chambered. Restio and Hibiscus have two microsporangia, but
in older botanies are called " one celled ". A split occurs in
the ridge of each lobe and the anthers are said to dehisce.

Dehiscence takes place in different ways. The anthers of
Watsonia, Antholyza,
and Protect open the
entire length. Cyan-
ella and many Heaths
open by little pores
at the tips. Do you
know of any other
that open in this way ?

Cassytha and Ocotea FlG. ^.-GynandropsispentaphyllaW. Flower

(Stinkwood) open by with larse gyn°Phore»^- (From Edmonds

,-.,, ,., .. * and Marloth's " Elementary Botany for South

little lids upon which Africa".)
the pollen adheres.

In Adenandra, Barosma, and in some species of Albuca,
what appears to be every other stamen bears no anther.
In Adenandra they bear honey glands at the tip. Bodies
which are in the position of stamens, but which do not form
pollen, are called staminodia.

Stamens may cohere by their anthers (monadelphous), or by
their filaments (synandrous or syngenesious) ; they may adhere
by their filaments to the petals (epipetalous), or to the sepals
(episepalous).

The following terms refer to the number of stamens and to
their position : —

Pleiostemonous stamens many or indefinite,' twenty or
more.

Diplostemonous, two whorls, each of equal number to the
petals, the outer whorl alternating with them.

Obdiplostemonous, as in diplostemonous, but the outer
whorl is opposite or anteposed to the petals.

The Insertion of the Flower. — The end of the flower-
stalk, the receptacle or thalamus, is usually a shortened cone,
so that the four whorls of the flower are borne closely together.

140 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Sometimes the part between any two whorls may be lengthened.
In the Capparis family, which is found chiefly in the East,
the thalamus is lengthened between the petals and stamens,

FIG. 131.— Peach. Vertical section of flower.
African Flowering Plants".)

(From Henslow's " South

and again beyond the stamens, so that they are separated from
the pistil. The thalamus may be swollen into a disk, as in
Adenandra, Tecomaria, and Plumbago. Where there are many
ovaries, as in the strawberry, it is much enlarged.

FIG. i^z.—Afesembrianthemum. Vertical section of flower. (From Hens-
low's " South African Flowering Plants".)

In some flowers the receptacle grows up in a tube around
the ovary and bears the perianth and stamens on the rim of
the tube. If the tube is free from the ovary, the stamens and
petals are perigynous.1

If the tube is joined to the ovary as it is in the Hottentot Fig

1 Perigynous means around the ovary. GyncEciurn is the term applied
to all the ovaries of the flower. The corresponding term for the stamens
is Androecium.

Flowers and their Parts 141

(Mesembrianthemum), the stamens and petals are epigynous.
These two conditions come late in plant life. In early flower
forms the three outer whorls are situated below the ovary. The
stamens and perianth are hypogynous, the ovary is superior.
All these forms are found in different members of the Rose
family. Which kind is found in the Pumpkin ?

The Duration of the Parts of the Flower.— The
corolla usually has the briefest life, and in some flowers it
lives but a day. If the perianth remains until the fruit is ripe,
it is persistent. The strawberry has a persistent calyx. If
it falls off after the pollen has reached the stigma, it is
deciduous, as in members of the Lily family. If the calyx
falls off before the corolla opens, it is caducous. What do
farmers mean by Vines " shedding their caps " ? When is this
done?

Different Forms of Calyx and Corolla.— In describing
the calyx and corolla it is necessary to
have names for the different shapes.
They get their names from something
more familiar to us. Kalkoentjes and
patrijsjes are good names for some
flowers if one understands Dutch. Some
flowers have Zulu names. Wheel -
shaped answers for a flower the shape FlG- I33._R0tate flower
of the one in Fig. IT,*. It is also called of Soianum. (From

e u T • j r t. i Thom6 and Bennett's

rotate, from the Latin word for wheel, " structural and Phy-
rota. siological Botany".)

When petals are distinct from each other, the corolla is said
to be polypetalous or choripetalous. While the former
term is older and more familiar, on comparing the derivation
of the two terms the latter will be found better to express the
meaning. In Roella and Tecomaria the corolla consists of a
single piece ; it is gamopetalous, monopetalous or sym-
petalous. To these terms there are corresponding ones
referring to the sepals. The lower sympetalous part of the
united corolla is the tube, and the upper spreading part the
limb. The upper boundary of the tube is the throat.

Flowers, especially those with sympetalous corollas, often

142 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

have very curious shapes. We liken them to butterflies,
spiders, bells, trumpets, lips, kalkoentjes, patrijsjes, kapjes ; but
since Latin names have been longest in books, we still use
them. The most important thing is to know the flowers and
to find out, if possible, how
they came by their different
forms. When the parts of the
corolla and calyx are all the
same shape, the flowers are
regular or actinomorphic.

When they are two-lipped,
like Lobelia, or butterfly-

FiG. \^.—Disperis c.apensis, Swtz.
(Moeder capjes or Hottentot bon-
nets).

FIG. 135. — Valvate asstivation of Aca-
cia horrida, Willd. (From Edmonds
and Marloth's "Elementary Botany
for South A frica ' '. )

shaped, like the Pea, they are irregular or zygomorphic.1
Bright-coloured flowers are often zygomorphic.

Flowers built on the plan of three often have sepals and
petals of similar shape and colour. By this time you have ob-
served that certain flowers have three sepals, three petals, and
that the stamens and carpels are also three or some multiple of
three, while others are built on the plan of five. Four is less
commonly the number found.

^Estivation. — Like the leaf buds, flower buds have their
parts neatly folded. The stamens are curved inward to bring
the anthers as near the centre as possible, and sepals and petals
are wrapped around them. Sometimes petals and sepals are

1 Of these terms zygomorphic, though a more difficult word to use at
first, is preferable, as the term irregular suggests that the flower is not sym-
metrical, as it generally is.

Flowers and their Parts

143

valvate, that is, they just meet by their edges. If they over-
lap, the aestivation is imbricate. In Hibiscus and Oxalis the
petals so overlap that one edge of each is without and one

FIG. 136. — Convolute aestivation of Oxalis (the sepals are imbricate).
(From Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary Botany for South Africa.")

within another. They are twisted or convolute. In Crassula
and Adenandra one is quite within the others and one overlaps
by both its edges. Which aestivation is more common ?

FIG. 137. — Imbricate aestivation
of both sepals and petals.
(From Edmonds and Marloth's
" Elementary Botany for South
Africa.")

FIG. 138. — Plumb
Stamens, honey glands,
and pistil. (From Hens-
low's ' ' South African
Flowering Plants".)

Honey glands are the parts of flowers which secrete
nectar. In the Buttercup (Ranunculus] and Grewia a gland is
placed at the base of each petal. Geranium has a gland at
j:he base of each long stamen. These flowers are regular and

144 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

the glands are evenly distributed around the flower. In
zygomorphic flowers, where insects alight in one particular
place, the gland is situated where the beneficial insects can
most easily help themselves. Pelargonium (commonly called
Geranium] holds its honey in the long spurred sepal at the

FIG. 139.— Micranthus fistula.
Eckl. A scape bearing
spike of flowers.

FIG. 140. — Raceme of Cyanella
capensis L.

back of the flower. The spur is joined to the stalk. It can
be located by cutting the stalk just below the flower.

The calyx tube catches honey. If the calyx tube is at-
tached to the ovary, the gland is borne at the top of the ovary,
as in the Carrot family and Mesembrianthemum.

There are many devices which conceal honey, e.g. the
wide bases of the filament of Roella roof over the honey in

Flowers and their Parts

145

the base of the corolla tube so that it can be obtained only
through narrow slits. The downward hanging hairs in Micro-
loma are said to guard against flies.

Arrangement of Flowers on the Stalk.— Antho-
taxy (or inflorescence) is a term applied to the arrangement
of flowers as phyllotaxy applies to leaf arrangement. Some of
our large flowers, as Hypoxis
stdlata Linn. (Peacock's
Eyes) are borne singly on
the end of the flower stalk.
Others, as Malvastrum and
Hermannia, are borne singly
in the axils of the leaves ;
the main stem can then
continue to lengthen. If
the peduncle or flower stalk
arises from the ground and
bears hardly any or no
leaves it is termed a scape.
Fig. 139 shows a scape
bearing a cluster of flowers.
The ovary of each flower
is sessile, or borne close
upon the stem. The an-
thotaxy is a spike.

A raceme has the
flowers attached to the main
stalk or axis by a short stalk. If the lower stalks are lengthened
and the upper ones shortened, the raceme is a corymb. If the
stalks themselves are branched, the inflorescence is a panicle.
This is common in the grasses, the Vine, and the Olive. In
grasses it is a panicle of spikelets instead of single flowers.

The spike and raceme have a lengthened axis. A capi-
tulum or flower head has a shortened axis and sessile flowers,
as in the Everlasting family and Protect ; for here what looks
like a single flower is really a cluster of many flowers. If the
flowers are borne on pedicels which spring from the same
height on the axis, we have an umbel. The Carrot family
10 *•

FIG. 141. — Corymbose raceme of Albuca
minor Linn.

146 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

takes its name from the umbel or umbrella-like arrangement
of the flowers. Widely different families have this floral ar-
rangement— as the Pelargoniums and Erodiums of the family
Geraniacea, many of the Amaryllidaceae or Belladonna family,
Microloma and Asckpias.

In what is regarded as the true spike, raceme, capitulum,
and umbel, the younger flowers continue to open toward the

FIG. 142. — Simple umbel of Nerine.

top or centre, which in the'umbel corresponds to the top. The
arrangement is indefinite or racemose.

In Dianthus and other members of the Carnation family,
in Crassula and Datura, the central or terminal bud opens
first, and later buds come from side branches below. This
type of flower cluster is known as a cyme, and the flower ar-
rangement is definite or determined; that is, the first flower
determines that the stem shall extend no farther. It has a de-
finite length. It happens that flowers do not always follow

Flowers and their Parts

147

strictly one or the other arrangement, but the definite and
indefinite are often mixed. The flower cluster of the Olive is
a panicle, but the separate branches have the flowers arranged
in cymose clusters. In Leonotis each separate flower cluster
is definite, but the younger clusters are at the top. The
terminal umbels of Wild Carrot, which are the first to open,
are indefinite. Younger umbels tip the branches which come
from the axils of lower leaves, the youngest being lowermost

FIG. 143. — Compound umbel of Bubon. (From Edmonds and Marloth's
" Elementary Botany for South Africa".)

on the stem. In other umbels of this order the central flowers
open first.

The simple umbel of Nerine (Fig. 142) is definite, as they
are in Asclepias, Hydrocotyle, Sparmannia. iThe youngest
flowers in the Sunflower family are always at the centre but in
Scabiosa the heads are cymose. These definite umbels may
consist of condensed clusters of cymes as in Agapanthus.

The garden Foxglove sometimes, instead of rearing stately
racemes of flowers, has a large terminal flower which looks like
several joined into one (peloria). This stops the growth of
10 *

148 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

the main shoot which then sends out late all shoots with cymose

FlG. 144. — Gerbera asplenifolia, Spr. I. Section through head. II. Disk
floret. (From Edmonds and Marloth's "Elementary Botany for South

FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS.

Kinds of Clusters.
. SPIKE— Catkin : deciduous, pistillate and

staminate flowers ; Oak.
Spadix : fleshy spike ; Arum.
Cone : parts hard and woody ;

Fir, Leucadendron.

General Methi
Indefinite

Flowers and their Parts

149

General Method. Kinds of Clusters.

Usually indefinite . . RACEME — Corymb : more or less flat-
topped ; Ornithogalum.
Panicle : branched stalks ;

Grasses.
UMBEL — Simple : Hydrocotyle (definite.)

Compound: Daucus.

CAPITULUM (or head) — Composite?, Pro-
tea.
Definite .... CYME — 2-sided : dichasium, Spergtila,

Crassula.
i-sided : cincinnus, Lobostemon,

Heliotrope.

Mixed .... CYMOSE — (Heads and panicles) — Leonotis,

Olive.

Bracts. — In examining flower arrangements, the flowers
are usually found protected by one or more leaf-like bodies,
green or coloured, which
may have <been mistaken
for the calyx. In Gla-
diolus, Antholyza, and
their relatives, this mis-
take is often made, but
you will find that in these
flowers the sepals are like
petals, and are borne at
the top of the ovary.

Leaves in whose axils
flower-buds instead of
leaf -buds arise, are termed
bracts. They are gener-
ally smaller than leaves,
but sometimes much
larger and more showy
than the flowers, as in
Protect, Poinsettia, and Hcemanthus. When several bracts
surround a head of flowers, as in Protect, the Barberton Daisy,
and others of their tribe, they form an involucre.

When a bract is large and sheaths the inflorescence, as in
Arum, it is called a spathe. Bracts which enclose the flowers
of grasses and sedges are called pales and glumes.

FIG. 145. — Flower and fruit of the Olive,
showing a definite or cymose panicle
(see p. 147).

i 50 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

FIG. 146.— A, Cymose inflorescence of Myo-
sotis ; B, diagrammatic representation of
the order of development of the flowers in
the helicoid cyme. (From Thpm6 and
Bennett's " Structural and Physiological
Botany".)

FIG. 147. — Capitulum, or head of Protea, surrounded by bracts forming an
involucre.

Flowers and their Parts

In Satyr ium the bracts become more and more like the
foliage leaves farther down on the stem. Bracts are modified
leaves. Are all flowers subtended by bracts ?

Relation of Flower Parts. — Just as bracts merge into
leaves, so the sepals may become quite leaf-like, and there are
green Roses and Dahlias in which the petals have taken on the
appearance of leaves. Usually stamens and pistils look very
unlike leaves, but here the garden flowers come in as teachers.

A canna flower is interesting. Above the ovary are three
small sepals ; then three narrow-pointed petals. The showy
parts come next, and on one of them an anther locule is
formed ; the other locule is replaced by a petal-like part. It

FIG. 148. — Spathe of
Zantedeschia athiop-
ica, Spreng (Richar-
dia africana, Kunth),
surrounding spadix.

FIG. 149. — Stages of transition between the petals
and stamens offfosa centifolia.1 (From Thom6
and Bennett's "Structural and Physiological
Botany ".)

must be a stamen. It is the only one which bears an anther,
but from the position of the others we call them sterile
stamens, or staminodia.

Water-lilies and garden flowers which double, show all gra-
dations of stamens that have become transformed into petal-
like bodies.

The pistil at the very centre of the flower has been so pro-
tected and has its one special work to perform, the bearing of
seeds, that it is seldom altered so as to make evident its
kinship to the leaves. The carpels of Sterculia appear like

1 It wouid probably be more in accordance with the order of develop-
ment were-the order of the numerals — 1-6 — reversed.

152 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

five leaves with petioles. Before they are ripe they spread
open, and the seeds ripen along
their edges. In the " Christ-
mas Rose," leaves and leaflets
take the place of ovaries and
ovules. The centre of the
flower is a mass of crumpled
leaves. In Fig. 150 the centre
of the Rose has lengthened
and become a leafy branch.
As plants come to be propa-
gated by other means than
seeds, the seeds and seed ves-
sels turn their energies toward
the work of foliage leaves.

The frequent similarity be-
tween the different whorls sug-
gests that in their past history
there has been less difference
between the whorls than now
exists. It may be that perianth
and stamens, for example, are modified forms of foliage leaves,
or what is more probable, stamens may have given up form-
ing pollen in the outer whorls and so have become larger and
petal-like owing to the abundance of food material at hand.

FIG. 150. — The centre of the Rose
has grown out into a leafy branch.

CHAPTER XVIII.
POLLINATION AND FERTILIZATION.

THROUGHOUT the Colony a bush two or three feet high with
smooth linear leaves grows on dry hillsides. The whole plant

II.

FIG. 151. — Montinia acris, L. I. Branch
tipped by an ovary. II. Branch bearing
staminate flowers.

FIG. 152. — Cliffortia
ruscifolia, L. I.
staminate flower. II.
Section through female
flower. (From Ed-
monds and Marloth's
" Elementary Botany
for South Africa".)

has a sharp taste, from which it gets its last name. The flowers
of this bush, Montinia acris, L., are not so very pretty, but the

I 54 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

dry rattle of last year's pods bids us examine the flowers of
this season. We find a small white flower with four petals

FIG. 153. — Melon. Flowering branch, with male and female flower.
(From Henslow's " South African Flowering Plants".)

terminating a branch. The calyx is small, even in the bud
hardly covering the flower. The large ovary below is sur-
mounted by a four-angled honey gland and two short stigmas.
Opposite the sepals are four small bodies that look like the

Pollination and Fertilization

155

unfulfilled promise of stamens. What is the flower to do with-
out pollen ?

A little farther on we come to another similar bush, but the
flowers are borne in cymose corymbs. Below the flower is no
sign of an ovary, but between the petals are four perfect
stamens. Here is indeed a division of labour! You will
seldom find one bush without coming to another close by.

Cliffortia is another common bush often with sharp-
pointed leaves. It has two kinds of flowers. Dr. Kolbe tells
us to look for the staminate flowers
in the direction of the prevailing
winds. You may have to go far
afield before finding them. They
have long slender stamens. The
stigmas are long and feathery, and
you can find no honey glands.

FIG. 154.— Melon. I. Pistillate.
"South African Flowering Plants ".)

II. Staminate flower. (From Henslow's

The Silver Tree (Leucadendron argenteum, R. Br.) and its
more humble relatives, which make the veld bright in spring with
their pale yellow leaves and bracts, have also their flowers of
two kinds on separate trees or shrubs. Sometimes the different
species grow so sociably that it is difficult to decide which
pistillate and staminate flowers grow together, as is true also of
the RestiaceoR.

The Pumpkin family has large yellow flowers. Some of
them open for a day and their glory is departed. They con-
tain stamens. Hidden sometimes beneath the foliage are
flowers, with large ovaries below, which were wanting in the

I 56 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

FIG. 155. — £ea mays is monoecious, i.e. the
staminate and pistillate flowers are on the
same plant. The staminate flowers form
the " tassel " at the top, the pistillate form
the "ears ".

other flowers ; these give
promise of becoming
pumpkins, or Kafir water-
melons or calabashes, ac-
cording to the plant.

Are the two kinds of
flowers on the same or on
different plants ? Do they
open again after closing ?
What time of day do they
open ?

Zea mays, or Maize, is
shown in Fig. 155. At
the top of the stalk the
"tassel " is composed of
staminate flowers. Two
flowers are in each cluster
protected by two glumes
each. When ripe, the
long slender filaments
hang out and dangle
their anthers in the wind.
Where large fields of
Indian Corn are growing
the air is heavy with
pollen which they shed.
You will find no pistil in
these flowers. Pistils pro-
duce the seed, and we do
not look for seed in the
tassels. Down below, if
all goes well, seeds will
ripen in the "ears".
Notice the long silks at
the top of the ears. Turn
back the large bracts
(husks), and trace some
of the silks to the kernel
of grain. Each grain is
an ovary containing a
single seed, and partly

Pollination and Fertilization \ 5 7

enclosed by two bracts. The silk is the long style, the upper
portion of which is stigmatic.

Examine Kafir Corn. Where are stamens and grains
borne ?

The white spathe of Zantedeschia (" Arum ") surrounds a
central column, on the lower part of which ovaries are borne.
The upper portion is not ripe until a few days after the stigmas
are. It consists of stamens closely crowded, which will in time
discharge quantities of white pollen. The spathe or bract

FIG. 156.— Spadix of Zantedeschia cethiopica, Spreng, with one half of
spathe. Tne pistillate flowers are below, the staminate flowers above. (From
Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary Botany for South Africa ".)

surrounds a spadix of flowers, the pistillate below and staminate
at the top.

These are only a few examples of imperfect or diclinous
flowers. Why should stamens and pistils be separated in
different flowers ? Often on different plants ?

We are beginning to feel sufficiently acquainted with
flowers to ask for confidences not revealed to chance acquaint-
ances. If 'we find a new acquaintance on the veld, let us
know all we can about it before it is pressed. Some of them

1 5 8 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

have not wholly revealed themselves until they are past
pressing.

The pleasure in knowing a flower's structure and plan is
increased when we learn a meaning of the endless variety of
forms and markings from patient watching or from reading what
others have found. Long after flowers had been studied and
their parts described the use of pollen remained a mystery. At
last, in 1682, an English botanist, Nehemiah Grew, discovered
that before seeds were produced pollen must be transferred
to the stigma. No one believed him, nor did he know just
why it was so. Fifty years later Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist,
said it was true, and then people began to think it must be
so. It is hard to believe what we do not understand. Even
the great Linnaeus had not found out all, and it was thought
that pollen was necessary for the ovules of the same flower,
since, in the Roella family, for instance, the pollen from the
anthers is all caught upon the bristles along the style of the
same flower. But even here the pollen has been brushed off
before the clapper-like stigmas have split open at the end and
exposed the part which receives the pollen if it is to be of
service to that flower. One man declared even that when a
pollen grain had been caught on a bristle it drew back and pulled
the pollen grain into the style. It does not, but when we
have wrong ideas they make us think a great many things are
true that are not. He thought he saw what he was so sure
must happen.

Another fifty years .went by. People were carefully and
patiently watching, and the trum is bound to be known when
people are eager to know it. A German' botanist, Sprengel,
fornd that in most flowers the pollen caryaot rtach the stigma
of its own flower ; even if it is caught on the style it seldom
reaches the tip or sensitive part of the stigma. What he saw
puzzled him and others, until Darwin, seventy years later,
showed that nearly all flowers are so constructed that they
receive pollen from another flower, and so ovules are usually
cross fertilized.

When pollen has been transferred from the stamens to a
pistil, the pistil has been pollinated. But that is not all, for

Pollination and Fertilization 1 59

to enable the ovule to become a seed, or to form an embryo
within it, the pollen grain has to send out a little tube which
carries a marvellous body, the sperm cell or sperm nucleus.
Within the ovule there is another similar nucleus with which
the first must meet and unite. When this has been effected
the ovule has been fertilized. You do not understand how
it is done ? Neither does any one else fully, but the process
can be seen by using a microscope, which you all may do
some day.

It takes some time after pollination for fertilization to take
place. It may be completed within a few hours. In the Arum
it takes several days for the pollen tube to reach the ovule
nucleus with its own, though the distance is so short. In Pines
the tube grows about half the length one year ; then it rests
through the summer and until about August of the following
winter and completes the journey by the beginning of November,
so that it takes a Pine cone two years to ripen.

There are many devices used by flowers to prevent pollen
from coming in contact with the stigmas of the same flower, to
attract insects, and to ensure the pollen's delivery to its proper
destination — another flower of the same species.1

In early spring, Nature carpets the veld with Oxalis. Large
centre-pieces of brightest yellow are bordered with pink and
buff and white. The brighter the sun, the brighter will be the
carpet. Upon first sight the flowers appear to have fifteen
stamens. A second look will show five greener than the others,
tipped with round cushions that look as though they were stuck
full of pins. The cushions are stigmas. In some flowers they
stand higher than the stamens, in others shorter. Examine a
handful until you find some stigmas standing between the two
lengths of stamens.

The Oxalis has a meaning when we know that bees which
visit it have long tongues, which are neatly rolled up when not

1 By prepotency of pollen is meant the power or quality by which
certain pollen fertilizes a given pistil in preference to other pollen. E.g.
the pollen of the same species is dominant or prepotent over the pollen of
another species. The pollen of another flower is prepotent over the
pollen of the same flower in Roella,

160 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

in use. When a flower is visited, the tongue is uncoiled and

^ thrust down the flower after

•:3j> 3$&-, honey. If the bee has just

FIG. 157-Diagram of bee's tongue after visited * fl°W6r with Iong

visiting Oxalis with long and short and short stamens, there
stamens- will be tell-tale marks on

its tongue, as shown in Fig. 157. When it visits another
flower with long stigmas the pollen will be brushed off on the
upper part of the tongue, and short stigmas of a flower will
brush it off below.

In Gazania and Cryptostemma the stamens are joined by
their anthers, making a collar around the stigma. Watch the

FIG. 158.— Trimorphic flowers of Oxalis cernua, Thunb. The arrows
indicate the legitimate combinations. (From Edmonds and Marloth's" Ele-
mentary Botany for South Africa".)

flowers of the disk in the centre. The outer flowers of the disk
open before the inner ones on successive days. On a bright
morning their long club-shaped stigmas push up through the
collar, well covered with pollen. On the following day the
elastic style has shortened, the five teeth made by points of the
stamens brush off the pollen in rings in each flower which soon
disappears. These stigmas open later at the top and receive
pollen, while closed stigmas of an inner whorl brush out rings
of pollen from their flowers! When they in turn are ready to

Pollination and Fertilization

161

receive they also split down the centre and spread apart. The
fruits formed in these flowers give evidence that the insects
have unconsciously brushed off the pollen from the stamens
of the outer flowers and delivered it to the inner stigmas.

Senecios also spread apart the stigmas in the disk flowers.
They have a little brush just at
the tip. They can curl back far
enough to help themselves from
neighbouring flowers, and even
from the pollen that has adhered
to their own styles if no insect
pays them a visit.

Take any Indigo fera. They
are usually creeping plants with
blue or purplish flowers, belong-
ing to the Pea family.

Botanists state in a matter-of-
fact way that the keel, or two
boat-shaped petals in front, is
provided with a spur or promi-
nence at each side near the base.
The bees have never had their
attention called to this, and are
unaware that these prominences
are hidden springs, and that this
keel contains concealed and
loaded weapons. The unsuspect-
ing bee poises on the two side
petals invitingly offering a resting-place, when, presto ! the
springs are set off, the side petals spread apart ; the keel
drops, releasing the stamens charged with powder, and up they
fly. The range is just right, and the bee is well dusted for the
next flower which has its pistil ready to receive it.

Every one who lives in the Eastern Province knows what
is meant by " lighting matches ". The " matches " of Loranthus
oleafolius are borne in umbels of three to five flowers, bright
red at base, and orange in the upper portion with green tips.
The plant, which .is parasitic on Acacia trees, pays for its
II

I. II.

FIG. 159.— The disk flowers of
Senecio have stigmas that can
coil back and help themselves to
pollen. The ray flowers (I.) have
no stamens. (From Thome and
Bennett's " Structural and Phy-
siological Botany".)

1 62 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

support by brilliantly illuminating the tree at Christmas time
with its flowers. When ready for " lighting," the tips which hold
the ends of the stamens become black. When this sensitive

FIG. 160. — Loranthus oleczfolius, Ch. and Sch. The sensitive tips of the
corolla fly back and scatter the pollen as the stamens are released.

point is struck by birds, back fly the petals, and the pollen is
thrown some distance as the stamens are freed from confine-
ment. In Natal another species (Z. Natalitius, Meisn.), which
the children know as " lighted "candles," has waxy white flowers

Pollination and Fertilization 163

tipped with yellow. The_sugar ^bird^etsjfreejhe^ arched_styje_
of Protect, which scatters the pollen before the stigma is ripe.

When other flowers are closed for the season, the blue sage
(Salvia) may be depended upon to offer refreshments to visit-
ing bees. Down by the four-parted ovary there is a little
yellow gland where honey is made. At the entrance of the
flower a " rocking chair " is invitingly placed, made of the two
swinging stamens. One pollen chamber of each stamen has
been sacrificed to make the " seat " of the chair. As soon as
the bee touches this, the upper locules bend down and dust the
bee's back with pollen just along its hairy belt. The bee then
passes on to other sage blossoms. In some of these, stigmas

FIG. 161. — Salvia. I. Corolla, the hood removed.
(From Henslow's " South African Flowering Plants".)

n.

II. Ditto with bee.

which are ready to be pollinated arch down far enough to be
dusted with the precious load.

Holes cut in the tube ; of flowers are evidence that a rob-
bery has been committed. The flower has been broken into
and pilfered of its honey without the insect performing any as-
sistance in conveying pollen. You can watch bumble-bees
bite holes in flowers which have tubes too long and narrow for
the bee to enter. Darwin tells us that honey-bees, which
usually pay down for each meal, are not above using the holes
made by bumble-bees the previous day.

Orchids have gone to such an expense in making their
perianth attractive to insects, and in filling their long cornu-
II *

164 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

copias with honey, that they make up arrears by economizing
in pollen.1

Howtver nicely flowers are adapted for scattering their
pollen as dust, some of it is sure to be wasted. The pollen of
the Orchid is bound up in neat parcels (Pollinia), each pro-
vided with a gummed label attached to an elastic cord, or the
two parcels may be attached to one label. At meal times
butterflies or moths collect these parcels, which become firmly
gummed on to some part of their bodies, and as they go from
flower to flower they deliver directly to the stigmas some of the
quickening grains. You can see how it is done by applying a
pencil point to the two white labels at the entrance of a
Satyrium or a Disa flower.

The moth or butterfly sometimes gets so many of these
parcels on to various parts of its body as to seriously incon-
venience it. Sometimes their tongues become so covered that
they starve to death. Professor Gray illustrates a moth flying
with a pollen mass on each eye. Fortunately each eye is
made up of hundreds of smaller ones,
the moth has enough left to guide him to
another flower.

Microloma, Secamone (Baviaan's touw),
Asclepias (the milk bush), which is so
plentiful on the Karroo, and all their family
have their pollen in masses also. One of
this family cultivated in gardens is known
as the Fly-catcher. Toward evening all
kinds of moths are caught by their feet
between the edges of two stamens just
where two parcels are joined together by
a black gland. Most of the prisoners have
a short sentence, as will be found by look-
ing for them the next morning. One beauti-
ful moth imprisoned overnight was seen to
escape next day, but it carried a pollinium with it, as it escaped
with a jerk, from the little slot where the gland is situated.

FIG. 162.— Pollinia
of an Orchid, with
their pedicels united
by the rostellum.
(From Thom£ and
Bennett's " Struc-
tural and Physio-
logical Botany".)

1 To know what Orchids mean by masquerading as they do, Darwin's
book on " The Fertilization of Orchids " should be read. The beautifully

Pollination and Fertilization

i65

Flowers are not at home to all visitors. The sticky juice
covering the upper portion of the stems of Heaths and of other
flowers prevents ants from scaling the heights to rob the honey
within the flower. Flowers are often closed when unwelcome
guests are flying about. The opening and closing of flowers
at certain times of the day led Linnaeus to arrange a floral
clock, but the movements of flowers, like those of leaves, are
regulated by varying conditions of temperature and sunshine,
so it would not do to depend upon
such a timepiece for getting to
school in time.

When moths and beetles are
flying about our lamps, have you
ever wondered what they are about
so late at night ? It will be worth
while to visit flowers with a lantern
to find out.

The story of the Yucca and its
moth has been often told since it
was found by Mr. Riley and Dr.
Engelmann,1 but it is so interesting
that it will bear repeating. The
Yucca, which bears its majestic
panicles in many of our gardens
from November till January, has
come from Mexico. The flowers
are scentless during the day, but give
forth their fragrance, as do so many
of our flowers, only to attract night
visitors. Have you ever seen the
seeds after flowering ? For sixteen
years the flowers of one plant have
been watched, and sixteen times
they have withered and are cut off,
for Nature retains no useless burdens. The moth which can
aid in quickening the seeds has been left behind in Mexico.

illustrated books 'of Dr. Bolus on South African Orchids will help you to
understand the flowers.

1 C. V. Riley, Missouri Experiment Station Report, 1892.

FIG. 163. — The Pronuba moth
gathering pollen from the
stamen of Yucca to carry
lo the stigma. (From the
" Popular Science Month-

ly".)

1 66 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

There in the daytime it rests, hidden in the half-closed flowers,
matching them so nearly in colour with the front wings
that it is difficult to detect. Like other night flowers, they are
white, so that they can be seen from a distance. At night
the flowers expand like large six-pointed stars, and the
mother moth begins her rounds. First she goes from
one stamen to another, until she has obtained a ball of
pollen nearly as large as her head, which is held by her
front legs against her body. She is not intent on nectar,
nor does she gather pollen as bees do for making bee-
bread. Why, then, does she carry her precious load? She
now lays her eggs in a pistil. They pass from her body through
a long tube furnished with a saw. With this she pierces the
ovary and deftly places an egg just beside a tiny ovule. When
the eggs hatch out, the little larvae have the growing seeds for
food. Now we know that the ovules will not develop into
seeds unless they receive the power from the pollen. It looks
as though the moth knew this long before we did, for when she
lays an egg up she runs with her ball of pollen, thrusts it into
the cleft stigma, and works her head up and down vigorously
to ensure that some pollen has been driven home; then she
runs back, lays another egg, and repeats the operation.

One year a Yucca in a neighbouring garden surprised us by
bearing fruit. The fruits did not show the spots which result
from the injury when the eggs are placed, and no larvae were
found among the seeds. Had our own large grey moths per-
formed the service ? This year a few bees were seen among
the other Yucca flowers, but hopes for iruit were in vain, for
the bare withered stalks a few weeks later told that once more
the flowers exiled from home had wasted their sweetness.1

The scarlet bells oiAntholyza revoluta, Burm., are often found
in fields of corn. Their long curved tubes are narrowed at the
base and suddenly enlarge about the middle, where honey is
made which fills the lower part of the tube. The stamen at-
tached to the front sepal is arched backward and brought into
line with the two at the back, which by a twist of the filaments
turn the anthers so that they all discharge their pollen toward
the centre of the flower. In the younger flowers at the top of

1 In some parts of South Africa the Yucca sets seeds regularly.

Pollination and Fertilization

1 67

the stalk the stamens ready to discharge their pollen hang for-
ward below the style, whose three branches are closed like the
pages of a book. In the older flowers below, the anthers
which have discharged their pollen are drawn back by the dry-
ing of their filaments. The lobes of the stigma are unfolded
and hang down below the stamens. An insect in search of
honey sips and flies away, unconscious of the dust on its back,
or that this dust is brushed off on to the stigmas of other

FIG. 164. — Antholyza revoluta, Burm.

flowers. When a stigma is well dusted the perianth withers
and closes, which prevents the pollen from getting brushed off.
This is a sign that the honey season is over, and no more insects
need apply.

Antholyza has no noticeable markings on the brilliant
coloured perianth, as irregular flowers usuallyhave, advertising
their sweets. The upper petals are transparent, and the light
shining through brings into prominence the veining which may

1 68 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

indicate the way to refreshments. A transparency is of little
value unless a light shines through it. Flowers that open in a
shaded room have a much lighter colour. The pigment that
gives the flowers their brilliancy is often concentrated in
bright patches on the three lower parts of the perianth, where
irregular flowers of this order are usually marked.

Are the flowers all turned in the same direction on the
stem? If they turn toward the light the transparency would
lose its effect. Do you find them turned toward the light or
away from it ? At which end of the flower-stalk does the
visiting insect begin when in quest of honey? Do different
insects have the same habit ? Maybe you can already answer
some of the questions. If you cannot,
it will pay you to watch with us.

Although so many attract insects by
colour or odour, some flowers are self-
fertilized. The violet has inconspicuous
flowers late in the season. They never
open, and so have to be self-fertilized.
Branches bearing self- fertilized (cleisto-
gamous) flowers of the blue Commelina
(C. Benghalensis, Linn.) bore underground
where the seeds ripen. Some species of
Oxalis and Stapelia also have closed
flowers after the others have withered.
In early times such extravagance as bril-
liant colour,1 honey, and choice perfume
was not indulged in by plants ages ago
when the wind was the only method of
transporting pollen. An abundance of
pollen had to be provided in those days,
as the wind is a wasteful messenger. The
conifers doubtless shed their pollen to the
breeze before the hum of flies and bees had been heard. Grasses
have kept the old-time habit. Or may it be one they have ac-
quired ? Their long filaments hang out the swinging anthers to

1 While we associate colour of flowers with insects' visits, colour may
be due to chemical changes in the plant without reference to insects.

FIG. 165.— The swing-
ing anthers of grasses
scatter their pollen in
the wind, which the
feathery stigma
catches. (From
Thome and Bennett's
"Structural and
Physiological Bo-
tany".)

Pollination and Fertilization 169

the breeze and the feathery stigmas catch the pollen as it passes.1
Willows, Poplars, and Oaks have a very ancient history. Their
flowers are not showy. Do you ' find bees visiting them ?
Does a bee pass from the Catkins of an Oak to the Acorn*, or is
it simply in quest of pollen ? From what flowers is honey
made in your district? Bees are partial to blue flowers. Did
you ever see a butterfly visit a flower of this colour ? If so it
should be noted carefully. Do butterflies have their favourite
colours ? Do you know any regular flowers with guiding lines
on their petals ? Recall Montinia and Cliffortia. Are they
pollinated by the same agency ?

While irregular flowers suggest insect visitors, insects and
birds frequent regular flowers. Garden Canterbury Bells are
so blue that we should hardly expect a bee to pass them by.
Here the bee poises on the stigmas and from that coign of
vantage gathers the pollen, never once touching the symmetri-
cal corolla. Sugar birds sip honey on the wing from wild
tobacco and Hibiscus flowers, and when they do alight on the
latter the style, strengthened by the stamen tube, offers a firm
landing place. Some of the Antholyzas have narrow tubular
perianths. On these butterflies hang suspended, clasping the
tube with their six legs.

The Sweet Pea, while irregular, fragrant, and attractively
varied in colour, is habitually self-fertilized.

A beautiful red Lily grew in a conservatory beside a white
one. Bees seldom find their way into a greenhouse, and so
the plants seldom set seed. But the gardener carefully re-
moved the pollen from the red Lily and placed it on the stigma
of the whke one. In due time seeds were formed. When they
were planted and a flower came they were white beautifully
marked with red.

The nuclei convey characters which become associated in
the fertilized egg. The combined characters are carried in the
nuclei which result from the fertilized egg in all the cells until
microspores and megaspores (pollen grains and embryo sacs in
seed-bearing plants) are formed. There the characters separate

1 Wind pollinated flowers are usually imperfect.

170 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

out so that half the spores convey paternal and half maternal
characters.

If the characters are contrasting ones as short and tall,
smooth and hairy, one will be suppressed by or recessive to
the other and will not appear in the hybrid of the next genera-
tion but in the generation following unexpected combinations
may occur.

If the characters are not contrasted so that one suppresses
the other, a blend of characters may occur. For example, if
two white sweet peas be crossed, one with long pollen and a
flat standard (back petal), the other with round pollen grains
and a hooded or incurved standard, all the flowers of the next
generation (F1) will be of two shades of purple with flat standard
and long pollen.

The characters determining the flat standard are said to be
dominant to the hooded characters and long pollen is domi-
nant to round. These characters separate out in the pollen
and ovule of this generation, and in recombining, produce in
the next generation (F2) a great variety of colours, combined
with either long or round pollen and flat or hooded standards.
Look in your garden of sweet peas and see if the hooded
standard is found with all colours.

The combinations will not be haphazard as may at first
appear ; the world is indebted to Mendel,1 who experimented
in his convent garden fifty years ago, for showing that the com-
binations occur according to definite mathematical laws. It is
not known that all hybrids behave according to the Mendelian
law, but the clue which Mendel gave is being used to-day in
scientific plant breeding.

The law in its simplest form for simple hybrids may be
expressed in the accompanying diagram.

Let A and B represent two unit characters, A being
dominant to B. In the first generation A<£ in which
these two characters are crossed only A will appear. In
the spores of this generation the unit characters will separate
out, and in the next generation, fertilization may effect a

1 Since Mendel experimented with his peas, de Vries Correns and
others have revived and greatly extended this work.

Pollination and Fertilization

171

combination of A with A, A with B, or B with B so

that A will appear on an average three times as often as B.

In succeeding generations A

crossed with A, or B crossed

with B, will " breed-true "

to A or B, but AB plants,

or hybrids, will continue to

separate out in the same

proportion as before.

Since so much has been
learned about flowers and
their insect guests, it has
been asked whether flowers
were designed to attract
insects or whether insects,-
by visiting flowers, have
given them their markings

where they have come in contact with them, and so have
made them irregular by always lighting on the same spot.1
We can tell what was in the past only by thinking about what
we see now. At least, we feel sure, from fossil plants and
insects, that there were no showy flowers until bees and butter-
flies had been created to gather honey. •

Dr. Kolbe was one morning the uninvited guest at a sugar-
bird's breakfast. We will " let him tell in his own words " his
thoughts on that occasion.

"THE GLADIOLUS AND THE SUGAR-BIRD.

"Some time ago I was reading ' The Making of Flowers,'
by the Rev. Prof. G. Henslow (" Romance of Science Series,"
S.P.C.K.), in which he explains the forms and markings of
flowers as a result of plant responsiveness to the mechanical
stimulus of insects in search of honey. The theory was parti-
cularly attractive to me : it seemed to explain so much. Thus
thinking, I noted one day how a lot of Gladioli in a garden

1 That flowers and insects have developed independently of one
another ;s a third possibility.

172 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

had deep markings at the back, just where the perianth lobes
begin to separate, but where they still overlap one another.
No insect, I said, would be such a fool as to go prodding at
the back when so wide a front door was provided. I had
plenty of time to theorize. It was holiday time in a region
where our next-door neighbours were over the hill two miles
away. So I sat on the stoep and lazily condemned Prof.
Henslow's theory. A single fact, I severely reminded my re-
luctant fancy, was enough to upset any hypothesis. While I
sat, mentally active but bodily motionless, there flashed quite
close to me one of those animated streaks of God's brightest
colours that we call sugar-birds — as brilliant as America's in-
tensest humming-bird, only more of it. I was delighted, for
my nearness of sight prevents much acquaintance with wild
birds. This little thing evidently took me to be part of the
stoep furniture, and by absolute stillness I encouraged the
delusion. From his coign of vantage he made a brief survey
of the garden, with a determination of breakfast written on
every feather of him. But breakfast on what ? In the West,
Nature supplies them abundantly with Proteas, but of this
order I think there is only a little Leucospermum growing in
the Transkei. What was it to be ? Honeysuckle, or Tecomaria
capensis ? Habemus utrutnque as Horace said of certain
human nectars. Birdie did not leave me long in doubt.
Down he swooped on the spikes of Gladiolus — there were
some twenty of ttiem — and he sampled every open flower on
every spike. And he attacked them at the back, clinging to
the column of the spike and working his way downwards from
side to side so as to miss nothing. His curved beak entered
the flower just where the lobes part, and scraped down the
tube till it found the honey. Now, if you look at the inside of
the Gladiolus, you will find that the purple mark goes all the
way down the path of the beak ; and in some of the flowers
this purple path is not visible from without, but only the spot
at the lobe-parting. How about the theory now ? Shall we
say the flower spontaneously advertises in front for insects and
at the back for birds? Or did it just blush at being so
tickled?

Pollination and Fertilization 173

" Nay, more, why are all the blooms on only one side of that
spike? Don't tell me they want to face the light. In my
garden they face to all points of the compass. Can it be that,
just as the weight of insects enlarges the lip of Labiata and
Acanthacece, so the push of the sugar-bird has driven ail the
flowers to one side and left the gay robber a clear vertical
perch ?

" My little friend took a considerable time over his breakfast.
You can't conscientiously rob a hundred flowers of all their
honey on both sides just in a couple of minutes. But I was
so grateful to him for enlarging my knowledge and for
bringing his loveliness so near to my eyes, that by no
movement did I spoil his meal with any nervous tremor. If
he had known how I wanted to stretch my limbs in the
middle of it, he would have been grateful too."

CHAPTER XIX.
FRUITS.

IF a flower has been fertilized, changes will take place in the
ovule and other parts of the plant, and fruit will be formed.
Sometimes, after wind and insects have done their share in
pollination, a prolonged rain will wash off the pollen before
fertilization has taken place. In that case the flowers are
of no more use. An absciss layer is formed, and they fall to
the ground. If a hard storm comes when Apricots are flower-
ing, " it will be a poor year for fruit," the farmers say. But,
as compensation, a few flowers which were protected will form
fine large fruit. The storm may be fortunate, as it gives the
trees a rest. It is exhaustive work to form fruit. Food must
be made for the embryo which begins to grow, and the seed-
coats must be strengthened. Sometimes an outer coat, an
aril, is formed after fertilization. When the ovule is ripe it is
called a seed.

In the second place the ovary undergoes changes which
aid the seed-coats in protecting the embryos, but their chief
use is to scatter the seed. We speak of the ripened ovary as
the fruit. The ripening ovules derive their nourishment from
the mother plant through their attachment to the ovary.

Some fruits are dry and hard; others are juicy. A dry
fruit is frequently miscalled a seed. On the other hand, any
part of the plant that is good to eat is apt to be called a fruit,
even to a Potato! Have you ever seen the fruit of Potato?
You have never eaten it.

A. FRUITS FORMED FROM A SINGLE FLOWER. — Osteosper-
174

Fruits

175

mum forms a circle of seed-like fruits. Each one contains a
hard white shining seed. The fruit is borne below the flower
and is indehiscent; that is, it does npt open to let out the
seed. The fruit of the Composite family, to which Osteosper-
mum belongs, all have their fruit formed in this way, although,
instead of being smooth and shining,
it may he woolly or differently marked.

A dry one-seeded inferior fruit is
called a cypsella.

Protea and Clematis have also dry
indehiscent fruits. The styles of the
ovaries remain on the ripe fruit, and
the enclosed seed is attached at one
place, the placenta. A Protea flower
has but one ovary, but Clematis has a

FIG. 167.— Floret of Sow-thistle.
(From Edmonds and Mar-
loth' s " Elementary Botany
for South Africa ".)

FIG. 168.— Tailed achene
of Protea mellifera,
Thunb. (From Ed-
monds and Marloth's
" Elementary Botany for
South Africa".)

cluster or an etaerio of fruits. In these flowers the ovary is
borne above the perianth.

A dry one-seeded superior fruit

In the Strawberry the receptacle
is convex and fleshy ; in the rose it
hairy ovaries.

is an achene.
which bears the achenes
is hollow, and conceals the

1 76 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Tripteris, Triaspis, Dodonaea, Combretum (Roodeblad),
and Portulacaria (Spekboom) have winged fruits.

A winged fruit is a samara.

In the fruit of the grasses the ovary wall and the seed-coat
become attached to each other. On the grain of Maize a little
point on one side indicates the place where the style, the silk,
was borne.

A dry one-seeded fruit in which the ovary wall and seed-
coat are attached is called a caryopsis.

A dry fruit which splits into several portions each contain-

FIG. 169.— Samara of Combretum.

ing a seed is a schizocarp. Some of the Malvacece have this
fruit. It is found in the fruit of the Geranium family, the
Euphorbias, the Umbellifera, Labiate, and others.

Schizocarps are of various kinds. They may be two, three,
or many parted. They may retain the seed or let it escape.

Fruits

\77

If a fruit remains closed or indehiscent it is usually one
seeded. It would be a disad-
vantage to have many seeds ger-
minating together. Fleshy fruits
rarely dehisce.

Dehiscing fruits are called
pods or capsules. The bean,
Port Jackson, and Erthrina
have a pod which has only one
carpel, and which splits along
both edges. It is called a
legume.

Asclepias (Pachypodium) and
Crassula have similarly formed
fruits which split on one side
only. Such a fruit is a follicle.

The siliqua and silicula are
found in the Cruciferae or mus-
tard family. They are made of two carpels joined by their
edges where the seeds are borne. A partition, or replum,

FIG. 170. — Quinquepartite schizo-
carp of Geranium Robertianum,
L. I. The immature pistil. II.
The mature fruit. (From Thom6
and Bennett's " Structural and
Physiological Botany ".)

FIG. 171. — A schi-
zocarp consist-
ing of four nu-
cules.

FIG. 172.— Fruit of the
Fennel : a, carpo-
phore.

FIG. 173. — Multipartite schi-
zocarp of Malva. (From
Thom6 and Bennett's
"Structural and Physio-
logical Botany.")

grows up from below and divides the fruit into two chambers.
When ripe the two carpels split apart from the bottom upward,
leaving their edges with the seeds surrounding the replum.
If the fruit is several times longer than broad it is a siliqua ;
if it is about as long as broad it is a silicula. In some of the
Heliophilas the siliquas are prettily constricted so that they
look like a string of beads. If the fruit splits across at each
12

178 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

narrow place, as it does in some fruits of this family and in
Hedysarum of the bean family, it is called a lomentum.

Some fruits have more than one chamber when made of
several carpels that have grown together. They are then said
to be syncarpous. If carpels are separate from each other
they are apocarpous.

Dehiscence takes place in various ways. The ovaries of

FIG. 174. — Follicles of Asclepias.

Allmca hang downward in flower so that the stigmas are pro-
tected from rain. When the fruit ripens it straightens up and
splits from the top down the centre of each carpel (loculicidal
dehiscence). When the split occurs between the carpels the
dehiscence is septicidal.

The " Poor Man's Weather-glass " (Anagallis] and usually
Hypoxis split around the centre of the ovary so that the upper
half falls off. In Wahlenbergia a small triangular lid lifts up

Fruits 179

at the top of each carpel. Mesembrianthemum has a curious

I. II. III.

FIG. 175.— I. Wallflower (Cheiranthus Cheirt). Siliqua. II. Silicula of
Cochlearla open and showing the seeds attached to the replum. III. Lomen-
tum of Raphanus, (From '1 home' and Bennett's " Structural and Physiological
Botany ".)

fruit. The capsule is below the flower, and has from five to
I. n. ill.

FIG. 176.— I. Diagram of a loculicidal capsule. II. Diagram of a septi-
cidal capsule. III. Diagram of a septifragal capsule. (From Thom6 and
Bennett's " Structural and Physiological Boiany".)

twenty carpels. The seeds are borne near the base of the car-
pels on long cords or funicles. The flowers open in the sun-
12 *

1 80 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

shine. Do the fruits? Place some ripe fruits in a glass of
water. In a few minutes the roofs of the
chambers will lift up and expose the seeds.
Remove the fruits and watch them close as they
dry. Try the same experiment with the fruits
of Wahlenbergia. Do the fruits act in the same
way? Mesembrianthemitm thrives in the sun
and the sand ; but the seeds are kept within
the closed fruit until the rain comes, when they
are released to germinate.

The Apricot, Grape, Date, and Water-melon
are fleshy or succulent fruits. Since succulent
fruits are formed in different ways, different
names are given them. In these fruits the
three parts of wrhich the wall of the ovary is
made is more easily distinguished than in dry
ones. In the Apricot the outer wall, or epicarp, is the downy
skin. The juicy middle layer is the mesocarp, and the inner

FIG. 177.— Cap-
sule or pyxis of
A nag a His,
with circum-
scissile dehisc-
ence. (From
T h o m 6 and
Bennett's
"Structural
and Physio-
logical Bo-
tany".)

FIG. 178. — The fruit of Mesembrianihemum dehisces by triangular valves.
(From Henslow's " South African Flowering Plants".)

layer, or endocarp, is the hard stone or pit which contains
the seed. Such a fruit is a drupe. An Almond is formed

Fruits

181

in the same way. Since the inner wall of the ovary is so hard,
there is no need for the seed-coat to harden. Make out the
parts of a Date. A Date is not a drupe.

FIG. 180. — Transverse sec-
tion through a Goose-
berry ; the firmer outer
layer of the pericarp en-
closes the succulent flesh ;
the seeds lie embedded in
the latter, and are at-
tached by long funiculi to
two opposite parietal
FIG. 179.— Longitudinal section through the uni- placentae. (FromThom6
locular drupe of the Peach. (From Thome and and Bennett's " Struc-
Bennett's "Structural and Physiological Bo- tural and Physiological
tany".) Botany".)

A berry is a fruit with a firm outer covering ; the rest of
the fruit is juicy. Did you ever look at a young orange?
The inner walls of the fruit are
covered with tiny hairs. These
grow and fill the cavities as the
fruit ripens. They make the
juicy part of the fruit.

A young Apple shows five
carpels surrounded by a green
cup. This cup grows and ripens
with the ovaries. A Rose Hip
has a fruit built on a similar
plan, only there
carpels.

The part outside the outer
double line, in Fig. 181, is the
receptacle which bears the calyx
at the top. It encloses and is united with the five carpels, the
core. The mesocarp lies between the outer and inner double
lines of the diagram. The inner hard shining layer surround-
ing the seeds is the endocarp.

are more FIG. 181. — Longitudinal section
through an Apple : C, dry persist-
ent calyx limb ; E, loculi with car-
tilaginous endocarp ; T, mesocarp.
(From Thom6 and Bennett's
" Structural and Physiological
Botany ".)

1 82 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

A fruit like an Apple is called a pome.
The Pomegranate has a two-storied fruit. If you cut across
the fruit very low down you will find three chambers with

FIG. 182.--!. Longitudinal section through the hypanthodium of a Fig, ex-
posing the flowers in its interior ; II. a piece greatly magnified, with five female
flowers ; s, pistil ; 6, perianth. (From Thome" and Bennett's " Structural and
Physiological Botany".)

seeds borne at the centre ; higher up a cross section will show
five or more chambers where the seeds are borne in the outer
edge. When the fruit ripens the bright red tubular axis takes
part in its formation.

B. FRUITS FORMED FROM A COLLECTION OF FLOWERS. — All
fruits thus far described have grown from the centre of a single
flower. In the fig the hollowed receptacle bears within its
cavity a great number of flowers. In some figs the flowers
bear only ovaries ; in others the staminate flowers are borne.
It is the work of one very small insect to convey the pollt-n
from one kind of Fig to the stigmas in the other.

In many species, all or most of the ovulate flowers below the
staminate ones are transformed into gall flowers. This is the
case for instance in Ficus carica which has three kinds of flowers
— staminate flowers and those with short and with long styles.

Fruits 183

The insect enters the orifice of a fig and lays eggs in the ovaries
with short styles which lie below the staminate flowers. The
inflorescence is protogynous. When the eggs hatch, the
females emerge to lay eggs in another flower. By this time
the stamens are ripe and as the female passes out she takes
some of the pollen with her. The insect ovipositor is not
long enough to reach the ovaries with the long styles. They
therefore develop seed.

The insect, which is a wasp, Blastophaga glossorutn, loses
its wings in making its way through the small opening and
dies within after laying her eggs. The male wasps die after
mating and do not escape from the figs within which they
hatch. No wasps hatch in the edible figs as no eggs were able
to be deposited there, the edible fig having the long styled
flowers.

The pistillate flowers mature two months before the
staminate, but by this time the second crop of fruits are borne
with stigmas ready for pollination, by the stamens of the pre-
ceding generation.

The Agricultural Department introduced trees, with sta-
minate flowers (caprifigs), into this country in 1903. In 1908,
after the trees were old enough to bear fruit regularly, the
Blastophaga was introduced. Figs will ripen without the wasp
and the caprifigs, but the fruit is not so fine as the Smyrna Fig,
which requires caprification. The Government Entomologist
of Cape Town kindly supplied information that in December,
1910, the wasp was emerging from the caprifigs and seeking
fruit to enter. Figs not requiring caprification are benefited
inasmuch as it causes the trees to mature an additional crop
of fruit. The Castle Kennedy Fig, which normally develops its
early crop and sets its second, will mature its second crop if
the flowers are pollinated.

In the Mulberry several female flowers grow in a head.
The Blackberry looks something like this fruit, but if the two
fruits grow in your district you can see that the Blackberry is
formed from a single flower, and that the Mulberry is a head
of imperfect flowers.

The Pineapple is a head of perfect flowers crowded together

184 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

in a spike. The flowers, with their bracts and the central axis,
become juicy. By cultivation the Pineapple has lost its seeds.

By our definition of a berry, a Tomato, a Calabash, a Grape,
and an Orange are berries, but a Strawberry, a Blackberry, and
a Mulberry are not. This seems like a study of plants " through
a looking-glass ".

Our definition of a fruit will have to be modified for such
fruits as that of the Apple, Strawberry, and Pineapple. It may
be defined as that part of the plant which is stimulated to
growth as the result of fertilization.

CHAPTER XX.
THE SEED'S TRAVELLING OUTFIT.

SEEDS are not only well supplied with food before beginning
their independent life, but every means is taken to arm and
equip them in such a way that they may travel far afield, to
find congenial soil. If they were to drop down under the

FIG. 183.— Ripe seed of Epilobium, FIG. 184. — Leucadendron argen-

with coronet of hairs (magnified). teum, R. Br. Nut with persist-

(From Thome1 and Bennett's ent style and calyx, the latter

" Structural and Physiological split at its base and prevented

Botany ".) from slipping off by the knobby

stigma. (From Edmonds and
Marloth's " Elementary Bo-
tany for South Africa".)

plant and remain there they would have a hard struggle for
existence in soil already exhausted.

The flowers of Albuca hang downward and protect the
stamens and stigmas from rain. When the fruit ripens it
straightens up and splits lengthwise. The wind blows
through these slits and the seeds fly out and away. Had the
fruit remained hanging the seeds would be in danger of falling
in a heap beneath the pknt.

185

1 86 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

The Asclepias and Stapelia family provides its seeds with
a long tuft of silky hairs. The seeds are packed away in the

ovary with a marvellous economy of space. When ready
for their journey the ripe pods split open, the tufts of hairs

The Seed's Travelling Outfit , 187

push out the seeds, and they go sailing, sometimes miles
away.

Epilobium of the Evening Primrose family has seeds similarly
provided.

The seeds of the South African Proteaceae do not escape
from the ovaries, which are variously fitted for aerial navigation.
Protect ovaries have at the base long tufts .of silky hairs

FIG. i%6. — Urospermum. The fruits travel in dry weather.

which are caught by the wind. The seeds of the Silver Tree
appropriate the whole perianth for a sail, which is prettily
fringed along the edges. As the fruit enlarges the lower part
of the perianth is split open and run up on the style for a
mast, where the little knob of a stigma keeps it from slipping
off. It must be that many a craft is wrecked for, besides the
trees on Table Mountain and Devil's Peak, few have found
anchor. Some have found a haven beneath the shelter of

1 88 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Paarl Rock, and a few have grown on the mountains about
Wellington.

Some species of Leucadendron have winged fruits. The
Australian Hakea and Grevillea of this order have dehiscent
fruits. The fruit of Hakea is hard and woody, and contains
two seeds with broad membranous wings. The face of the
seed which fits into the woody cavity is rough. The seeds
are so weighted that they fall rough side down. Hold them
under water and the rough side glistens with air that is held

FIG. 187. — Clematis fruits with their feathery styles ready for a journey.

in the crevices. The projections help secure a foothold and
carry air for the young plant's needs.

Many of the Composite fruits are scattered by a tuft of
hairs. This is the calyx, and is known as pappus. (See Fig.
1 86.) The order Valerianaceae also employs this method.

Clematis, or Traveller's Joy, seeks fresh fields by means of
the long hairy styles, which bear the ovaries away. The fruits
of Pelargonium are carried in a similar manner.

When a farmer sows his seed it falls any side down, but
Nature is more careful in her ways. The long styles of Protea,
the winged seeds of ffakea, the parachutes of the Milk Weeds

Seecfs Travelling Outfit

189

and of Urospermum, so nicely balance the fruits that they come
to rest with the radicle pointing downward. The styles of
Erodium and other members of the Geranium family coil
tightly and catch upon some object. In rainy weather they
untwist and screw the seed down into the soil.

When walking through the veld, we come home with our
clothing covered with " burrs ". As we pick them off the
seeds are scattered far from home. Take a little time before
throwing them away to see by what ingenious methods they
have attached themselves. The spirally twisted legumes of
Medicago are furnished with a border of firm little grappling
hooks. The two sharp-
pointed awns of Bidens
pierce our clothing, and the
reflexed bristles prevent
them from brushing off
again. Fruits of Burr Weed
(Xanthiutn) and Klis Grass
(Setaria vertidllata, Beauv.)
become very troublesome
when the fruits become fast-
ened into the wool of sheep
or goats. Fig. 188 shows
the " wool spiders " of the
" Grappling Plant " (Har-
pagophytum procumbens, D. C. ) .

Seeds of orchids and Streptocarpus are so light that a breath
of wind will blow them away.

The whole plant of Brunsvigia breaks off close to the
ground, goes rolling over the veld, scattering the hard smooth
seeds as it tumbles along.

Many seeds are covered with an edible pulp, and so are
scattered by birds or other animals.

One species of Mistletoe, Viscum minimum, Haw., a para-
site on Euphorbia, is independent of outside aid. It grows
profusely within its host, but projects beyond the surface less
than half an inch and bears three flowers. When their
large berries ripen, without falling from the stem, they each

FIG. 188. —Seed of Harpagophytum pro-
cumbens, D.C. (" Grapple Plant " or
"Wool Spider".)

IQO Plants and their Ways in South Africa

send out a long radicle, which turns around and plants itself
upon the same Euphorbia.

Some fruits explode and send their seeds forcibly away.
A choice legume was ready to be mounted on a herbarium
sheet ; suddenly it exploded, twisted back, and all but one
seed disappeared. Euphorbia fruits similarly set up quite a
bombardment when they are ripe. Some fruits of the order

FIG. 189. — Buphane scatters its seeds by breaking from its moorings and
rolling over the veld. (Photograph by L. Grant.)

Acanthacese are mucilaginous and explode when wet instead
of dry.

An Oxalis seed has a fleshy cup-shaped aril. When this
dries it curls inside out instantaneously and the seeds are
scattered some distance.

New plants sometimes enter a country in coffee or in
forage. Along railways we sometimes see flower faces that seem
to have lost their way. The little white clover clinging close
to the sod by the grassy borders of sloots lifts up its head, and
its delicate breath reaches us freighted with a message from
distant lands.

CHAPTER XXI.

KUKUMAKRANKA.

" Dm you ever hunt for Kukumakrankas? Here is one."

From a respectful distance it looked loaded, but the bearer
disarmed me of suspicion.

" We do go hunting for them sometimes. You find them
sticking out of the ground."

By this time information was coming from other sources.

"You keep them to enjoy their perfume." "You wear
them in your hat." "Or press
them in a book ! "

The specimen shown was
soft, light brown, and tapered at
one end. It was loaded with FIG. 190.— Kukumakranka fruit:
seeds which showed through the
thin covering, and was evidently the ovary of some plant.

"What kind of a flower has it?"

" It never flowers," replied a chorus of voices ; " that is all
there is of it."

Here was a puzzle. It was then in May, and since the
seeds were quite ripe the flowers could probably not be found
that season. Nor were they the next, nor the next. At last,
at Stellenbosch, one Christmas holiday, my hostess brought in
a flower — a beautiful, cream-white, six-pointed star, borne at
the top of a long tube.

"That is surely a Kukumakranka," I exclaimed. "You
have left part of it in the ground — the Kukumakranka — the
part we hunt to wear in our hats and enjoy the scent, and
press in books."

191

192 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

No time was lost in seeking out the place where it was
found, and there, in the rich brown carpet under the pines, the
stars were glowing in profusion. Several inches below the
pine-needles a slender ovary was unearthed, concealed in the
dry brown scale-leaves of a bulb, from which were extended
some long, dried-up, brown remnants of last winter's green
leaves.

The flower had a long slender style, leading down through

191.— Flower of Gethyllis (Kukuma-
kranka).

FIG. 192.— Bulb and leaves of
Gethyllis.

the tube to the ovary. It was crowned with a cushion-shaped
stigma. There were six filaments borne at the throat of the
tube, divided near the middle into two branches, each bearing
an anther.

On looking for it in FLORA CAPENSIS among the Amaryl-
lidese, its book name was found to be Gethyllis. There are
nine different species bearing the name, the number of stamens

Kuku makra nka 193

varying from six to twenty. The leaves of some are spirally
twisted, others are rolled back spirally from the tip like a watch
spring. By degrees the beautiful curious plant revealed the
secret of its success in making the most of a warm, sunny
climate. When the winter rains provide sufficient moisture,
the full-grown leaves, like those of "April Fool," appropriate
it for preparing the year's food supply, which is stored in the
bulb for future use in forming and ripening the seed. Christ-
mas is its coronation time, when there is little else to lure us
on to the parched veld. All through the summer months, in
the centre of its protecting leaves, the fruit can ripen under-
ground, and with the May or June rains it grows longer and
longer, till it projects above ground with all its seeds ready to
scatter and germinate. Sheep eat the fruit, and so possibly
help to scatter the seeds. How does the pollen get from the
anthers to the style ? Does some night moth, poising for a sip
of nectar, carry the golden Christmas gift from flower to
flower ?

It is a widespread family, extending from the Cape to Graaff
Reinet, and from Mossel Bay up through the Karroo to Little
Namaqualand.

One is almost inclined to wonder just wherein lies the de-
light in hunting for the odd fruits. Maybe the enjoyment has
been inherited but, at any rate, there would be a sense of
something lacking if, in their season, a few were not brought
in from the veld.

CHAPTER XXII.
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS.

WE have seen in earlier lessons how plants change their forms
and habits of growth to suit different conditions of life. Prob-
ably none of the familiar plants of the veld look to-day just
as they did when they were first created. More than 125,000
species or kinds of plants have been described or named, but
since differences in soil, the amount of water, or sunlight avail-
able and cross fertilization bring about a change in the plants,
it is often difficult to say just how many species there are in a
district.

It is impossible to define the term species although it is a
word which is in constant use. Species are not fixed by ab-
solute characters. For purposes of classification any kind of
plant which breeds true, that is, which can reproduce its like
(within limits) by seed, which is fairly constant over a con-
siderable territory and can be described so that it may be dis-
tinguished from other kinds, may be called a species.

A group of species which are more like each other than
they are to o.her species is called a Genus, or a genus may
comprise but a single species if it has a combination of char-
acters not found in any recognized species.

Just as species are grouped into genera, so genera are
grouped into Orders. The many kinds or species of heaths
are grouped into the genus Erica. The genus Philippia is
similar to Erica, but whereas Erica has three bracts " as a
rule," beneath the flower, Philippia has none. If we find an
Erica with none we may still distinguish it from Philippia
which has a calyx of unequal lobes. Other genera may have
but four stamens instead of eight, as found in Erica and
194

Classification of Plants 195

Pkilippia, or the number of seeds may differ. Yet these
genera have enough conspicuous characters in common to
place them all under the one order Ericaceae.

As a matter of fact there are no hard and fast lines to be
drawn in nature. These groupings into orders, genera, and
species have been made so that we may think and speak of
them more easily.

Individuals of a species in which the difference is slight but constant
are spoken of as varieties. When two species are crossed, their offspring
(hybrids) are as a rule sterile, they will not form seeds. The common
offspring of two varieties are usually fertile.

Of late years the collecting and naming of plants in schools
has gone out of fashion. This is unfortunate. To know the
name is not enough, but it helps us to know the plant. One
who has ma'de a collection has found how and where the plants
grow, when they blossom and fruit, and it is to be hoped has
gained some general ideas as to how their forms and markings,
colours, and odours are related to their benefactors of the
animal world. Not only the flower, but the whole aspect of
the plant, tells how it has survived the wind and weather, how
it has battled with tinfavourable conditions of soil and drought
and its sturdier neighbours in the struggle through the ages
toward self-expression and perfection. It is hardly worth while
knowing that the stamens of some flowers are declinate while
others ascend and arch downward, unless we see how they are
adapted to visiting insects in relation to pollination.

The first attempt at classifying plants came about through
their real or supposed medicinal values. For this purpose
they were classified as trees, shrubs, and herbs. From the
time of Aristotle until the sixteenth century students began to
arrange plants into groups which were very artificial. The
most famous of these groups was that of the Swedish botanist,
Linnasus. This system was used until the middle of the
seventeenth century. In constructing these keys, plants were
grouped according to a few evident characters as the number
of parts of the flower, which enabled students to refer plants
readily to their proper orders. Since then efforts have been
made to SQ classify plants that those plants shall be brought
13*

196 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

together which are naturally related. A study of plant groups
shows a gradually increasing complexity from the simpler
water plants, the algae, to those which live in damp places but
bear their spores in the air, on to the seed-bearing plants.
That there has been a continuous line of ascent is far from
probable. But the laws of growth and development which are
observed in common by different plant families leads to an
interesting study of plant relationships.

The most highly developed plants are the Spermaphvtes
or seed-bearing plants. They were formerly known as Pha-
nerogams (this term means sexual organs exposed), and
were distinguished from all the lower groups or Cryptogams
or plants with " sexual organs concealed ". At the time these
words were coined, it was thought that stamens and pistils were
sexual organs and these are found only among seed-bearing
plants. When microscopes and methods were improved it was
found that the sexual organs were much more in evidence in
the Cryptogams than in the seed-bearing plants.

Two groups of seed-bearing plants are recognized : the
Gymnosperms and Angiosperms. While these divisions are
based on many distinct characters, the groups may be readily
distinguished by the fact that in Gymnosperms the seeds are
exposed on a scale as in the pines and yellow woods, while in
Angiosperms they are enclosed within the ovary. In the former
group the pollen grains (microspores) are lodged directly
within the micropyle, while in the angiosperms they are carried
to the stigma and the pollen tube has farther to travel before
they convey the sperm cells to their destination within the
ovule. Of the Spermaphytes the Gymnosperms are a very
ancient group as their imprints in the older rocks show. To
go into details of their subdivisions would be perplexing to
those for whom this book is written. The classes represented
in South Africa will be mentioned later.

The Angiosperms are subdivided into two main groups,
Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons, which have been men-
tioned in previous chapters. It will be well here to review
some of the more prominent characters by which they are
distinguished.

Classification of Plants 197

1. The embryo of a Monocotyledon has one terminal
cotyledon with the plumule at one side, while that of a Di-
cotyledon has usually two cotyledons on opposite sides of a
terminal plumule. Endosperm is usually present in Mono-
cotyledons while it is usually absent in Dicotyledons.

2. In a Monocotyledon, the prophyll or first leaf on a
branch is placed on the side toward the main axis. In Di-
cotyledons there are two prophylls placed opposite to one
another on the sides of the branch.

3. The stem of a Monocotyledon ha? numerous bundles
which though arranged more or less in concentric circles ap-
pear to be scattered, while the primary bundles or leaf traces
in a Dicotyledon are few and lie in a ring. In the former the
bundles are closed, i.e. the cambium all passes over into per-
manent tissue while in Dicotyledons cambium between the
wood and bast remains active and the bundles are open.

4. Leaves of a Monocotyledon are as a rule simple and ex-
stipulate with large sheathing bases. The main veins which
are usually parallel are united by small cross veins and the
margins are entire. In Dicotyledons the leaves which are often
compound, generally have a petiole ; they may also have
stipules ; the veinlets end freely and the margins are often
notched.

5. The floral structure of a Monocotyledon usually con-
sists of five whorls of three parts each and the floral diagram
may be represented thus : Kn, Cn, An + n, Gn where n equals
three.1

That of Dicotyledons may have five or four (or fewer)
members in a whorl and the floral formula may be represented
thus : K«, C«, An + n (or ti) Gn (or fewer) where n equals five,
four, or fewer.

In learning to distinguish plants it greatly simplifies
matters to be able to group those which seem to be related ;
but we must remember that outward appearance is often de-
ceitful, and that plants, like people living under the same

* These letters are used to design ate calyx (K), corolla (C), anthers (A),
Gyncecium (G).

198 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

conditions, come to resemble one another in habits and
appearance.

A Euphorbia is mistaken for a Cactus by many, but it
would be hard to find a common ancestor for these two
families. To be frank, however, it must be confessed that
authorities in botany find much to puzzle them in making out
the ancestral tree for the plant family where difficulties meet
them at every turn.

It was formerly thought that Monocotyledons were more
primitive than Dicotyledons but largely from evidence afforded
by the vascular tissue of Monocotyledon seedlings it is now
quite generally held that they have been derived from early
Dicotyledons. However, both groups may have branched off
from some ancestry common to both. Other problems deal
with the nature of the flower. Were the first flowers provided
with well-developed perianths or were they inconspicuous and
without a perianth ? There is evidence among the fossils in sup-
port of both views. Has the perianth been derived from
modified bracts or from modified stamens? Were the first
flowers perfect or unisexual and were flowers first pollinated
by wind or were wind-pollinated flowers derived from those
formerly pollinated by insects ?

Probably some of the flowers which are without a perianth
are primitive and some are reduced. An apetalous flower oc-
curring in an order where the greater number of genera have
petals may have lost the habit of forming petals which its
ancestors possessed. The same may be surmised of wind-
pollinated flowers.

In the systems of classificition, the natural order Ranun-
culaceae will be seen to stand first in the well-known English
system of Bentham and Hooker. Primitive (unspecialized)
characters of this order are seen (i) in the indefinite number of
perianth segments and sporophylls (stamens and carpels). (2)
These are separate from one another, and (3) arranged in
spirals (instead of cycles or whorls) ; (4) a convex axis
(thalamus or receptacle). These characters, which are not
found throughout this order, are more clearly seen in Mag-
noliaceae.

Classification of Plants 199

In the German system of Engler, flowers with inconspicuous
or no perianth occupy the lowest rank.1 These together with
flowers with separate petals are united under Archichlamydece.
In both systems there is a tendency, as development proceeds,
for the axis to become shortened and finally concave. Parts
become definite or reduced in number and arranged in cycles
(whorls). After the perianth has become cyclic, sporophylls
may still occur spirally. Such flowers are known as spirocyclic.

FIG. 193. — Spirocyclic flower of .\fagnolia. The perianth is in whorls, the
stamens and ovaries in spirals.

With these changes coming into vogue, another tendency
appears. Parts of a cycle " fuse " with one another. The
term leads one to suppose that parts which were at first separate,
join. As a matter of fact, after the rudiments of a cycle are
laid down, the floral axis beneath develops in a ring or zone
instead of in separate portions (zonal development). The

1 In this system incomplete flowers do not form a distinct group as in
the former but are regarded, in many instances, rather as a primitive con-
dition than as incomplete by reduction.

2OO Plants and their Ways in South Africa

name Sympetaly (Gamopetaly, Monopetaly) refers to zonal
development of the corolla, and corresponding terms to that of
sepals, stamen, and carpels (see p. 141).

The natural order Compositae, in which cohesion and
adhesion is greatest among Dicotyledons, gives evidence to
the advantage attending the union of floral parts, if we may
judge by numbers. This widely distributed order literally in-
herits the earth and is the largest among flowering plants,
numbering over 11,000 species.

Combined carpels economize in pollen. A sympetalous
corolla offers a firm support for insects and catches the over-
flow from nectaries which it helps to conceal. As development
advances the hollow receptacle "fuses" with the ovary which
becomes inferior.

Grouping of flowers to form heads and umbels seems also to
further success. It is not only an economy of insect labour
but the flowers, sharing the protection afforded by a common
involucre, may have the calyx developed as a special mechan-
ism in the dispersion of seeds. Each seed in Compositae is
provided with its own aeroplane.

Two-sided symmetry (zygomorphy) is frequent among more
highly specialized flowers. The cause of this development is
far from clear. In heads and umbels it may be connected
with one-sided contact with other flowers. Nutrition, air, and
light relations have been suggested as " explanations ". In
flowers borne laterally on the stem, it may have been induced
by insects' visits. Each flower is zygomorphic before it is
visited, so this theory requires us to believe that the effect of
the insects' alighting upon it is transmitted through succeeding
generations. Gravity and other clauses may have some part in
bringing it about. .

The tendencies shown in the evolution of flowers have been
related to economy in pollen, efficiency in pollination, and in
seed distribution. Thus far fossil records show Archi-
chlamydeae before Sympetalae, and flowers with radial symmetry
before zygomorphic ones.

" The less an organ is concerned with special habits, the
more important it is for classification. " Groups of higher rank

Classification of Plants

201

are separated by differences in parts which alter little or slowly.
A plant's immediate needs are met by its vegetative organs (root,
stem, leaves). These change remarkably under varying condi-
tions of climate and soil. The reproductive parts, concerned
with the future needs of the race, are less affected by these out-
ward conditions. Consequently the flower is of more import-
ance in distinguishing main groups. Besides cohesion of the
floral parts, and the position of the ovary, the seeds, their number
and position, the number of coats, and the'presence or absence of
endosperm, are important factors. The composition and shape
of the leaves are less valuable ; but their position, venation, and
presence or absence of stipules are of importance in dis-
tinguishing lower groups.

FIG. 194. — Diagrams to illustrate the morphology of flowers. A, hypo-
gynous ; B, perigynous ; C, epigynous.

It is upon the degree of cohesion and adhesion that
Bentham and Hooker make their main divisions in the classi-
fication of Angiosperms. In Thalamifl)rcB and Disciflorce the
sepals are usually distinct and separate ; the ovary is always
superior, that is the other floral parts are situated below the
ovary (hypogynous). In Disciflorae the receptacle is expanded
into a disk. In Calyciflone the receptacle is more or less ex-
panded and hollowed, gradually becoming tubular and surround-
ing the ovary. If this tube is free from the ovary, the floral
cycles are perigynous ; if it is joined with the ovary the
perianth and stamens are epigynous.

In classifying a plant, a synopsis is useful for identifying

2O2 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

the order to which it belongs. After a little practice the char-
acters of the order or family will be recognized at a glance
without the synopsis.

CONDENSED SYNOPSIS OF BENTHAM AND HOOKER (1862).

This system is used in " The Genera of South African
Plants " and in " Flora Capensis ". For V,Jfuller outline the
student should consult the Synopsis of Engler^). 206)

' PHANEROGAM^. - '>
Angiospermae.

CLASS I. — DICOTYLEDONS.

GROUP i. — Polypetalcf.
SERIES I. — Thalamiflorse.

A. Pistil apocarpous ; stamens many . . . RANUNCULACE^.
AA. Pistil syncarpous.

B. Stamens free ; flowers regular.
C. Leaves alternate.

D. Ovary i-celled; placentation pari-'

etal

E. Carpels 2.

Petals 4 ; stamens 6, tetradyna-

mous ; replum present . . CRUCIFER^E.
Petals 4 ; stamens 4 — many ; re-
plum absent .... CAPPARIDACE^E.
EE. Carpels 5.

Stamens 5 ; insectivorous herbs DROSERACE^E.
DD. Ovary 3-celled ; placentation axile.

Stamens 5 ; insectivorous shrubs DROSERACE^E.
CC. Leaves opposite ; placentation basal or

on extended axis .... CARYOPHYLLACE^.
BB. Stamens monadelphous ; flowers zygo-
morphic; leaves exstipulate.

Carpels 2, i-seeded POLYGALACE^.

BBB. Stamens monadelphous, variously united
or in TILIACE^E sometimes free ; petals
twisted in bud ; leaves stipulate.
Stamens united with petals; anthers i-

celled MALVACEAE.

Stamens united with petals or free;

anthers 2-celled STERCULIACE^.

Stamens united in groups or free; in-

trorse ....... TILIACE.E.

Classification of Plants

203

SERIES II.— Disciflorae.

A. Stamens beneath the disk forming a ring or
broken up into glands.

Flowers often zygomorphic ; leaves not
gland-dotted ; disk extended between the
i-seeded carpels GERANiACE^.1

Flowers mostly regular ; leaves gland-
dotted ^ RUTACE^E.

AA. Stamens w^diin "or on the margin of the
disk ; sometimes beneath.

Trees or shfubs often spinous ; leaves

simple, opp. or ait/*. "' .... CELASTRINE;E.

Trees or shrubs often spinous ; leaves al-
ternate, mostly pinnate ; disk often at one
side SAPINDACE/E.

SERIES III. -Calycirlorae.

A. Pistil apocarpous, sTqserior (except in some

Rosaceae) ; stamens perigynous.
B. Carpel i ; fruit a legume . . .
BB. Carpels two or more (South African

genera).

Stamens numerous ; leaves stipulate .

Stamens 4-10 (S. A.}; carpels 4-7 .

AA. Pistil syncafpous, ovary inferior (except in

soms Ficoideas).

Petals (staminodia) numerous ; embryo

curved; plants with fleshy leaves . . .

Petals 4 ; calyx (receptacle) with a long tube

extending beyond the ovary, many seeded

Petals 5 ; 2-celled, 2-seeded flowers in umbels UMBELLIFER^E

LEGUMINOS^.

ROSACEAE.
CRASSULACE^E.

GROUP 2. — Gamopetalce.

A. Ovary inferior.

B. Stamens inserted on the corolla tube.
C. Ovary i-celled, i-ovuled; flowers in

heads, leaves, ex-stipulate.
Stamens 4, free; ovule pendulous.
Heads definite, leaves opposite . . DIPSACE^E.

Stamens 5, anthers united ; ovule erect ;
heads indefinite

COMPOSITE.

1 Including OXALIDACE^E. 2 Aizoaceas — Engler.

3 Oenotheraceae, Engler.

2O4 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

CC. Ovary 2- or more celled; leaves oppo-
site, stipulate. .... RUBIACK^E.
BB. Stamens epigynous, free from the co-
rolla: ovary 2-io-celled; half inferior ;

fruit a capsule CAMPANULACE^E.

AA. Ovary superior.

B. Flowers regular.

C. Leaves alternate (also opposite and

whorled in Ericaceae).
D. Flower parts usually in fours ; rigid
shrubs with reduced needle-
shaped leaves ; stamens fre-
quently opening by pores . ERICACE/E.
DD. Perianth 5-parted; habit various;

leaves expanded.
Fruit a berry or capsule, obliquely

inclined SOLANACE^.

Fruit an achene .... PLUMBAGINACE^.
CC. Leaves opposite; alt. in Pachypodittm,

and in some Gentianaceae.
D. Pollen grains collected in masses.
Herbs often with milky juice ; seeds

hairy . . . . . A.SCLEPIADACEJE.

DD. Pollen grains separate.

Shrubs with milky juice ; seeds
usually hairy ; fruit a berry or
follicles; leaves alternate and
stipulate in Pachy podium . APOCYNACE./E.

Herbs with bitter juice ; corolla
withering on ; fruit a berry or
follicles; seeds not hairy . . GENTIANACE^E.
BB. Flowers zygomorphic or rarely regular;

corolla 2-lipped.
C. Ovary 2-celled ; fruit a many-seeded

capsule, rarely a berry.
Leaves simple, seeds small, endosperm-

OUS SCROPHULARIACE.B.

Leaves compound ; seeds flat with large

membranous wings, except in Ki-

gelia ; ex-endospermous . . . BIGNONIACE^E.
CC. Ovary 4-lobed or 4-celled, separating in

fruit ; four seeded.
Leaves opposite ; stem square ; strong

odour LABIATE.

Leaves alternate ; stem round ; flowers

nearly regular BORAGINACE.E.

Classification of Plants

205

GROUP 3. — Incomplete.

A. Perianth present ; flowers perfect or im-
perfect.
B. Ovary superior.

Flowers regular. Perianth tubular, its

lobes imbricate in bud. Shrubs . THYMELEACE^.
Perianth more or less irregular, 4-cleft or
4-parted, valvate in bud ; trees or

shrubs PROTEACE^.

BB. Ovary inferior.

Perianth 4-8-parted ; fruit a berry ;

parasites on trees .... LORANTHACE^E.
Perianth 3-parted, becoming woody ;

root parasites HYDNORACE^:.

AA. Perianth absent ; sometimes with sepals,
flowers imperfect.

Fruit a 3-celled schizocarp ; plants
usually milky; herbs, shrubs or

trees EUPHORBIACE^E.

Fruit usually i-celled; staminate

flowers in Catkins ; trees . . . AMENTACE^E.

CLASS II. — MONOCOTYLEDONS.
GROUP i. — Petaloidce.

ORCHIDACE^E.

MUSACE^E.
AMARYLLIDACE^.

LILIACE^E.

A. Ovary inferior.

Stamens i, joined to the style ; ovary i-

celled

Stamens 3 ; ovary 3-celled ....
5; ,, „ • - -

6; „ „ . ' . . ' .

AA. Ovary superior.

B. Flowers perfect.

Perianth coloured ; stamens 6

Calyx green ; corolla coloured ; anthers

differently formed . . . . COMMELYNACE^E.
Perianth coloured ; ovary inferior or su-
perior, stamens 3-6 . . . . H.EMODOR^CE^.
BB. Flowers imperfect.

Flowers dioecious. Perianth of 6, rarely
4 glumes RESTIACE^.

GROUP 2. — Glumacece.

Stem solid ; sheath of leaf not split,
without a ligule .... CYPERACE/E.

206 Plants and tlieir Ways in SoutJi Africa

Stem hollow ; leaf-sheath split ; ligule
present

Gymnospermae

(For Classification see System of Engler).
SYSTEM OF ENGLER, 1897.

Adapted and limited (in the Angiospermae) to the orders found in
South Africa.

Groups of related orders in this system are combined in cohorts.
The earlier cohorts are ill defined and characters of different cohorts
overlap. As the characters of the orders become more specialized the
cohorts become better defined.

SPERMAPHYTA.
Gymnospermae.

Ovules not enclosed in an ovary. Endosperm formed, without nuclear
fusion, before fertilization.

Class I. Cycadales — stem unbranched or with
little branching ; leaves pinnate ;
perianth wanting; dioecious . CYCADACE^E.
Class II. Ginkgoales—stem branched, with
long and short shoots ; leaves
fan-shaped ; dioecious . . GINKGOACE/E.
Class III. Conifer a — stem branched, with or
without long and short shoots ;
leaves usually narrow ; flowers
unisexual ; perianth wanting.
Cones imperfect, seeds projecting
beyond the carpels, with fleshy

aril TAXACE/E.

Cones fully formed; seeds con-
cealed between the scales . . ARAUCARIACE/E.
Class IV. Gnetales — stem simple or branched,
habit various ; leaves in pairs,
simple; perianth present . . GNETACE/E.

Angiospermae.

Ovules borne within an ovary of carpels with cohering margins. En-
dosperm produced by nuclear fusion, formed after fertilization.

Classification of Plants

207

CLASS I. — MONOCOTYLEDONS.

A. Flowers with marked 'indefiniteness in the

number of flower parts.

B. Perianth as a rule absent (ACHLAMYDEOUS),

either as a primitive condition or by

loss of perianth formerly present in

earlier related types ; when present ill-

defined and consisting of bristles or

scales. Wind pollinated.

C. Stamens and carpels showing great varia-

tion in number ; apocarpous, or car-

pels more or less joined and at length

separating ; 1-4, each i-ovuled;

spathe wanting, aquatic or marsh

plants.

Perianth of bristles, flower spikes on
long scapes, staminate above, pistil-
late below ...... TVPHACE^.

Perianth none, or tubular, or of three or

six valvate segments ; habit various . NAIADACE^.
CC. Stamens usually definite, carpels syn-

carpous.

Seed-coat fused with ovary ; leaf sheath
split, ligule present .... GRAMINACE^E.

Seed-coat free from ovary; leaf sheath

CYPERACE^:.

LEMNACE^E.

not split, ligule absent
BB. Perianth as a rule present, or absent
through reduction; inflorescence sub-
tended by bracts ; stamens and carpels
as a rule definite ; usually insect pol-
linated.

Plants with root stock, spathe conspicuous ARACE^E.
Minute floating plants, spathe incon-
spicuous . . . .-*'•' . .
AA. Flowers of five whorls prevailing, each whorl

usually 3-parted.
B. Perianth with sepals and petals similar

(HOMOCHLAMYDEOUS).

C. Perianth bracteoid or sepaloid, hypo-

gynous.

D. Carpels apocarpous, i-seeded, en-
dosperm cartilaginous, horny or
oily.
Dioecious trees with unbranched

stems and pinnate leaves . .
DD. Carpels syncarpous.

208 Plants and their \Vays in South Africa

E. Flowers monoecious; ovules soli-
tary, endosperm mealy.
Flowers in dense involucred heads

with staminate flowers central . ERJOCAULACE^.
EE. Flowers dioecious, seeds solitary.
Trees with unbranched stems,

flabellate leaves . . . PALM^E.
Herbs; stamens 3, anthers i-

celled (S.A.), endosperm mealy RESTIACE/E.
EEE. Flowers perfect.

Herbs climbing by leaf tips ;

stamens 6 FLAGELLARIACE^E.

Rush like herbs or under shrubs ;

stamens 6-3 .... JUNCACE^E.
CC. Perianth corolloid.

D. Perianth hypogynous.

E. Placentation parietal ; marsh herbs PONTEDERIACE^.
EE. Placentation axile.

Fruit a capsule or berry, stamens

6 ; many-seeded. . . . LILIACEJE.
Fruit a capsule, seeds solitary ;

stamens 6-3 .... H.^MODORACE^.
DD. Perianth epigynous.

E. Flowers imperfect, mostly dioeci-
ous.

Stem twining, arising from enor-
mous cork covered tuber . . DIOSCOREACEJE.
EE. Flowers perfect.

F. Placentation axile.

Stamens 6 ; root stock a corm

or bulb .... AMARYLLIDACE^.
Stamens 3 ; opposite sepals,
root stock a corm or rhi-
zome IRIDACE^E.

Stamens 6-3 ; root stock with
red juide, never bulbous,
seeds solitary . . . H.^EMODORACEJE.
Stamens 5 ; flowers in axils
of large coloured bracts,
seeds arillate . . . MUSACE^E.
FF. Placentation parietal or axile.

Stamens 3, opposite petals . BURMANNIACE^;.
FFF. Placentation parietal.

Stamen i ; gynandrous : seeds

many, small . . . ORCHIDACE^.
BB. Perianth with green sepals and coloured
petals (HETKROCHLAMYDEOUS).

Classification of Plants

209

C. Perianth hypogynous.

Ovary i-celled, placentas parietal,

ovules many ..... XYRIDACE^E.
Ovary 3-2-celled, placentas axile,

ovules few COMMELINACE^E.

CC. Perianth epigynous.

Flowers unisexual, stamens 3 ; floating

herbs HYDROCHARITACE^E.

Flowers perfect, stamens i, gynan-

drous . ORCHIDACE^.

CLASS II. — DICOTYLEDONS.

SERIES I. — Archichlamydeae.

Perianth either (i) absent; (2) in one whorl, simple, petaloid or sepaloid;
(3) in two whorls, the^ inner polypetalous ; (4) in two whorls, the inner
sympetalous (rare, where nearest relatives are polypetalou ), or (5) in one
whorl by the abortion of the inner whorl (apetalous). Ovules usually
with two integuments. \

A'. Perianth wanting (ACHLAMYDEOUS).

B. Carpels apocarpous or syncarpous ;

flowers perfect or dioecious.
Fruit a berry; seed i basal, orthotrop-
ous ; jointed shrubs or herbs ; frequently
root climbers or epiphytes . . . PIPERACES.
BB. Carpels syncarpous, flowers dioecious.
Frur. a capsule, seeds many, hairy ;
trees . . . ' . . . . SALICACEJE.
Fruit a waxy berry, seed i, shrubs . MYRICACE^E.
AA. Perianth simple (HOMOCHLAMYDEOUS).
B. Calyx bract-like, usually green.
C. Perianth hypogynous.

D. Carpels apocarpous or syncarpous.

Fruit of many i-seeded carpels . . PHYTOLACCACE^.
DD. Carpels syncarpous.

E. Ovules basal ; erect herbs or

shrubs, fruit an achene or nut ;

partial inflorescences at least,

cymose.

F. Leaves exstipulate ; ovules cam-

pylotropous.
Ovule i ; calyx herbaceous ; ha-

lophytic herbs . . . CHENOPODIACK^.
Ovule r -many; calyx membran-
ous ; not halophytes . . AMARANTACE^E.

14

210

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

FF. Leaves stipulate; ovule i,

basal, erect, orthotropous.
Herbs with sheathing (ochra-

ceous) stipules . . . POLYGONACE^E.
Herbs or shrubs, stipules not

ochraceous .... URTICACEJE.
EE. Ovule pendulous, trees or shrubs,

milky, leaves stipulate.
Flowers clustered in fig-like re-
ceptacles M GRACED.

EEE. Ovules basal becoming parietal,

or axillary.

Fruit a capsule or of separable
nuts, leaves exstipulate, xero-
phytic herbs .... AIZOACE;E

(FICOIDE.E).

CC. Perianth perigynous.
DD. Carpels syncarpous.

Fruit fleshy or dry, trees with alter-
nate exstipulate leaves, or cord-
like parasites .... LAURACK^E.
Fruit a capsule, placentation parietal,
stamens many, with petaloid
staminodia ; fleshy herbs, leaves
usually opposite .... AIZOACE^;.
CCC. Perianth epigynous.

Fruit a nut ; monoecious, trees, leaves
alternate with scaly stipules . . FAGACE^;.
BB. Calyx corolloid.

C. Perianth hypogynous.

D. Carpels apocarpous ; leaves exstipu-
late.

E. Achenes few or many, bracts not
showy ; stamens many, herbs
or climbing shrubs . . . RANUNCULACE^.
EE. Achenes i, bracts often showy.
Stamens 4 opposite and adnate to
calyx lobe ; leaves alternate,
shrubs or trees . . . PROTEACE^E.
Stamens 1-5 or more by branch-
ing, alternate to calyx lobes,
hypogynous ; leaves opposite,
herbs or climbing shrubs . NYCTAGINACE^E.
DD. Carpels syncarpous ; leaves stipulate.
Fruit a three winged or angled nut ;

herbs POLYGONACE^.

Fruit a capsule, fleshy herbs, stipules

not sheathing: . PORTULACACE<E.

Classification of Plants

211

CC. Perianth epigynous.

Fruit a fleshy berry, green parasites

on trees LORANTHACE.E.

Fruit a woody berry, fleshy root

parasites . . . . . HYDNORACE^.
Fruit i-seeded, root parasites, im-
perfect BALANOPHORACEJE.

AAA. Perianth double, except Section C, under
BBB; sepals forming calyx, corolla petaloid
(HETEROCHLAMYDEOUS).
B. Perianth hypogynous or slightly peri-
gynous ; receptacle not concave or
tubular.

C. Carpels apocarpous ; flowers spiral,
spirocyclic or cyclic (Cohort Ran-
ales).
D. Carpels many ; stamens many ;

flowers perfect.
Ovules many-i ; fruit usually

multiple, trees or shrubs . . ANONACE^.
Ovules i, fruit achenes, herbs, or

climbing shrubs . . . RANUNCULACEJE.
DD. Carpels few, stamens few, flowers

dioecious.
Fruit a drupe, stamens monadel-

phous, climbing shrubs . . MENISPERMACE^:.
CC. Carpels syncarpous.

D. Placentation parietal, sepals free.
(Cohort Rhoeadales, excluding
Nymphaeaceas, Bixaceae, and
Droseraceae).
E. Stamens many, rarely few.

Fruit a large berry, water plants NYMPH.SACE./E.
Fruit a capsule, dehiscing by

pores, herbs with latex . . PAPAVERACEJE.
Fruit a capsule or berry, trees

or shrubs .... BIXACE^.
EE. Stamens few; leaves alternate

ex-stipulate.
F. Herbs.

Stamens 6,1 capsule inflated;

climbing .... FUMARIACE^E.
Stamens 6, tetradynamous ;

fruit a siliqua . . . CRUCIFER^.
Stamens 3-8 ; fruit a gaping

capsule .... RESEDACE^.
1 Or two, each branched into three.

14*

212

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

FF. Trees, shrubs, or herbs.

Stamens 4-many, with ovary borne on
prolonged axis ; fruit a capsule or

berry CAPPARIDACE^.

Stamens 5 ; herbs or shrubs, with

insect-catching leaves . . . DROSERACE^.
DD. Placentation free, central. Inflorescence

cymose.

Fruit a capsule, leaves opposite . . . CARYOPHYLLACE^E.
ODD. Placentation axile, or frequently parietal,
sepals free or connate. Cymose inflores-
cence prevailing except in Malpighiaceae
and Polygalaceae.

E. Sepals usually imbricated, and free.
F. Disk within stamens, carpels (5-2),
ovules usually few, stamens ob-
diplostemonous, or outer whorl
absent, more or less joined at base.
(Cohort Geraniales.)
G. Flowers perfect.

H. Flowers regular, sometimes ir-
regular ; stamens opening by
slits.

I. Leaves not gland-dotted ; herbs

or shrubs ; styles usually free.

Stamens obdiplostemonous when

more than two whorls.
J. Leaves alternate.

Fruit a schizocarp; leaves

simple or pinnate, stipulate . GERANIACE^E.
Fruit a loculicidal capsule,
leaves palmately compound,
exstipulate .... OXALIDACE^E.
Fruit a septicidal capsule,
leaves simple, stipulate or ex-
stipulate .... LINAGES.
JJ. Leaves opposite, stipulate.
Fruit a capsule, schizocarp or

berry ; seeds few . . . ZYGOPHYLLACF^E.
II. Leaves gland-dotted ; shrubs or

trees ; styles united.
J. Stamens free, leaves exstipu-
late.

Fruit a capsule or berry ;
leaves heath-like, trifoliate,
or pinnate .... RUTACE^E.
Fruit drupaceous; leaves im-

paripinnate .... BURSERACE^E.

Classification of Plants

213

JJ. Stamens connate.

Fruit a capsule, drupe or berry,
leaves simple or pinnate, exstipu-
late . . . . . MELIACEJE.

Fruit a samara, leaves alternate

or opposite, simple, stipulate . MALPIGHIACE^E.
HH. Flowers zygomorphic; stamens open-
ing by pores.
Fruit 2-celled, 2-ovuled, capsule or

berry, stamens 8, monadelphous . POLYGALACE^;.
GG. Flowers imperfect, often much reduced.
Fruit a schizocarp, 3-celled, plants usu-
ally milky ...... EUPHORBIACE^.

FF. Stamens within or on the margin of the
disk ; disk cushion-like adnate to base of
calyx ; ovary free or immersed in disk ;
ovules one or two ; trees or shrubs.
Perianth, andrcecium and gyncecium often
reduced. Perigyny and epigyny occur.
(Cohort Sapindales excluding Guttt-
fcrie.)

G. Leaves simple; flowers usually perfect.
H. Ovules erect, micropyle facing down-
ward.
I. Fruit more or less immersed ; trees

or shrubs often spinous.
Stamens alternate petals, seeds usu-
ally arillate CELASTRACE^;.

Stamens opposite petals . . . RHAMNACE/E.
II. Fruit not immersed ; plants not spin-
ous ; leaves stipulate.
Fruit a berry; stamens 4-5, opposite

petals; climbing .... VITACE^;.
Fruit of i-io drupes ; stamens many,

anthers dehiscing by pores . . OCHNACE^.
HH. Ovules pendulous ; leaves usually stipu-
late ; flowers perfect.

Fruit a drupe ..... OLACACE^E.
Fruit a drupe; flowers dioecious . . ILICACE^E.
GG. Leaves pinnate, rarely simple ; flowers

frequently imperfect.
Fruit leathery or membranous, inflated

capsule SAPINDACE^E.

Fruit a drupe, often winged ; resinous . ANACARDIACE^;.
EE. Sepals usually valvate, more or less connate
and petals convolute ; stamens usually many ;
disk inconspicuous or none.

214 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

F. Stamens in several sets, opposite
the petals ; anthers 2-celled ; pla-
centation parietal or axile.
Calyx imbricate ; leaves opposite,

exstipulate; oil glands present GUTTIFER^.
Calyx valvate ; leaves alternate,

stipulate; oil glands absent . TILIACE^:.
FF. Stamens monadelphous ; leaves al-
ternate stipulate ; placentation
axile.

Anthers i-celled .... MALVACEAE.
Anthers 2-celled .... STERCULIACE^;.
BB. Perianth and stamens slightly perigynous ;

receptacle usually hollow or tubular.
C. Carpels apocarpous. (Cohort Resales.)
D. Seeds endospermous ; leaves ex-stipu-
late except Connaracea, opposite or
alternate.
Carpels isocarpic ; stamens iso or

diplo-stemonous, fleshy plants . . CRASSULACE^E.
DD. Seeds ex-endospermous ; leaves mostly

stipulate; usually alternate.
E. Stamens many ; flowers regular.

Fruit a pome, drupe, or achene . ROSACES.
Fruit a legume .... LEGUMINOS^.
EE. Stamens few.

Carpels 5, fruit a follicle; stamens

5-10; stipules absent . . . CONNARACEA.
Fruit a legume or loment ; stamens

10; stipules present . . . LEGUMINOS.E.
CC. Carpels syncarpous.

D. Placentation axile. (Cohort Resales

excluding Elatinaceae.)
E. Fruit a many-seeded capsule (few

seeded Cunonia, Saxifragaceee).
F. Plants in swift streams, forming a

thalluS PODOSTEMACE^E.

FF. Trees or shrubs ; capsules 2-5
celled.

Styles separate ; leaves simple, ex-
stipulate, or compound, stipu-
late, alternate, or opposite . . SAXIFRAGACE^.

Styles united; leaves simple, stipu-
late opposite .... ELATINACE^:.

Styles united; leaves alternate,
simpje, exstipulate, shrubs with
conspicuous flowers , . . PITTOSPORACE^.

Classification of Plants

215

EE. Fruit few seeded.

As in Saxlfragacece but seeds soli-
tary ; leaves simple, alternate, ex-
stipulate, expanded
Capsule 2-, or nut i -seeded, heath-
like shrubs

DD. Placentation parietal or basal. (Co-
hort Parietales including Guttiferae
and Elatinaceae, Loasaceae, Be-
goniaceae, Bixaceae.)
E. Leaves exstipulate; fruit a many-
seeded capsule, salt-loving or
desert plants with reduced leaves.
Style i, seeds smooth, calyx per-
sistent

Styles 3, seeds hairy
EE. Leaves stipulate.

F. Fruit a berry or pulpy capsule,

trees or shrubs.

Flowers usually imperfect, sta-
mens many or 10 .
Flowers perfect ; stamens 3-5
within a fringed corona ; climb-

HAMAMELIDACEJE.
BRUNIACE^E.

FRANKENIACE^E.
TAMARICACE^E.

PASSIFLORACE^;.
TURNERACE^E.

Flowers perfect ; stamens 5 ; co-
rona wanting, petals convolute
FF. Fruit a dry capsule; herbs or

shrubs.
Flowers regular; orzygomorphic;

anterior petal often spurred . VIOLACE^;.
BBB. Perianth perigynous, occasionally epigyn-
ous, ovary mostly syncarpous, free from
or rarely united with the tubular axis,
mostly woody plants.

C. Calyx coloured ; petals absent by abor-
tion or represented by glands ; leaves
exstipulate, ovary free from tubular
axis (Thymelasales).
D. Fruit a capsule, four parted ; sepals

4 ; leaves opposite.
Endosperm present, sepals imbricate,

stamens 8, internal phloem absent . GEISSOLOMACE;E.
Endosperm absent, sepals valvate,

stamens 4, internal phloem present PEN^ACE^.
DD. Fruit an achene ; leaves alternate or

opposite.
Sepals 4-5 ; corona often present ;

stamens haplo- or diplo-stemonous THYMEL^ACE^;.

2 1 6 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

CC. Calyx herbaceous, petals present ;
ovary free or partially united to
tubular axis, leaves opposite. (Co-
hort Myrtiflorse.)

Ovary free, capsule many seeded . LYTHRACE^E.
Ovary free, or adhering to the axis,

fruit a one or two-seeded berry . RHIZOPHORACE^E.
Fruit a drupe, capsule, or berry ;

stamen knee bent opening by pores MELASTOMACE^.
BBBB. Perianth epigynous.

C. Inflorescence cymose, usually solitary,

rarely racemose.
D. Placentation parietal ; stamens

many.

Flowers spirocyclic ; fruit a many-
seeded berry .... CACTACE^E.
Flowers cyclic ; fruit 3-celled, seeds

solitary under shrubs . . . LOASACE^E.
DD. Placentation axile, stamens many
or few. (Myrtiflorae, excluding
Begoniaceae and Rosaceae.)
E. Leaves stipulate.

F. Fruit a capsule; stipules persist-
ent ; leaves alternate.
Flowers monoecious ; fruit
winged, many seeded, succu-
lent, perennial herbs . . BEGONIACE^E.
Flowers perfect, fruit not

winged, cells i-seeded . . ROSACES.
FF. Fruit a berry, stipules decidu-
ous ; leaves opposite.
Trees or shrubs, growing by

the sea .... RHIZOPHORACE.E.
EE. Leaves exstipulate.
F. Stamens indefinite.

Trees or shrubs, leaves mostly
opposite entire ; placentation

axile MYRTACE^E.

Under shrubs, leaves alternate,

lobed ; placentation parietal . LOASACE^E.
FF. Stamens definite.

G. Fruit many seeded.

Stamens knee bent, dehisc-
ing by terminal pores ;
leaves opposite . . MELASTOMACE^E.
Stamens not bent, dehiscing
lengthwise, flowers always
four parted . . . ONAGRACE^.

Classification of Plants 2 1 7

GG. Fruit i- or few seeded.

Fruit winged or ribbed ; trees or

shrubs COMBRETACE^E.

Fruit not winged ; flowers uni- rarely

bisexual, herbs, in wet places . HALORAGIDACE^E.
CC. Inflorescence usually an umbel, either
racemose or cymose; ovules solitary,
pendulous ; seeds endospermous. (Co-
hort Umbelliflorae.)
D. Fruit a drupe or berry, 2-4 celled;

trees or shrubs.
Leaves alternate, palmate with small

stipules ARALIACE^;.

Leaves opposite, penninerved, exsti-

pulate CORNACE^E.

DD. Fruit a schizocarp, 2-celled.

Herbs or shrubs with simple or com-
pound leaves, petioles sheathing . UMBELLIFER^.

SERIES II.— Sympetalae.

Calyx and corolla present, the petals united, rarely free or nearly so.
Ovules with a single integument.

A. Flowers as a rule pentacyclic and isocarpic,
i.e. with five floral cycles and number of
carpels equal to parts in the other cycles.
Floral formula K$, GS, 85 + 5 (in which
either whorl may be wanting in some
forms), G (5).

B. Stamens diplostemonous (twice as many
as petals) the outer whorl alternating with
the petals or by the suppression of the
outer whorl equal to and opposite to the
petals, rarely, by branching of the fila-
ments, stamens many ; epipetalous.
C. Outer whorl of stamens fertile or repre-
sented by petaloid staminodia ; placen-
tation axile, woody plants with simple
leaves. (Cohort Ebenales.)
Plants milky, fruit a drupe or berry, seeds

erect SAPOTACEJE.

Plants not milky, seeds hanging, fruit

a berry EBENACE^E.

CC. Outer stamens absent, inner opposite
to petals ; placentation basal or free
central. (Cohort Primulales.)

218 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

D. Fruit indehiscent ; leaves alternate

exstipulate.

Fruit a drupe or berry, shrubs or herbs M YRSINACE^E.
Fruit an achene, calyx persistent,

shrubs or herbs .... PLUMBAGINACE^E.
DD. Fruit a many-seeded capsule; leaves
alternate or opposite, exstipulate.

Herbs PRIMULACEJE.

BB. Stamens obdiplostemonous, the outer
whorl opposite to petals (or sometimes
wanting), hypogynous or slightly epi-
petalous. (Cohort Encales.)
Shrubs or trees with needle shaped usu-
ally grooved leaves. Stamens usually
dehiscing by terminal pores . . . ERICACE^.
AA. Flowers tetracyclic, usually of four whorls
and anisocarpic, i.e. carpels fewer than
parts of the other cycles ; stamens alter-
nating with and equal to the petals or
rarely fewer when zygomorphic, epipetal-
ous or hypogynous. Carpels usually two,
in Convolvulacece, rarely three to five.
B. Perianth hypogynous.

C. Flowers mostly actinomorphic (regu-
lar), inflorescence mostly cymose.
(Cohort Contortae.)

D. Leaves entire mostly opposite, car-
pels apocarpous or syncarpous.
E. Stamens equalling the petals; in-
ternal phloem frequent.
F. Latex present ; leaves exstipu-
late, rarely stipulate ; stamens
applied to the stigma.
Pollen powdery ; styles united ;

fruit a capsule, drupe or berry APOCYNACE;E.
Pollen sticky in masses (pol-

linia) ; fruit a follicle . . ASCLEPIADACE^;.
FF. Latex absent, leaves opposite.
G. Placentation axile ; leaves

stipulate.
Dioecious ; shrubs ; leaves with

axillary spines . . . SALVADORACE^.
Perfect ; herbs shrubs or trees LOGANIACE^.
GG. Placentation parietal (rarely

axile) ; leaves exstipulate.
Herbs or half shrubs, fruit
many seeded . . . GHNTIANACE^.

Classification of Plants

219

EE. Stamens 2.

Shrubs or trees, fruit a berry or cap-
sule OLEACE^E.

DD. Leaves mostly alternate (opposite in some
Hydrophyllacece) ; carpels 2 (rarely
three to five) syncarpous ; inflorescence
mostly cymose.

E. Seeds usually few, 2-1 in each carpel ;
fruit frequently separated into 3-4-5,
X-seeded compartments.

Seeds erect, climbing or trailing . . CONVOLVULACE^E.
„ ,, perennial herbs with radi-
cal leaves PLANTAQINACE^.

Seeds hanging ; habit various, erect,

roughly hairy BORAGINACE.E.

EE. Seeds many (few in Rctzia, Solanacete) ',

calyx usually persistent.
Placentation parietal ; bundles col-
lateral , . . . . . HYDROPHYLLACE.E.

Placentation axile; bundles bicolla-

teral ; carpels obliquely inclined . SOLANACE^E.
CC. Flowers mostly zygomorphic and then
stamens frequently one fewer than petals ;
inflorescence cymose or racemose ; leaves
mostly opposite (sometimes alternate in
Scrophulariacece and Verbenacece) ; herbs
or shrubs. (Cohort Tubiflorae.)
D. Fruit a schizocarp, rarely a drupe.
Fruit usually a drupe, leaves sometimes
alternate . . . . . . VERBENACEJE.

Fruit of four one-seeded nuts . . . LABIATE.
DD. Fruit a capsule, rarely a berry.
E. Seeds many.
F. Capsule 2 - celled ; placentation

axile.
Seeds small, endospermous ; leaves

opposite or alternate . . . SCROPHULARIACECE.
Seeds large.winged exendospermous ;

leaves opposite, usually compound BIGNONIACE.E.
FF. Capsule i-celled ; placentation parie-
tal, seeds very small.

G. Parasites ; inflorescence racemose OROBANCHACE^E.
GG. Not parasites.

Inflorescence cymose, carpels i-

celled GESNERIACE/E.

Inflorescence racemose, carpels be-
coming 4-celled ; usually horned MARTYNIACE^E.

220

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

FFF. Capsule i-celled ; placentation

" free central ".
Insectivorous plants ; stamens

two, anthers i-celled . . LENTIBULARIACE.'E.
EE. Seeds few, at least South African

species.

Capsule often explosive, bracts usu-
ally conspicuous .... ACANTHACE.*.
BB. Perianth epigynous (half inferior in Cam-

panulacecz and Goodeniacece).
C. Leaves opposite; stamens free; flowers

cymose. (Cohort Rubiales.)
D. Leaves stipulate.

Stamens as many as petals ; seeds

many or solitary .... RUBIACE^E.
DD. Leaves exstipulate, stamens as many
as petals or fewer ; seeds pendulous.
Carpels three, ovary i-3-celled ; calyx

a pappus ; inflorescence, panicled . VALERIANACE^.
Carpels two, ovary i-celled, inflores-
cence capitate DIPSACE^E.

CC. Leaves usually (except some Composita.')
alternate exstipulate ; stamens ap-
proaching or partly united, flowers
racemose. (Cohort Campanulatae.)
D. Seeds many ; placentation axile.
Flowers imperfect, regular .
Flowers perfect, regular or zygo-

morphic ; latex usually present
DD. Seeds few (i in Composite) erect.

Anthers free or cohering ; calyx her-
baceous ; latex absent
Anthers united ; calyx a pappus ; with
latex or resin .

CUCURBITACE^.
CAMPANULACE^E.

GOODENIACECE.
COMPOSITE.

The plants ranked below those that bear seed are divided
into three groups, making in all five divisions of the Vegetable
Kingdom : —

I. Thallophyta.
II. Bryophyta.

III. Pteridophyta.

IV. Gymnospermas.
V. Angiospermas.

While the lower forms are of great interest and importance,
they are in so many cases known only by the aid of the micro-

Classification of Plants 221

scope, and are consequently so unfamiliar to those for whom
this book is intended that they can be but briefly mentioned.

Division I. — THALLOPHYTA.

This division includes a great variety of plants, some very
simple and others quite elaborate, but they are grouped together

FIG. 195. — Vaucheria. A, B, formation of antheridia and oogonia ; h, male
branch ; a, antheridium ; off, oogonium ; C, oogonium opening to exude the
drop of mucilage, si ; D, spermatozoids ; E, spermatozoids entering oogonium ;
F, a, an empty antheridium ; osp, oogonium with oospore or fertilized ooiphere
(magni(ied). (After Goebel and Pringshein.)

as having no root, stem or leaves, and in having one-celled fruiting
organs. It may be divided into three subdivisions.

A. ALG^F.. — Most of the plants composing the green floating
scum on ponds, which is sometimes called " frog spittle, "are algae.
Others are found on damp walls, on stones, or moist earth. All
the seaweeds are algae. These plants may be but single cells,
long threads or filaments of cells, or masses of cells. The fila-
ments may break apart, and so form new plants, or the cell

222 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

contents may round off and form spores. The spores of
pond scums are preserved in the dried mud during the dry
months, and when the rains come they grow into new plants.

In most algae a fusion of two cells forms a stage in their
life history. These may be like one another or an egg- and
sperm-cell may fuse which may be compared to the fusion in
higher plants.

By means of chlorophyll, algae appropriate the CO2 dis-
solved in the water and so assimilate their own food.

B. FUNGI. — The fungi, which comprise the second class
of Thallophyta, differ from algae by the absence of chlorophyll.
This in itself would not justify a separate grouping of the
fungi, as this is not recognized as a basis for division in the
higher plants. The fungi, though they may be degenerate forms
of algae, are distinguished by their mode of developing and
their life history.

Although as parasites the fungi are destructive to higher
plants their importance in the economy of Nature as sapro-
phytes and symbionts is only beginning to be understood.
Fungi grow symbiotically on the roots of many plants. By
removing the soil from the roots of a young oak plant the
threads (mycelium) of a fungus may be seen near their tips.
Reference is made on p. 342 to the fact that those growing as
mycorhiza on heath roots appropriate free nitrogen and are
thus of great importance to the soil. Some of the commonest
moulds as Penicillium (the blue mould) also appropriate free
nitrogen, as Miss Ternetz has found.

The yeast plant Saccharomyces is of interest as being one
of the chief organisms concerned in alcoholic fermentation of
carbohydrates. When yeast cells are placed in starch paste or
in a solution of cane sugar an enzyme excreted by the yeast
sets up a digestive process. Starch uniting chemically with
water (by hydrolysis) becomes changed into maltose (C12H22On)
which by union with another molecule of water breaks up into
two molecules of glucose thus : —

C12H22On + H20 = 2(C6H1206).
Maltose Glucose

Classification of Plants 223

Cane sugar by taking up a molecule of water breaks up
into a molecule of grape sugar (glucose) and fructose : —

C12H220U + H20 = C6H1206 + C6H1206.
After this change outside the yeast cells has taken place
(extracellular digestion), the simple sugars are taken into the
yeast cell. Here it meets with an enzyme which cannot pass
out of the cell. This enzyme disorganizes these sugars, where-
upon oxygen which was driven away from the carbon when it
was first formed, now recombines with it forming CO2. Not
all the carbon is oxydized, but the sugar is broken down into
carbonic acid gas and alcohol : —

FIG. 196.- — Spore print of a Mushroom. (Printed and photographed by Miss
Ethel M. Doidge.)

In preparation of the Kaffir beer Leting, Miss Doidge has
found that a mould (Mucor) effects the change from starch to
sugar and can also ferment some of the sugar, forming some
alcohol. When the Leting is fresh a bacterium causes an acid
fermentation of the starch of the Kaffir corn thus producing a
very wholesome drink which is not intoxicating.

Many of the rusts live part of their life as parasites on one
host while to complete their life-history quite another host is
necessary.

224 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Where do Mushrooms Bear their Spores?— Cut

off the stem of a common Mushroom. Lay the cap carefully
on a sheet of paper, gills downwards. Alter several hours
there will be a pretty spore print on the paper. The fine
powder is the spores. When the spores lodge in a place with
sufficient moisture, they send out delicate white threads, which
grow mostly underground, but you can see them on the
surface under trees during the rainy season. They look like
masses of wet cotton-wool. This is what Mushroom gardeners

FlG. 197.— Photograph of a Mushroom (Amanila), showing the ring (annulus]
and cup (volva}.

call spawn. It takes up moisture and food from the soil,
and as it may grow underground for months, it is no wonder
that when Mushrooms come they seem to "spring up in a
night ". They start as buttons on the spawn, and may get
quite large before we notice them.

One common Mushroom, Psalliota campestris, which is
often cultivated for the table, has pink gills (the spores are at
first pink) which after a time turn brown. It has a white or
brownish cap and a ring around the stem.

The Mushroom in Fig. 197 has a ring which shows on the
upper portion of the stalks. This ring is the remainder of a

Classification of Plants

225

veil of interwoven mycelium which was attached to the edge of
the umbrella (pileus) and protected the gills. The stalk of
this one stands in a cup which, like the ring, is the remains of
a protecting veil. But
this one extended over
the cap. When the cap
pushed through, parts of
the veil made the rough
patches on the cap. Do
not eat this kind. The
rough cap tells of the cup
below, and a Mushroom
is quite apt to be poison-
ous if it has a cup at the
base.

Puff balls are a kind

of Mushroom. When you FIG. 198.- Gea5fer (earth-star).

pinch them the spores come out in a cloud. The earth star
is a pretty little puff ball, which looks like a star, and grows
close on the earth in the spring. An outer cover or peridium
splits back when the spores are ripe and forms the star.

C. BACTERIA. — These are minute organisms frequently
known as "germs". They each have a distinct life history;
and while they are generally under a ban as disease-producing,
many are necessary in the ecoromy of Nature. They are, like
fungi, destitute of chlorophyll, yet they can live under a great
variety of conditions, in either the presence or absence of light,
air and organic matter.

Division II. — BRYOPHYTA.

Two well-defined stages characterize this group, each one
bearing reproductive bodies from which the other is deri'ved.
In this alternation of generations the stage which arises from
the union of the sexual cells, the sperm- and the egg-cell,
and bears the spores, remains dependent upon the stage
which bears the sexual cells. It contains the liverworts and
mosses.

LIVERWORTS are often flattened green plants, growing in
15

226 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

moist kloofs and other damp, shady spots. One of the most
familiar liverworts is Marchantia. It has a flat, leaf-like,
forked thallus growing close to the soil. On the under side
are thread-like rhizoids, which serve the purpose of roots.
On the thallus are little cups, containing small green bodies.
They are buds which grow from the bottom of the cups. They
become loosened, and are washed out to other places, where
they form new plants. Umbrella-like bodies are often to be
found growing up from the thallus. These stalks are of two
kinds. At the top of some are
stars of nine or more rays.
Others have round, scalloped
tops. Sunken in them are club-
shaped bodies called antheridia
(anther- like]. They contain many
small nucleated cells (sperm -cells),

FIG. 199.— Marchantia polymorpha. I. Thallus with five anther-bearing
umbrellas. II. Thallus with an umbrella bearing the egg pockets beneath.
(From Thome' and Bennett's "Structural and Physiological Botany".)

which escape when the antheridia are ripe, and swim about by
means of tiny lashes, cilia, attached to them. They are ex-
tremely small, and can only be seen by means of a microscope.
Underneath the stars on the other stalks, protected by delicately
fringed curtains, are bottle-shaped bodies, each containing an
egg-cell. These are sought out by the sperm-cells, which unite
with them just as the nucleus in pollen grains unites with the
egg-cell in an ovule of higher pknts. As a result of this union,

Classification of Plants

227

the egg divides rapidly and forms a sporogonium, consisting
of a sporangium borne on a short stalk which is attached by
means of a foot to the umbrella from which it derives its
nourishment. When ripe, the sporangium bursts and dis-
charges a golden dust of spores. These are scattered by wind
and grow to form new plants like those formed by the gemmae,
the gametophytic or sex- bearing stage.

S

FIG. 200. — Transverse section through the middle portion of thallus of
Pellia epiphylla. R, rhizoids ; S, S. sheath ; St, stalk of antheridium ; A,
capsule or head of antheridium (magnified). (From Evans1 " Intermediate Text
Book of Botany".)

MOSSES, like liverworts, usually grow best in moist, shady
places. We can find mosses on the ground under the shade
of bushes and trees, or on the trunks of trees, but they grow
best in moist woods or ravines. If no woods are near, look on
thatched roofs, which are often beautifully green with moss on
the shaded southern slope.

Mosses have leafy stems, and by examining the tips of
these stems in early spring, sharp eyes, with a hand lens, can
I5*

228 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

just detect in the tops of some of the stalks little bodies, sur-

FIG. 20i.— Section of Pellia epiphvlla through an involucre. R, rhizoids ;
T, I, involucre ; AA, developing archegonia (magnified). (From Evans' ' Inter-
mediate Text Book of Botany .)

rounded by a rosette ot leaves. These correspond to the
antheridia of the liverwort.

FIG. 202.— Pellia epiphylla. A liverwort with impergate sporangia. T,
lobe ; R, rhizoids ; F, fruits enclosed in calyptra ; C, central slightly thicker
layer ; C, C, capsules ; V, capsule open ; CF, collapse of seta after dispersal of
spores. (Evans* " Intermediate Botany".)

The egg-cell pockets, archegonia, usually borne on

Classification of Plants

229

separate stems, are more difficult to find. They are not sur-
rounded by so conspicuous a rosette. i y ^

The sperm-cells escape, and swim to the
egg- cells in much the same way as they do in
Marchantia. When the egg- cells have be-
come fertilized, they send up stalks, which
are tipped by little capsules. You can find
them in great numbers when the mosses are
fruiting. Some of the capsules will have
little hoods, the remains of the archegonia
which have been carried up. Remove one.
On the capsule is a small lid. Take it off
with a needle. Under the lid is a mouth
with a row of teeth. Breathe on them
several times. What happens ? They open
and close. When ripe the capsule is filled
with spores. They sift through the teeth
during the summer, and when rain comes, or
when they lodge in a moist place, they send
out thread-like plants very much like an
alga ; it is from these threads that the leafy
stems grow.1

Division III. — PTERIDOPHYTA.

Here too there is a distinct alternation of
generations but in this division the spore-
bearing generation is the more conspicuous.
It acquires stem leaves and roots and be-
comes quite independent of the gameto-
phyte. The Pteridophyta include the ferns,
the club mosses, and the horse tail or Equi-
setum, which is found in Eastern districts.

FIG. 203. — 1. Moss
plant. II. Swim-
ming sperm-cell
(ma g n i fi e d).
(From Thom6 and
Bennett's " Struc-
tural and Physio-
logical Botany".)

1 The capsule with its stalk is the sporophyte.
At the base of the stalk, the foot draws nourishment
from the leafy part, the gametophyte. The two
generations, the one bearing the sexual cells and the other the spores, al-
ternate with one another and exhibit what is known as Alternation of
Generation in plants.

230 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Maiden Hair and most of the South African ferns have
short creeping stems, but Cyathea of Natal, and the beautiful
Ifemitelia, of Knysna and the West, have woody stems which
grow to quite a height.

On the under side of most fern leaves you will find brown
spots. Some people cut their ferns down and burn them
when they find them there, thinking that they are scale insects.
When the spots get quite brown, gently shake a leaf over
white paper. A brown dust will appear on the paper. These

E I

Se

FIG. 204.— Longitudinal section through the sporophyte of Pel Ha epiphyl/a,
R, rhizoids ; I, involucre ; F, foot of sporophyte ; Se, seta ; C, capsule ; W.
wall of capsule ; Wa, wall of archegonium ; S, spores; N, remains of neck of
archegonium ; A, unfertilized archegonium (highly magnified). (From Evan's
" Intermediate Text Book of Botany ".)

are the fern spores, contained within clusters of spore-cases
forming the dots. A dot is called a sorus (plural, son).
When the spores are ripe and have fallen in moist places, they
burst their brown walls and begin to grow. In a few weeks a
spore will grow into a filmy, green, heart-shaped plant. Look
under the shelves of greenhouses or on the outside of pots in
which ferns are growing. They are often abundant there.
People call them " Moss," but we know that moss leaves are
borne on stems. Each one of these plants grows by itself.

How Does the Fern Plant Come ? — On the under side
of the plants which are called prothallia are rhizoids and

Classification of Plants

231

FIG. 205, 1. — Equiselum sylvaticum ; a, a fertile shoot, not containing chloro-
phyll, bearing the sporangia at its summit ; b, a fertile green shoot ; between
these a sterile ereen shoot (reduced} : these three kinds of shoots do not alwavs

232 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

two kinds of sexual organs, resembling those in the liverwort
and the moss. Archegonia containing the germ- or egg-cells
are near the notch in the prothallium ; antheridia containing
the sperm-cells are down near the point among the rhizoids.
A sperm-cell swims into the archegonium, unites with the
germ-cell, and then the germ-cell grows into a leafy fern
plant, just as the stalked capsule of the moss grew out of the
pockets hidden among the leaves. The fern plant, though,
forms roots and can soon take care of itself,
while the moss capsule always depends upon
the leafy part for its food. In the liverworts,
mosses, and ferns, the germ-cell has to swim
to reach its sperm-cell, but the spores are
borne up into the air, and are scattered by
the wind.

In the* ferns and all more highly developed plants,
the sporophyte is the conspicuous leafy generation.

II. III.

FIG. 206.— I. A.mo^p\a.r\\.(Bryumargenteum}. II. Capsule enlarged. III.
Capsule open for the spores to escape. (From Thom6 and Bennett's "Struc-
tural and Physiological Botany ".)

The higher plants also have two generations, but the generation corre-
sponding to the prothallium of the fern is hidden away, partly within the
seed and partly within the pollen grains. The sperm-cells are contained
in the pollen, and are carried down in the pollen-tube. By this time they
have lost the power of swimming.

Osmunda regalis, L. is a stately fern also extending across
South Africa. The fruit-bearing part is quite distinct from the
leafy part, forming a plume-like panicle.

Schizea pectinata, Sm. is a curious fern, which might

Classification of Plants 233

easily be mistaken for a grass. The frond or leaf is just a wiry
stalk with very small comb-shaped lobes at the top.

Unlike so many ferns which thrive best in shady ravines, it can grow
in very dry, hot situations. It is found on mountain tops and down nearly
to the sea level.

Gleichenia may be distinguished from all other South
Africa ferns by the dichotomous branching of the fronds. In
the Knysna forests it climbs gracefully up the banks, ten or
twelve feet high.

Hemitelia capensis, Br., the tree fern, the most beauti-
ful fern in South Africa, extends from Table Mountain to
Natal.

Pteris aquilina, L. grows commonly on hills.

FIG. 207. — Pinnae of fern leaves. I. Aspidium with a single sorus ; the
spore cases may be seen around the edge of the indusium. II. Asplenium with
several sori. III. A young fern plant growing from the heart-shaped prothal-
lium. (From Thom6 and Bennett's " Structural and Physiological Botany ".)

The spore cases of Pteris are continuous along the margin
of the leaf, which is folded over to protect them.

Lomaria capensis, Willd., a large coarse fern with rope-
like spreading stems, may be known by the whole under surface
of the fertile fronds being covered with fruit-dots.

Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes are found in deep
ravines, washed by the spray of waterfalls. The beautiful little
fronds are almost transparent, and the delicate creeping stems
are like threads. The spore-cases are clustered on a stalk, en-
closed in a tubular or cup-shaped indusium. The indusium
of Hymenophyllum is deeply two-loped. That of Trichomanes
is not slit, and the fronds are less divided.

234 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Adiantum, the Maiden Hair, may be known by the slender,
black leafstalks and the fan-like veining. The sori are on the
margins of the fronds, and the recurved edge of the frond
forms an indusium. The sori are not continuous, as in Pteris.
Selaginella belonging to the group Lycopodinece (Club
mosses) is frequently seen in greenhouses. Several species are

native to South Africa. At
the tips of the branches
sporangia are clustered to
form a cone. In some spor-
angia only one of the many
spore mother- cells develops,
so that when ripe they con-
tain only four large spores
each (megaspores). Those in
which all the spore mother-
cells develop contain a large
number of small spores (mi-
crospores). The megaspores
germinate within the spor-
angium each forming a pro-
thallium much more reduced
than that of the fern, in fact
the cells barely emerge from
the ruptured spore wall,
where a few archegonia are
formed. The prothallium formed from the microspore is still
more reduced and consists of a single cell. But one anther-
idium is formed which produces several sperm-cells.

After fertilization, an embryo is developed from the egg-
cell which for a time derives its nourishment from the small
prothallium. Later, like the fern, it forms roots and becomes
an independent plant.

The life history of the fern may be shown by the diagram
below : —

FIG. 208. — Longitudinal section through
a cone of Selaginella. a, macrospor-
angium ; b, microsporangium.

Classification of Plants

235

Prothallium

t
Spores

Sporangium

t
Fern Plant

t
Oospore

t t
Sperm cell Egg cell

t t

Antheridium Archegonium

t t
Prothallium

f

I

SPERMAPHYTA OR SEED-BEARING PLANTS.

Although seed formation was given as a distinguishing
character of Spermaphyta, the nucellus of the ovule may be
compared to the megasporangium of Selaginella, where how-

FIG. 209. — Longitudinal section through an ovule of Pinus ready for
fertilization. /, testa showing middle hard layer ; n, nucellus. A micro-
spore has lodged within the micropyle and the pollen tube has nearly reached
the prothallium ; /, prothallium (endosperm) filling the macrosppre (embryo
sac). Two archegonia are seen at the micropylar end, one containing an egg
cell ; s, scale bearing the ovule.

ever the spore output is still more reduced, as a rule in Sper-
maphyta only one megaspore of one spore mother-cell develops.
This was named the embryo sac before comparison revealed
the homology with the lower forms.

236 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

In Gymnosperms, of which Pinus may be taken as a type,
the nucleus of the megaspore divides to form a mass of cells,
the prothallus or endosperm. This forms several (three or four
commonly in Pinus pined] arche-
gonia at the end toward the
micropyle.

In Angiosperms the nucleus
of the megaspore typically divides
into two, which pass to opposite
ends of the spore. These each
divide twice, forming four nuclei
at each end. Of these, three at
the micropylar end form the egg
apparatus, the largest of the three
becoming the egg. Of the four
at the opposite end, three surround
themselves with walls. They are
regarded by some as constituting
a rudimentary prothallus and by
others as a second egg apparatus
which no longer functions as such.
One of the four nuclei at each
end passes to the centre of the
megaspore. These fuse and after
fertilization, this, the second-
ary nucleus develops the endo-
sperm.

It is an advantage for the
megaspore to remain enclosed by
the food- storing cells of the nucel-
lus, but a serious problem now
presents itself : How is the sperm-
cell to reach the egg ? In the
lower types they did so by swim-

FiG. 210. — Diagrammatic view of
ovary of a Dicotyledon contain-
ing one erect, basal, anatropous
ovule. Tne pollen tube has
discharged its two nuclei, n,
nucellus ; em, embryo sac ; a,
antipodal cells ; b, two polar
nuclei which unite to form the
central or definitive nucleus ; e,
egg apparatus with sperm cell
applied to the egg cell, d ; s,
seed coat ; c, nuclei discharged
by the pollen tube ; / funicle ;
/, pollen tube which has entered
through the micropyle.

ming. But obviously swimming would avail little under present
conditions, and it has become practically a lost accomplishment
of the sperm-cells of Spermaphytes. The difficulty has been
surmounted by the microspores (pollen grains). These have

Classification of Plants

237

developed the pollen tube mentioned on p. 159. When the
pollen tube reaches its destination in an angiospermous ovule
(Fig. 210) it discharges two nuclei which it has brought the
entire journey. One serves as a sperm nucleus. For a long
time the fate of the other was a mystery. It was finally found
in many angiosperms to fuse with the secondary nucleus, thus
taking part in the formation of the endosperm.

Another remarkable discovery revealed the fact that in
some Gymnosperms of the Cycadales and in Gtnkgo (the
Maiden-hair tree) the sperm cells have not quite lost the feat
of swimming, but after the pollen tube has discharged them
in a depression, the archegonial chamber, the sperm cells

FIG. 211. — Encepha.lartosvillosus,\j&m\. Staminate cone, left side. Ovu-
late cone, right side. "Seedling perhaps two years old " (Miss Pegler).

swim in a liquid discharged from the pollen tube and enter
the archegonial necks by their own activity. This fact is of
especial interest in«showing the relationship between the higher
and the 'lower plants.

238 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Division IV.— GYMNOSPERMS.

Gymnosperms are woody plants storing resin or mucilage.
The flowers are diclinous (male and female separate), and the
plants are either monoecious or dioecious.1

Three orders of Gymnosperms are found in South Africa —
Cycadaceae, Coniferae, and Gnetaceae. These orders in-
clude five genera.

CYCADACE.E. — The two South African genera of this order
are often mistaken for tree ferns or palms, until the large cones
a foot or more long are seen among the crowns of pinnate
leaves. Spirals of rigid scale leaves alternating with foliage
leaves also serve to distinguish Cycadacese.

FIG. 212. — Encephalartos villosus, Lehm. (Photograph by P. S. Laney, Esq.)

Encephalartos. — Stem cylindrical ; pinnae of the leaves without
midrib, finely parallel veined.

Santgeria. — Stem short, swollen ; pinnae midribbed with forked veins.

1 Staminate and pistillate flowers on the same plant or on different
plants.

Classification of Plants

239

Encephalartos (Zamia). — The stamen-bearing cones are
long and slender, and the scales are covered on the under
surface with microsporangia. These are arranged in sori,
reminding us of the ferns. The ovule-bearing cones are
shorter and thicker, each scale bearing a pair of ovules. The
thick unbranched trunk, rough with the bases of fallen leaves,
has a palm-like appearance.

There are twelve species found in the Eastern Province and Natal.
They are found along ledges in ravines, and extend as far west as the
Kroome River. They form quite a special feature of the Fish River Bush,
and extend from near the sea-level to an altitude of 5000 feet.

FIG. 213.— Young plant of Encephalartos villosus, Lehm. Showing apo-
geotropic breathing roots. By kindness of Miss Pegler. (Photograph by P. S.
Laney, Esq.)

Stangeria is a curious plant, with a few leaves crowning
its turnip-shaped trunk. The feathered venation of the leaves
distinguishes them from those of Encephalartos. It dwells
in Natal, and comes as far south as Lower Albany.

240 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

The Cycadacese come of a very ancient lineage, for their
fossil forms are found in older rock formations than those of
any of their living Gymnosperm relatives.

A xerophytic character of these plants is the well-developed
underground stem system by which vegetative reproduction

FIG. 214. — Stangeria zeyheri. Showing the feathered venation.

is secured. A curious feature is shown in Fig. 213. From
the upper portion of the tap root, roots are given off which
grow directly upward (apogeotropic). These contain within
their cortex small blue-green algae which may assist in the re-
spiration of the roots.

The cones of E. Friderici Guilielmi, Lehm., which grows

Classification of Plants 241

near the Thomas River, are thickly covered with wool. A
beetle belonging to a very ancient family, Phlaeophagus by
name, frequents the cones and may assist in distributing pollen.
CONIFERS. — Unlike the Cycadaceae, the Coniferae have
much-branched trunks and small simple leaves.

Yv^.zi^.—Podocarpuselongata, L'Her. Outeniqua Yellow Wood. (Photo-
graph by Mr. Zahn Knysa.)

Podocarpus, or Yellow Wood, is the monarch of the
eastern forests, attaining a height of 50 to 80 feet.

The stamen-bearing catkins are about an inch in length.
The ovule flower is reduced to a single ovule borne upon a
scale. (There is a scale facing this one which sometimes bears
an ovule.) The cones are reduced to their lowest terms.
These fleshy scales form the receptacle for the drupe-like fruit
with its fleshy covering and hard middle layer of the coat.

P. thunbergii, Hook, (true Yellow Wood) has lanceolate, shining
leaves and dark blue receptacles.

16

242 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

P. elongata, L'Her. (Outeniqua Yellow Wood) has narrow leaves and
a small crimson receptacle. These monarchs of the East attain a girth of
30 feet and some are estimated to be a thousand years old.

FIG. 216. — Podocarpus ewngata, L'Her. 1

\A/lddringtonia is the other genus of this order in South
Africa. It extends from Natal to the mountains of Clanwilliam,
where it is found at its best. In the East it grows five or six
feet high. The leaves are needle-shaped, becoming scale-like
in the older plants. The cones are large and hard, formed of
a few woody scales. The winged seeds of the tree may account
for its wide distribution, although its range of altitude is
limited, as it is generally found growing on mountain heights.

The " Firs " which belong to the order Coniferas are native to the
Northern hemisphere. The extensive fir plantations on the slopes of
Table Mountain show that the soil is no less congenial to them than that
of their ancestral homes in Southern Europe. Finns pinea, the Stone
Pine, and P. pinaster, the Cluster Pine, are the species usually found in
plantations. The annual rings of some trees cut on the market-place at
Cape Town indicated an age of 209 years.1

1 Dr. F. C. Kolbe.

Classification of Plants 243

The order Gnetaceae is represented by Gnetum and Wel-
witschia. Welwitschia is well adapted for its life in the Dama-
raland desert, to which it lends an additional weirdness. The
trunk is very short, sometimes two or three feet thick, and grows
mostly under the soil. The large tap-root extends deep down
in the sand. It has but two leaves besides the cotyledons six
feet or more in length, which become split into narrow shreds
as they are lashed by the wind. Like other leaves found in
deserts, they have a very thick cuticle. The large two-lobed
summit of the trunk bears the crimson cones. The fruiting
cones are about 2 inches long.

The staminate flowers have a four-parted perianth and six
stamens surrounding a reduced ovule. The pistillate flower has
a tubular perianth and contains an exposed ovule.

Division V. — ANGIOSPERMS.

Sub-class I. — Monocotyledons.

Order TYPHACE^:.

This order which contains the single genus Typha (Cat's
tail Bulrush) is placed, in the Engler system, among the most
primitive of the Monocotyledons. The erect stem arises from
a thick rhizome and bears a dense velvety inflorescence of
pistillate flowers with staminate flowers above. Each flower
is surrounded with a number of hairs. Stamens 2-5 ; carpels
with one pendulous ovule. Fruit an achene covered with
hairs which aid in its distribution. The flowers are wind pol-
linated.

The incomplete and imperfect flowers, the single genus and
the few species (12) attest to the ancient lineage of this order.
It is found in fossil form in Tertiary times. Fossils of di-
cotyledons are, however, found before this.

Order CYPERACE^E, the Sedges or Nut Grass Family.

This family consists of tufted wiry grass-like plants with
creeping grass- like sympodial rhizomes. Stem 3-angled and
16*

244 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

solid. Leaves all 3- ranked with an entire sheath. Flowers

s n

FIG. zij. — Typfia (reed-mace, cat's tail, bulrush). I. showing habit of
plant; r, rhizoids ; s, staminate ; p, pistillate portion of inflorescence. II.
staminate. III. pistillate flower. IV. pollen grains cohering in tetrads.

FIG. 218.— Unisexual flower of Care*
(after Eichler) ; u, utricle ; a, axis.

FIG. 219.— Flower of Cyperus,
with the parts separated.

in the axils of glumes ; perianth of bristles, hairs, or none,

Classification of Plants 245

in spikelets. Stamens 3 ; anthers basifixed, 2 -celled ; ovary
i -celled ; fruit an achene.

Cyperus. — Glumes in two ranks. C. textilis, Thunb. (Mat-
jesgoed), is used for thatching and baskets. The tubers of C.
esculentus, Drege., are eaten by natives of the north.

I. II.

FIG. 220.— I. Staminate flower. It. Pistillate flower of Carex.
Thom6 and Bennett's "Structural and Physiological Botany.")

(From

Carex. — Glumes overlapping, placed all around the stem.
The flowers are usually imperfect.

Order GRAMINACE^E, the Grass Family.

Stem cylindrical or compressed (not 3-angled), hollow (not
in Indian corn or sugar cane), with solid nodes. Leaves 2-
ranked, sheath split, ligule present. Flowers in the axils of
glumes ; perianth of two minute lodicules ; stamens 3 (some-
times 6) ; anthers versatile. Fruit an achene (caryopsis).

The number of genera of this large order found in South
Africa is not great. In temperate regions grasses are low and
spreading ; in tropical countries the canes and bamboos form
tall forests ; while in dry regions grasses usually grow in tufts,
which allow the bare ground to be seen between them.

This order is one of the most important groups of plants.
To it belong all the grains — wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, and

246 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

millet. The sugar obtained from sugar-cane and the pasturage
afforded to stock are among the benefits conferred on mankind
by this order.

FIG. 221. — Floral diagram of
meadow grass, Poa annua.

FIG. 222.— Floral diagram showing two
flowers of A vena.

These plants are of world- wide distribution, and are well
fitted for their battle in life. The bracing roots and hollow
stems help to support the weight of grain, which becomes
heavier by careful selection of seed in cultivation. When
beaten down by heavy rains, the lodged grain is brought up

FIG. 223.— I. Fluted leaf of Z.
storm.

ays, L. II. Stem, straightening up after

from the ground by means of an unequal growth of the stem
at the nodes. Just as the hollow stem gives strength, so the
hollow leaf-sheath is able to withstand great force brought to
bear upon the leaves by the wind. The split sheath and fluted
edges of the lower part of the blade allow the leaves to wave

Classification of Plants

247

in the wind without danger of breaking. The out-growth
called the ligule at the union of the sheath and blade turns
off the water caught by the leaves, which is led down to the
fibrous roots. The stomata are protected in the creases of the
stems and leaves, and by the leaves
rolling up in dry weather.

Briza maxima, L., the pretty
quaking grass, will be good for study-
ing the flowers, as it is found so
generally distributed. The oval
spikelets are borne in racemes or
panicles. They nod gracefully on
slender pedicels, whence the name,
meaning, in Greek, to slumber. At
the lower end of the spikelet are two
short green glumes of unequal size,
with 5-7 nerves. They are keeled,
that is, like the bottom of a boat.
They have no flowers in their axils,
but protect the whole spikelet. The
glumes above them all contain flowers.
For each flower there is one outer
heart-shaped rounded glume, also
keeled, and an inner, much smaller,
flat, and two-nerved glume or palea
(the flowering glumes are called
paleae to distinguish them from the
empty glumes), which clings closely to the grain. When the
three stamens are ready to shed their pollen, the glumes open,
and the slender filaments hang out the swinging anthers. The
ovary has two feathery stigmas. Between the ovary and the
outer glume there are two very small bodies called lodicules.

In the bamboos there are three lodicules longer than the ovary, which
suggests that the grasses may once have had a perianth.

Large as the order is, the flowers are very similar in the different
genera. The outer glume is awned in the Oat (Avena) ; that is, it has a
long twisted spike extending from the midrib. The awn is common to
other genera. Rice has 6 stamens. InCoix, " Job's Tears," and Maize
the flowers are monoecious. The stamens here are toward the top of the

FIG. 224.— Panicle of Briza
maxima, L. (After "Bo-
tanical Magazine".)

248 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

panicle, and the pistillate flowers below. In Maize the stigma is neither
branched nor feathery nor is the stem hollow. When the seed is shed,

FIG. 225. — I. Expanded spikelet of the Oat, with a fertile and barren
flower, FS ; G, glumes ; Pe, outer pale, with awn, A ; Pi, inner pale ; within
are the feathery stigmas. II. Fertile flower with outer pale removed. (From
Thom£ and Bennett's "Structural and Physiological Botany".)

the spikelets in some genera break off just above the empty glumes, some-
times below them.

Tricholaena is a beautiful grass with soft silky glumes.
In Tricholcena rosea, Nees, the glumes are rose-coloured.

Phragmites communis, Trim., is a common reed used for
thatching.

Coix lachryma is a curious but pretty grass. The pistil-
late flowers are enclosed in a hard bony involucre ; the flowers
containing stamens are borne on a stalk up through an open-
ing in the top of this bead-like involucre. The popular name
of this grass is " Job's Tears ".

Order RESTIACE^.

This order is frequently confused with the grasses. A
comparison of the two will show how they differ,

Classification of Plants 249

Restiacea. Graminacece.

Flowers dioecious. Flowers perfect or monoe-
cious.

Perianth of 6 glumes in two Perianth (?) of tvro or three

whorls. lodicules.

Anthers r -celled. (In S. A. Anthers 2 -celled.

genera.)

Ovary i to 3-celled, dehiscent Ovary i -celled, indehiscent.

or indehiscent.

Ovule pendulous orthotropous. Ovule, erect anatropous.

Both grasses and Restiacese have leaves with split sheathes.
The blade of the leaf in Restiaceae usually falls, leaving the
sheath.

The Restiaceae are much more difficult to determine than
the grasses or sedges, as the different species grow intermingled
on the veld, and it is difficult to determine which staminate
plants fertilize a given pistillate form. To add to the difficulty,
the inflorescences are different in the pistillate and staminate
flowers of the same species.

Like the rushes,1 they grow most luxuriantly in moist places, especi-
ally along the rivers' edge, where they reach a height of 6 to 10 feet.
The Restiace^ are found in Australia and South Africa, where they are
most abundant in the western portion. A few are found in New Zealand
and Cochin China. One species is found in Chili. The order contains
eleven genera, of which the following six are the most familiar : —

Fruit dehiscent.

RESTIO Sheaths persistent.

DOVEA ..... Sheaths deciduous.

Fruit indehiscent. Flowers in dense spikes.

LEPTOCARPUS . . . Fruit angular.

THAMNOCHORTUS . . . Fruit flattened.
Pistillate flowers solitary.

HYPODISCUS .... Flowers on a fleshy stalk.

ELEGIA Flowers in panicles.

1 They differ from the true rushes, Order Juncacese, to which Palmiet
belongs (Prionum palmita, E. Mey). This plant is the large rush with the
thick black spongy stems and leayes something like a pineapple. It some-
times nearly fijls rivers,

250 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

II.

FIG. 226. — Restio cuspidatus, Thunb. I. Stamen-bearing plant (112). II.
P istil-bearing plant (112). III. Staminate flower ( x 4). IV. Diagram of sta-
minate flower. V. Pistil ( x 4). (From Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary
Botany for South Africa ".) ^

Classification of Plants
Order COMMELINACE^;.

251

This order consists of a few genera of creeping or spread-
ing herbs with sheathing leaves and jointed stems. The
flowers wither quickly, and, unlike most monocotyledons, the
calyx is green and the corolla only is coloured. Anthers of
some filaments are either wanting or some are differently formed
from the others. Fruit a 3 -celled capsule or indehiscent.
Ovules few, orthotropous. Seeds endospermous, often arillate.

Fertile stamens 3-2 ; sterile 0-4. Flowers zygomorphic.

COMMELINA. — Inflorescence of 2-1 cymes included within a funnel-
shaped bract.

ANEILEMA. — Inflorescence panicled, not included within a spathe.

Fertile stamens 6-5. Flowers actinomorphic.

Capsule 3-celled. Flowers axillary clustered.

COLEOTRYPE. — Stamens inserted high on corolla tube. Blue or white
with beaded hairs.

CYANOTIS. — Stamens hypogynous. Blue or purple.

Capsule 2-celled. Racemes panicled.

FLOSCOPA. — Flowers rufous, hairy. Stamens without beaded hairs.

FIG. 227.— Sheathing leaves and adventi
tious roots of Commelina.

FIG. 228. — Flowering shoot of
Commelina, showing two stalked
petals and different kinds of sta-

Linnaeus, with all his love for study of plants, enjoyed a
joke. He tells us that he named this genus after three Dutch
botanists, the brothers Commelyn, because two of them,

252 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

likened to the two showy blue or yellow petals, were industri-
ous, and published their works on Botany. The third,

Kaspar, lacking in ambition,
amounted to nothing, like
the third insignificant white
petal. Fortunately, poor
brother Kaspar was dead be-
fore the birth of the joke.

Commelina. — There is an
interesting division of labour
between the stamens. The
upper three stamens furnish
little or no pollen, but the
anthers contain honey. The
lower middle stamen bends
up opposite the centre of the
flower. Bees collect pollen
from this stamen for their
bread, are dusted with pollen
from the side stamens, which
they carry to other flowers,
and then climb up and pierce
the upper anthers for honey.
In the morning the bright
little flowers open ; in the
afternoon, or as soon as the
bees have visited them (fe-
male bees are said to be
their chief benefactors), the
FIG. 229.— Xyris anceps, Lam. flowers quickly roll up and

wither into a moist shapeless mass. C. benghalensis, L., has
been mentioned as having cleistogamous flowers (p. 168).

Cyanotis (Tradescantia) also blossoms for a day and then
perishes or " dissolves in tears," whence it also is known as
" Job's Tears ". The hairy filaments serve as a foothold for
bees. The anthers are similar.

The species are chiefly eastern, though Commelina and
Cyanotis are found throughout the Cape Province.

Classification of Plants 253

Order XYRIDACEJE.

Flowers perfect ; calyx inferior, herbaceous, sepals 3,
rarely 2 ; side sepals small, anterior one large, enveloping
the flower. Corolla coloured, tubular, splitting with the
growth of the ovary ; lobes withering and persisting on (marces-
cent). Stamens 3, opposite the petals and joined to them,
sometimes with three hairy staminodia alternating, ovary
superior, i -chambered or imperfectly 3-chambered. Placentas
3, parietal or shortly united at base, with many orthotropous
ovules. Capsules dividing between the placentas (loculicidal).
Two genera, one of which, Xyris, is South African, scattered
over the warmer regions of the earth.

FIG. 230. — Floral diagram. Xyris, A, Sect. Nematopus ; B, Sect. Euxyris.

The plants are tufted with grass-like radical leaves.
Scapes single, terminated by a head or spike of flowers.
They are found in damp places. Chiefly Eastern.

Order LILIACE^E.

Flowers perfect ; calyx and corolla similarly coloured,
usually regular. Perianth lobes separate or united in a tube.
Stamens 3 + 3. Ovary superior. Fruit a 3-celled septicidal
or loculicidal capsule or berry. The flower-stalks are usually
jointed, just under the flower, at the middle or near the base.
The stalk separates here when the seeds are ripe, or if the
ovules are not fertilized.

This large order includes trees, shrubs, or bulbous or fibrous
rooted herbs. The flowers may be large and showy or small

254 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

and greenish. Honey glands in the flowers attract insects.
The flowers may be arranged in umbels,1 spikes, racemes, or
panicles. One of the largest orders of flowering plants ; 200
genera, 2500 species. Cosmopolitan.

Series I. — Fruit a berry. Anthers opening toward the pistil. (Introrse.)
Smilax. — Stems woody, climbing. Leaves normal, net-veined.

Flowers dioecious.

Asparagus. — Stems generally woody, climbing or erect. Leaves

small, bract-like, with one or several leaf-like branches in their axils.

Series II. — Fruit a capsule. Anthers versatile, opening toward

the pistil. (Introrse.)

A. Rootstock not bulbous. Perianth lobes united.
B. Flowers in racemes.

Kniphofia. — Leaves not fleshy. Perianth tube long.
AJoe. — Leaves fleshy. Perianth tube short, with conniving

segments.
BB. Flowers in umbels.

Agapanthus. — Flowers blue or white ; corona wanting.
Tulbaghia. — Flowers greenish- or purple-brown ; corona

present.
AA. Rootstock not bulbous. Perianth tube cut down to the base.

Anthers swinging (versatile).

Bulbinella. — Flowers yellow or white. Filaments smooth.
Bulbine. — Flowers yellow. Filaments bearded. Ovules

more than two in a cell.

AAA. Rootstock bulbous or tuberous. Flowers in racemes or spikes.
B. Perianth cut down to the base.

Bowiea. — Rootstock a partly underground corm. Stem

climbing. Leaves small, soon falling.
Eriospermum. — Rootstock tuberous. Stem erect, usually

with solitary leaf, after flowering. Seeds woolly.
Albuca. — Rootstock bulbous. Petals conniving but not

united. Seeds flattened, crowded.
Eucomis. — Seeds not crowded. Raceme crowned by a

rosette of leafy bracts.
Ornithogalum. — Perianth lobes spreading. Raceme not

crowned with bracts. Flowers never blue.
BB. Perianth lobes slightly united at base. The outer sometimes

free.

Lachenalia. — Perianth cylindrical. Outer segments usually
shorter.

1 The apparent umbels are really cymose. When the inflorescence
is racemose the flowers have no bracteoles.

Classification of Plants 255

Series III. — Fruit a capsule. Anthers opening outward. (Extrorse.)
A. Rootstock a bulb or corm. Perianth segments narrowed into
a distinct claw. Capsule dehiscing
septicidally.

Wurmbea. — Flowers spicate. Peri-
anth segments joined at the base.

Androcymbium. — Flowers in a
head, overtopped by bracts ; stem
short; perianth lobes separate.
AA. Rootstock not bulbous. Capsule dehis-
cing loculicidally.

Gloriosa-Stem climbing by leaf

tips. Perianth segments clawed, Edmonds and Mar-
free spreading. loth's " Elementary

Sandersonia. — Stem erect. Peri- Botany^ for South
anth tubular with short free tips. Africa".)
Flowers solitary, hanging on slender pedicels from the
axils of a few of the upper leaves.

Littonia.— Stem climbing by leaf tips.

Walleria. — Anthers opening by terminal pores.

Srnilax. — Flowers dioecious, small, greenish, borne in
umbels. Staminate flowers with 6 slender filaments and
erect anthers. Pistillate flowers with 6 thread-like staminodia.
Berry round, often only i- or 2 -seeded.

A climbing shrub, supported by stipules, which are rarely found in
monocotyledons. The many-ribbed stem is often armed with prickles,
which help the stipules to support the plant. Leaves oval, glossy, net-
veined. In woods, usually on mountains.

Kalahari region : Transvaal, around Barberton. Eastern region :
near Durban, Port Natal, Inanda. South Western region : about George
and Bedford.

Asparagus. — Flowers perfect ; stamens with versatile
anthers. Berry round, seeds often solitary. Stem woody,
erect or climbing, or spreading by means of spines produced
from the base of papery scale-like leaves. Clusters of small
green branches (Cladodia} take the place of foliage leaves.
In some species a single flattened branch (Phylloclade) is
borne in the axil of a leaf. These species are often called
"Smilax"'. The thorny species are known as "Wacht een
bietje ".

Forty-four species of this large genus are found in South Africa.
They do not favour one locality, but are found in all the five botanical
regions.

256 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Kniphofia. — Perianth with a long tube. Stamens slightly
curved toward the lower side of the flower (declinate), those
opposite the petals longest. Ovary with a long style ; ovaries
many-seeded; seeds 3-cornered.

A genus of handsome African plants with a short rootstock, long,
narrow, radicle leaves and scapes bearing dense racemes of yellow or
scarlet flowers. K. alooides, Moench, " The Red Hot Poker," is the most
familiar. Many species are cultivated.

They occur from the Transvaal and Natal to the Cape Peninsula, and
are also found in Tropical Africa and Natal.

FIG. 232. — Aloe rupestris. (Photograph by Dr. Marloth.)

Aloe. — Perianth a short tube and long overlapping seg-
ments spreading only at the tips. Three outer lobes swollen
at the base. Stamens equal to or longer than the perianth ;
filaments sometimes curved. Ovary somewhat 3-angled.
Seeds many, flattened or winged.

Classification of Plants 2$J

Aloes are more numerous in the East, but A. rupestris, Baker, is found
as far west as Port Nolloth. Aloes form a characteristic feature of the
scenery in the Grahamstown region. They grow over the sun-burned hills,
and cling along low broken sandstone ledges. Some have thick stems,
shaggy below, with blackened remains of leaves, crowned with a bunch of
spear-like leaves, above which rises a majestic stalk of flaming red or
yellow flowers. A. arborescens, Mall., grows to a height of 15 feet. A.
minima, Baker, which grows in grass, has a spike only 6 or 9 inches high,
rising from a rosette of leaves.

The so-called American Aloe (Agave) belongs to the order Amarylli-
daceae. It is native of Central America. In the dry climate of that
country it has acquired similar habits of growth to the Aloes.

Agapanthus. — The large umbels of bright blue flowers
(or rarely white) are subtended by two broad papery bracts,
which fall early. Rootstock tuberous, with fleshy fibres.
Leaves radical, fleshy, 6-8 scape ; 3-4 feet long.

Found in the Coast, Central, Kalahari, and Eastern regions. A
handsome plant, frequently cultivated.

Bulbinella. — Perianth lobes i -nerved, remaining on after
withering. Ovules 2 in a cell ; seeds sometimes solitary.
Leaves all radical ; scape usually unbranched. Flower-stalks
with a joint at the apex. Root of fleshy fibres. Chiefly
Western.

Bulbine. — The bright yellow flowers may be known from
Bulbinella by the pretty feathery stamens and numerous ovules.
Some species have transparent leaf tips. White flowers also
occur.

Stem sometimes branched and leafy.

A widely distributed genus, from near the sea-level to an altitude of
4000 feet.

Bowiea. — A peculiar plant with a large green tuber-like
bulb on the surface of the soil. A slender wavy stem has many
pinnate branches bearing slender Asparagus-like branchlets,
which are subtended by scale leaves. Flowers small, ^ to ^ inch
in diameter, borne from the main stem on long slender curved
pedicels. One species, B. volubilis, Harv.

Found in the Eastern and Kalahari regions.

Albuca. — Outer perianth lobes spreading, inner shorter,
having a hood-shaped process at the tip, and furnished with a
17

258 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

large gland. Stamens all fertile, or the three anthers of the
outer, small or wanting ; filaments often winged at base.
Leaves all radical. Flowers in racemes, large yellow or white,
banded with green or brown, rarely quite green.

Found in the Coast, Central, Eastern and Kalahari regions.

Eucomis may be easily recognized by its crown of leafy
empty bracts. Perianth segments joined just at the base.
Stamens adnate to the perianth : flowers greenish, marked with
purple.

From the Malmesbury district to Natal.

FIG. 233. — Lachenalia tricolu
Thunb.

FIG. 234. — Sandersonia aitrantiaca,
Hook.

Ornithog-alum (Chinkcrinchee, Viooltje).— Perianth with-
ering on the stalk. Stamens hypogynous. Style short. Leaves
all radical. Flower in a raceme. The lower flower-stalks
lengthen so as to make a flat-topped corymb, which elongates
after flowering.

Classification of Plants

259

About seventy species are found in South Africa. The large bulbs of
some species store so imuch food that if the bulbs are gathered in early

FIG. z^.—Oniithogalum thyrsoides, Jacq. (Photographed by E. J. Steer,
Esq.)

flowering time and placed in the dark, the flower will continue to open
for several months. These beautiful flowers so much in demand at

I7*

260 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Christmas time are a pest to farmers owing to the poisonous principle
found in all parts of the plant.

Gloriosa. — Perianth segments clawed, spreading. Fila-
ments slender ; anthers versatile. Style long, sharply bent at

FIG. 236. — Gluriosa supcrba, Linn.

base ; stigma 3-lobed. Seeds many, bright red. Flowers large
and handsome. Rootstock tuberous; stem slender, climbing
like Littonia by the curled leaf tips.
From Albany to Natal. Sandy hills.

Sandersonia. — Perianth tube tapering toward the throat,
globose. Flowers bright yellow, hanging on slender stalks
from the upper axils of the leaves. Leaves sessile alternate,
2 to 4 inches long, \ to I inch broad. Stems 1-2 feet high,
leafy.

Found in the Eastern region.

Classification of Plants

261

FIG. 237. — Littonia modesta, Hook.

Order AMARYLLIDACE^E.

Flowers perfect, regular, or nearly so. Outer segments of
the perianth coloured. Stamens
usually 3 + 3, rarely 3 or many.
Anthers introrse, long or short,
basifixed or swinging. Ovary in-
ferior, 3 -celled ; placentation axile ;
stigmas three. Fruit usually a 3-
valved capsule, sometimes a berry.
Capsule opening midway between
the partitions (loculicidal), or split-
ting around at the centre. Seeds
usually many.

Usually stemless herb:
leafing in the wet season.

FIG. 238.— Floral diagram.
A ma ryllidacece.

with radical leaves. Mostly Xerophytes,
Rootstock a bulb or corm. Inflorescence

262 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

always cymose. Flowers in umbels, corymbs, or single. Distinguished
from the Lily family by the inferior ovary.

Tribe I. HYPOXIDE^;.— Rootstock acorm. Flowers without a spathe

below, usually yellow, and hairy outside.
Pauridia. —Stamens 3, opposite inner segments.
Curculigo. — Stamens 6. Fruit indehiscent, produced into a long

beak beneath the perianth.
Hypoxis. — Stamens 6. Capsule splitting around at the centre,

not produced into a beak, or rarely beaked.

Tribe II. AMARYLLIDE^. — Rootstock a bulb. Leaves all radical.

Flowers never hairy outside, usually in an umbel with a spathe

below.

* Anthers basifixed.

Hessea. — Anthers small. Perianth cut down to the base.
Carpolyza. — Anthers small. Perianth with a tube.
Anoiganthus. — Anthers long, arrow-shaped. Flowers in umbels.
Gethyllis. — Flowers solitary, with a long tube and a flat spread-
ing limb. Stamens in a single row ; anthers linear.
Apodolirion. — Flowers solitary ; perianth funnel-shaped. Stamens

in two rows ; anthers linear.
** Anthers attached at the back, swinging.

Fruit indehiscent, bursting regularly. Seeds one or few, bulb-like.
Crinum. — Segments of the perianth broad. Stamens declinate

(filaments bending down toward the lower side of the flower, and

then curving upward toward the anthers). Leaves persistent

(with the flowers).
Amaryllis. — Lobes of the perianth broad. Stamens declinate.

Leaves short-lived, withering before flowering.
Ammocharis. — Lobes of the perianth narrow. Stamens erect.
Fruit a 3-parted capsule. Seeds many, flattened.
Brunsvigia. — Perianth cut down to the ovary. Style not swollen at

the base. Capsule turbinate (top-shaped), sharply angled.
Nerine. — Perianth cut down to the ovary. Style not swollen near

the base. Capsule globose, obtusely angled.
Strumaria. — Perianth cut down to the base. Style swollen, and

3-angled near the base.

Vallota. — Perianth with a tube rather shorter than the limb.
Cyrtanthus. — Perianth with a tube longer than the limb.
Fruit a berry or capsule. Ovules 2 or 3, clustered at the middle of

the placentas.
Clivia. — Bulb imperfect. Bracts below the umbel, several. Fruit

a berry.
Haemanthus. — Bulb large, with thick scale leaves in two ranks.

Bracts under the umbel, several. Fruit a berry,
Buphane. — Fruit a capsule. Bracts 2,

Classification of Plants 263

Tribe III. VELLOZIE^. — Rootstock not bulbous; leaves leathery,

persistent. Flowers solitary.
Vellozia. — The only genus.

Pauridia. — Perianth with a short tube and spreading lobes.
Stamens opposite the inner segments. P. hypoxidoides, Harv., is
the only species. It has a corm £ inch in diameter, crowned
with a rim of bristles. Leaves 6-12, sickle-shaped, 1-2 inches
long. Scapes several, about as long as the leaves. Perianth
yellow, tipped with green.

This little plant, which is found about Cape Town on the hills and
flats, has had difficulty in finding a habitation. Lacking the usual number
of stamens, it was formerly placed among the Irideae. Linnaeus called it
Ixia. It has since been known as Romulea, Galaxia, and Hypoxis.

Curculigo. — Perianth cut down to the ovary beak, fila-
ments short, anthers long, basifixed, dehiscing extrorsely. The
ovary is narrowed into a long beak resembling a perianth
tube. Fruit fleshy, indehiscent, i-loculed, stigmas united.
Rootstock a rhizome or corm, with fibrous tunics.

The flowers, yellow within and pale green without, resemble those of
Hypoxis. Western (near Okiep), Coast, Central, and Eastern regions.

Hypoxis. — Perianth cut down to the ovary. Filaments
short ; anthers long, as in Curculigo ; ovary rarely beaked, 3-
loculed ; stigmas 3, separate or united. Capsule usually with
circumscissile dehiscence (splitting around near the middle).
Corms in the Western species, | to i inch in diameter ; in the
East some species have corms from 2 to 4 inches in diameter.
Leaves plaited, found with the flowers.

Plants often growing in moist places. Flowers usually yellow. H.
stellata, Linn., var. elegans, Pers., the most beautiful of the species, has
large white star-like flowers, marked at the centre with a splash of
iridescent colour.

Gethyllis (Kukumakranka). — Perianth white with a long
slender tube, spreading limb. Stamens 6-20. Ovary hidden
among the sheaths of the bulb, ripening partly underground.
Fruit a yellowish, fragrant, edible berry, 2-3 inches long ; leaves
frequently spirally twisted, generally appearing after the flowers,
with the fruit or later.

264 Plants and tJicir Ways in South Africa

Flowering in December. Fruit ripening about May. Coast, Central,
and Western regions.

FIG. 239. — Hypoxis stellafa, Linn., var. elegans, Pers.

Amaryllis. — This plant gave the name to the whole order,
and its flowers are certainly beautiful enough to deserve the
honour. Flowers 6-12 in an umbel. Pedicels i-i^inch long.
Ovules many ; capsule large, round ; seeds few. Leaves 7-9,
growing after the flower, i foot long and £ to f inch broad.
The flowers are nearly regular, but the stamens curve upward.
Coast region, flowering in March. A. belladonna, L., the only
South African species, has a rose or whitish perianth 3-3-^
inches long.

Nerine. — Tube cut down nearly to the ovary ; lobes
curved and frequently waved along the edges, bright red or
pink, sometimes flecked with gold. Stamens of two lengths,
slightly declinate. Bulbs near the surface ; leaves produced
with or after the flowers. Umbels 10-40 flowers.

Classification of Plants 265

Vallota (Knysna Lily). Flowers with leaves, 6-9 to umbel,
bright scarlet. Perianth tubular with equal spreading segments.

Western, Central, Eastern, and Kalahari regions.

Haemanthus. — " The April Fool " merits its name, as
we think when we find that what we took to be a single flower
is really a dense umbel of many flowers surrounded by bright
red bracts. After the bracts and flowers have withered and
fallen, the bright red berries appear. Later come the leaves.
They make enough food during the rainy season for the
flowers and fruit of the next year, which is stored in the large
bulbs. About thirty species are found, both Eastern and
Western. Flowering in April.

Buphane is often confused with Brunsvigia, the flowers
of each genus being in dense umbels on short stout scapes.
The differences are so slight, and individuals of each genus are
found having characters of the other, that they may well be
grouped under the same genus.

Brunsvigia has a long ovary tapering down into the stalk.
The flowers are slightly protandrous, but as in Buphane the
stigma is bent and can, if necessary, brush out the pollen from
its own or from neighbouring flowers.

Cyrtanthus may be known by its long perianth tube and
hollow scape.

Its bright red, red and white,
white, or yellow flowers are borne
in many or few to i -flowered
umbels. Seeds many ; ovary
bursting irregularly. C. Sanguin-
eus, Hook., has been crossed with
Vallota purpurea, Herb.

Order IRIDACE^E.

Besides the characters given
in the key, the ovary of the Iridese
is 3-celled with many ovules.
The three stamens belong to the FIG. 240.— Floral diagram,
outer whorl, anthers extrorse. iridea.

Fruit a 3-celled capsule splitting down the centre of each carpel.

266 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

The Iridaceae are mostly perennial herbs with dry narrow leaves.
Rootstock a corm, rarely a rhizome or fibrous. Leaves usually
in two ranks.

The order Irideae differs from Amaryllidaceae in the absence
of the inner circle of stamens, by the extrorse anthers, and in
the inflorescence.

Sub-order I. — MOR^EE^. — Flowers in corymbs ; fading quickly, appear-
ing one after the other from one bract. Stamens opposite the
style-branches and pressed closely against them.
Moraea. — Style-branches of large petal-like crests with a horizontal

stigma on the under side at the base of each crest.
Homeria. — Crests of style-branches small, spreading, shortly fringed

around the edges.
Ferraria. — Crests of style small, petaloid, 2-lobed, deeply fringed

around the edges.
Hexaglottis. — Style-branches long and slender, deeply forked.

Sub-order II. SISYRINCHIE^. — Flowers in corymbs, fading quickly.

Stamens alternate with the style-branches.
Tribe I. Galaxiece. — Bracts with one flower.

Galaxia. — Bracts down in the centre of a rosette of leaves. Stamens

monadelphous. Stigma shield-like.
Syringodea. — As in Galaxia, but stamens free. Style with three

wedge-shaped branches.
Romulea. — Bracts raised on a scape.

Tribe II. Aristece. — Bracts usually more than i-flowered.
Bobartia. — Style-branches long, awl-shaped.
Witsenia. — Style-branches shorter. Perianth lobes equal, shorter

than the tube.
Cleanthe. — Style-branches short. Perianth without a tube, outer

lobes 2-3 times smaller than the inner, black.
Aristea. — Style-branches short. Perianth lobes nearly equal, not

narrowed into a claw.

Klattia. — Style-branches short. Perianth lobes nearly equal, longer
than the tube, narrowed into a claw.

Sub-order III. IXIE^. — Flowers in spikes, not withering quickly, each

one subtended by a pair of bracts.
* The three style-branches undivided. Flowers regular. Stamens

not bending to one side of the flower —
Schizostylis. — Style short ; branches long, awl-shaped. Root

fibrous. Spathe valves green.

Hesperantha. — Like Schizostylis, but rootstock, a flattened corm.
Geissorhiza. — Style longer than Hesperantha, branches short, awl-
shaped. Bracts green or membranous at the tip,

Classification of Plants 267

Ixia. — Style long ; branches short, awl-shaped. Outer bract short,

brown, notched.
Streptanthera. — Style long ; branches short, wedge-shaped. Bracts

both papery, lacerated. Leaves short.
Dierama. — Style long, branches short, wedge-shaped. Bracts both

papery, not cut. Leaves long, rigid.

** Three style-branches, each bifid. Stamens curved towards one side

of the flower —
Lapeyrousia. — Perianth tube slender, with the stamens borne at the

throat. Ovules many.
Micranthus. — Perianth tube cylindrical. Stamens borne at the throat.

Ovules 2, side by side.
Freesia. — Perianth tube broad. Stamens borne below the throat.

Bracts small, green.
Watsonia. — Perianth tube widened at the middle where the stamens

are borne. Bracts large, rigid, brown or green.

*** Three style-branches undivided. Stamens curved towards one side

of the flower —
Babiana. — The genus may be known by its hairy accordion-pleated

leaves.

Melasphcerula. — Perianth without a tube, lobes long, pointed.
Sparaxis. — Perianth regular, with a short funnel-shaped tube.

Bracts papery, deeply fringed or lacerated.
Tritonia. — Perianth nearly regular, with a short tube. Bracts small,

brown, notched.
Crocosma. — Perianth nearly regular, with a cylindrical tube. Bracts

short, oblong. Capsule inflated, deeply 3-lobed.
Acidanthera. — Perianth nearly regular, with a long tube. Bracts

long, green.

Synnotia. — Perianth irregular. Bracts papery, deeply cut.
Gladiolus. — Perianth irregular, with a funnel-shaped tube. Bracts

large, green, lanceolate. •
Antholyza. — Perianth irregular ; tube swollen at the middle. Bracts

oblong, lanceolate.

Moraea. — Flowers without a tube, regular, but the petals
are much smaller than the sepals. Sepals showy, usually
narrowed into a claw. Petals lanceolate, sometimes minute
with a long, tapering point.

The genus is known from the other genera by the large petal-like
stigmas. It is nearly like the Iris, " The fleur-de-lys," which is the
flower of chivalry, the emblem of the Crusader, Louis VII.

The anthers are closely applied to the stigma but open away from it.
The stigmas receive pollen from other flowers on a transverse ridge just
above the stamens.

268 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Like other flowers of this group, their beauty is fleeting, as they
wither quickly.

Homeria, formerly called Morfea, has a much smaller pistil,
and the parts of the perianth are equal or nearly so. The flowers
are pale yellow or pink occurring with the leaves.

H. collina, Vent., is the " Groot Tulp" \vhich is poisonous to cattle.
Dr. Pappe writes of a whole family being killed by eating the little bulbs

FIG. 241. — Moraa tripetala, Ker. FIG. 242. — Gladiolus gracilis, Jacq.

which are produced in great abundance in the bulbs and axils of the
leaves. Transport drivers use a decoction of the bark of the thorn tree
(Acacia horrida, Willd.) as an antidote. This plant covers large areas
in the western region.

Romulea (" Frutang "). — Flowers reddish-purple, lilac, or
yellow. Leaves narrow, usually over-topping the flowers.

Aristea is a widely distributed genus, with bright blue
flowers, which twist up in a spiral and become inky after flower-
ing. The inner bract is papery, brown or white, and often
deeply fringed. Rootstock of slender fibres or a rhizome,
never bulbous. Leaves in a dense two-sided rosette. A.

Classification of Plants

269

fruficosa, Pers., and A. coryrnbosa, Benth., have tall shrubby
stems, rough below with the scars of fallen leaves.

Hesperantha (" Avond-bloemetjes "). — Perianth with a
tube and regular limb. Stamens borne on the throat of the
tube. Style as long as the tube, with three long, slender, curved
branches. Flowers white or yellow. The sepals frequently

FIG. 243. — Gladiolus alatus, Linn.

red outside. The flowers are delightfully scented at evening
when their insect guests are abroad.

Ixia. — Perianth tube long and slender, with a regular
spreading limb. Stamens borne on the throat. Style longer
than the perianth tube, with three short, spreading recurved
branches.

Flowers in simple or panicled spikes of beautiful and varied colours.
The Ixias are abundant in the West. /. viridiflora, Lam., has a pale green
perianth with a purplish-black throat. One variety of this species has a
pale lilac flower with a black centre ; another has a pale blue perianth

270 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

with a green centre. /. maculata, L., has orange or yellow flowers with a
dark purple-black centre. Several species are found in the Transvaal
and Natal.

\Vatsonia. — Perianth tube long, curved, widened towards
the upper half. Flowers more or less regular. The stamen
in front of the flower is bent backward in line with the other two,
which are twisted halfway around on their filaments, so that all
are placed in position to shed their pollen on the bees'
hairy backs.1 The flowers often live in moist places. Water
is necessary for making the honey, which sometimes half fills
the long tube.

Rootstock a corm. Leaves ensiform (sword-shaped with their edge
toward the stem). Flowers bright red, rose-pink, or white.

Babiana. — Flowers usually regular, frequently violet, some-
times milk-white or sulphur-yellow. B. ringens, Ker, is very
irregular and bright red. B. plicata^ Ker, has a delicate daytime
odour. The genus may be known by its plaited hairy leaves,
which are often on petioles.

Tritonia. — Flowers nearly regular, varying in colour, bright
red or yellow, white, pale pink or green. Three lower lobes,
sometimes marked with deep splashes of colour, sometimes
furnished with conspicuous projections. Leaves few or in a
fan- shaped rosette. Both Western and Eastern.

Gladiolus. — A great variety of colours is found in the
flowers. Perianth tube curved, limb irregular, lobes often
narrowed into a claw, the three lower often vividly marked.
Seeds flattened, winged, numerous.

"Painted Ladies" and " Kalkoentjes " belong here. Eighty-one
species of this large genus are found in South Africa.

Six species are known as " Painted Ladies ". Of these the Christmas
Painted Lady, G. tabularis, Ker, with white perianth tinged with pink,
and leaves sheathing nearly their whole length, is confined to Table Moun-
tain. G. debilis, Ker, has a very slender stem sheathed with three leaves
with long slender points. Its flowers are lilac or claret-coloured. It ex-
tends from the Peninsula up to the Caledon and Worcester Divisions.
G. cuspidattis, Jacq., may be known by the wavy points and the spade-
shaped purple blotch on the three lower perianth segments.

1 This position of the stamens is assumed by the zygomorphic genera
of the Order.

Classification of Plants 271

Antholyza. — Perianth tube suddenly widening at the

FIG. 244.— Gladiolus cardinalis, Curt.

middle, often twisted below. Seeds large, globose, not winged.
Order H^MODORACE^:.
("The blood roots.")

Flowers perfect. Perianth regular or nearly so. Stamens
6, or 3 opposite the petals. Ovary wholly or partly superior,
or inferior. Fruit 3-celled or becoming i -celled. Seeds one,
few, or many. Herbs often covered with dense hairs. Never
bulbous. Leaves often in two rows and firm. Roots often
with a blood-red juice. Flowers in panicles. The order forms
a connecting link between Liliaceae and Iridacese, Amaryl-
lidacese and Orchidacese. Herbs with panicled inflorescence.

Perianth remaining hairy, persistent.
Wachendorfia. — Stamens 3. Fruit free, 3-celled.
Barberetta. — Stamens 3. Fruit free, i-celled.

272 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Dilatris.— Stamens 3. Fruit inferior, 3-celled.
Lanaria. — Stamens 6. Fruit inferior, i-celled.
Perianth not hairy, deciduous.

Sansevieria. — Perianth with a long tube. Fruit free.
Cyanella. — Stamens unequal. Ovary half inferior. Perianth de-
ciduous.

Wachendorfia. — Perianth funnel-shaped ; sepals hairy
outside. Stamens opposite the sepals. Capsule i -seeded,
splitting at the midrib of each carpel. Plants with yellow or
brownish flowers, tuberous roots lance-like, plaited leaves and
red juice. Malmesbury to Uitenhage.

Lanaria ("Cape Edelweiss"). — L. plumosa, Ait., is a
plant densely coated with white,
soft-spreading, plume-like hairs on
branches and flowers. Flowers in a
dense panicle. Rootstock of fleshy
fibres. Leaves several, in a rosette
at the base of the stem, together with
the fibrous remains of old ones.

Found about Port Elizabeth,
Riversdale, and in Bain's Kloof.

Cyanella has racemes or panicles
of delicate blue or yellow flowers,
and may be easily recognized by the
peculiar hand-like centre composed
of the stamens, one of which is much larger than the others.
Stamens opening by terminal pores. Leaves appearing before
or with the flowers. Rootstock a corm, deeply sunk in the
soil.

FIG. 245.— Floral diagram of
Cyanella.

Order MUSACE^E. (Included in Scitaminea, Bentham and
Hooker).

Perianth 6-parted ; both sepals and petals coloured.
Stamens 5 or i. Anthers 2-celled. Ovary 3-celled, inferior.
Fruit a berry, or capsule. Large herbs with a rhizome and
leaves rolled in the bud. The leaves are large, oval, with a
stout midrib and parallel veins running from it to the edge.
As they do not join as in Dicotyledons, they easily tear and

Classification of Plants

273

become very ragged. The flower-stalk comes from the rhizome,
and is surrounded at base by the leaves.
The flowers are with large brightly
coloured bracts.

Kaempferia is a genus of low herbs.
There is one perfect stamen and the
staminodia, like those of the related
genus Canna, are conspicuous. The
flowers are large, rose-coloured with yel-
low markings. Fls. perfect or unisexual.
Rhizome often aromatic.

Strelitzia has large elliptical leaves
on long petioles arranged in two ranks.
The flower-stalks push through the
sheathing petioles. S. augusta, Th., is a tall banana-like species
with a stem 18 or 20 feet high, the petals and sepals are white.

FIG. 246. — Floral dia-
gram of Strelitzia.

FIG. 247. — Strelitzia Regince, Banks, a, Cross-section of odd petal.

5. Regina, Banks, is a low species. The curious flower
consists of three bright orange sepals, two standing erect. A
small blue petal arches over the entrance to the nectar ; the
other two join, making a large arrow-shaped lip containing
the five stamens on long filaments and the style, within a
18

274 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

central groove. The flowers are in a cincinnus in the axil of
a large spathe.

Nectaritiia afra, one of the sun-birds, corresponding in colour to the
flowers, probes for the honey with its long slender beak, and rubs first
the stigma and then the anthers, which are exposed, by pressing down on
the lip. The fruit is a capsule containing seveial black seeds with a bright
orange feathery arillus. Eastern plants.

Musa (banana). — The sheaths of leaves, rolled around
one another, give the appearance of long stems. The flowers
are enclosed in brightly coloured bracts, and are also pollinated
by birds. In the cultivated plants no seeds are developed
from the ovules. Fruit a berry.

Order ORCHIDACE^:.

Strange and grotesque as the orchids often are, by careful
study the1 same parts can be found as are present in the Iridacese.
In the bud, three parts, the sepals overlap the petals. Two
sepals are similar to each other, as are also two of the petals.
The odd sepal may be, and the odd petal (the lip) is nearly
always, peculiar in shape. These parts may be either very large
and showy, or so reduced in size as almost to escape notice.
As in the Iridaceas, the inner circle of stamens is wanting in
South African orchids. Of the outer circle, only one bears
pollen. It is always opposite the odd sepal. The other two
are peculiar staminodia. All three are joined with the style to
form the column.1 A sticky substance formed by the disor-
ganized walls of the parent and special parent cells of the pollen
grains, holds the grains together in each pollen chamber, and
merges to form a stalk. The mass of grains is called a pol-
linium and the stalk is known as the caudicle. Two of the
stigmas are usually joined, forming a cushion-shaped body for
receiving the pollen, while the third is enlarged and forms the
rostellum. It furnishes a sticky fluid, forming small white
glands. These unite with the caudicles and form the " labels "
mentioned on p. 165.

1 The " style " may be a prolongation of the axis to which the stamens
and stigma are attached.

Classification of Plants 275

The rostellum is an interesting example of an organ which
has lost its original use and has then acquired a new way of
serving the plant. (Miss Duthie has found that the stigmatic
surface in some species of Pterygodium extends some distance
up on to the arms of the rostellum, which have not entirely
lost their original function.)

The three carpels unite to form a single-chambered ovary,
which is filled with an immense number of ovules. The fruit
is an inferior capsule.

Dr. Bolus mentions that, with all the wonderful provisions for insect
pollination, some orchids produce new plants entirely by tubers. This is
possibly owing to the dying out of the insects which could effect pollina-
tion, owing to bush fires or other causes. The Western orchids are
usually tuberous-rooted. Many in the East send up new shoots from
creeping rhizomes, the food being sometimes stored in the lower swollen
parts of stems.

FIG. 248. — I. Floral Diagram of Disa. (From Edmonds and Marloth's
" Elementary Botany for South Africa ".) II. Pollen masses of an orchid joined
with caudicles to a single gland. (From Thome" and Bennett's " Structural and
Physiological Botany".)

KEY TO SOME OF THE LARGER GENERA OF ORCHIDS.

A. Anthers lid-like.
B. Pollen masses 2-8, waxy. Not joined to a

• gland of the rostellum.
Petals linear ; lip entire ; terrestrial or

epiphytic. Pollinia 4 . . . . LIPARIS.
BB. Pollen masses waxy, stalk united to a gland

of the rostellum.
C. Lip not spurred ; 3-lobed ; epiphytic . POLYSTACHYA.

18 *

276 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

CC. Lip with a short sac or spur. Perianth

lobes nearly equal .... EULOPHIA.

CCC. Lip with a long spur ; epiphytic.

Pollen masses joined to one gland . . ANGR^CUM.
Pollen masses with two glands . . MYSTACIDIUM.
AA. Anthers without a lid. Pollen masses

granular, attached to a stalk.
B. Sepals and petals free from each other.
C. Sepals green, lip i-spurred.

Flowers solitary, lip deeply fringed . . BARTHOLINA.
Flowers spiked, lip not fringed . . HOLOTHRIX.
CC. Sepals petaloid.

Lip at the back, 2-spurred or saccate . SATYRIUM.
Lip in front, never spurred or saccate ;

stem straight. ..... DISA.

Lip in front in three distinct sections, base,

middle, and apex; stem bent at the nodes SCHIZODIUM.
BB. Odd sepal and petals cohering together.
C. Side sepals free.

Side sepals spurred or saccate . . DISPERIS.
Side sepals not spurred or saccate.
Odd petal with a long spur . . . HABENARIA.
Odd petal not spurred.

Hood erect PTERYGODIUM.

Hood nearly flat and horizontal . . CERTANDRA.
CC. Side sepals joined to form a lower lip . CORYCIUM.

Hulophia. — Sepals and petals nearly equal. Sometimes
differently coloured. Lip saccate or with a short spur, smooth
or crested or bearded on longitudinal furrows. Pollinia at-
tached to one gland. Flowers small, yellow or dull coloured,
shaded with purple, green, orange, or white. The base of the
leaves often forms a bulb-like swelling above ground. Leaves
in two ranks, usually plaited. Terrestrial.

Extending from Cape Town to Natal, but more common in the East.

Angraecium and Mystacidium are genera with much
the same habit and appearance. They are epiphytes, often
festooning the trees with beautiful showers of white blossoms.

The flowers are sometimes yellowish, and very small. Eastern dis-
tricts and Natal.

Bartholina is one of the prettiest and daintiest of Orchids.
It may be known at once by the peculiar lip, with its many
long, slender projections.

Classification of Plants 277

There are two species: in B.pectinata, R. Br., the lashes are pointed
and curve downward ; in the rarer species, B. Et/mlce, Bolus, they curve
upward, adn each is tipped by a tiny knob. The solitary flowers are white,

FIG. 24<).—Polvstachya Ottoniana, Reichb., an epiphytic genus with tuberi-
fonn stem bases. The flowers are yellow.

delicately tinged with purple. Leaf solitary, radical, flat on the soil. B.
pectinata, R. Br., extends from the Cape peninsula to Grahamstown.
Flowering in November and December.

Satyrium is distinguished from other Orchids by the two
spurs of the hood-shaped lip at the back of the flower (i.e.
next to the stalk). The sepals and two petals form the lower
portion of the flower. The anther is in front, as the ovary is

278 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

not twisted, and the glands of the pollinia lie in the notched
rostellum.

Leaves two or one lying flat on the ground, or more than
two erect. Flowers in dense spikes, white, brilliant yellow,
orange, or a beautiful rose colour or dull brown. Different
species may be found in flower from July to December. A
widely distributed genus.

FIG. 250. — Mystacidiumfilicorne, Lindl. An epiphytic Orchid with aerial
roots.

Satyridium is distinguished from Satyrium by the pollen
masses being attached to a single gland. There is but one
species, S. rostratum, Lind.

Disa. — Sepals nearly equal and separate ; the odd one,
which is at the back, and forms the conspicuous part of the
flower, is helmet-shaped, i -spurred, or saccate. The lip in
most species is small. In the blue Disa it is quite showy.
Scapes leafy, or the leaves reduced to bracts. Roots tuberous.

Classification of Plants

279

D. uniflora, Berg, (usually called grandiflord) is the finest one,
although others are quite beautiful if less showy.

In " Flora Capensis," the species of Disa with the lip posterior
are separated to form the genus Orthopenthea.

FIG. 251. — Disa racemosa, Linn.

Those with the glands of the pollinia united are placed in
the genera Monadenia (odd sepal spurred), Amphigena (rostel-
lum without appendage), Herschelia (rostellum 3-toothed).

Schizodium is similar to Disa, but the sharp angles at
the nodes will tell this genus. Petals narrow, a-lobed at the
tip, or twisted, and often eared at base. The lip is another
distinguishing feature. It is as long as the sepals, narrowed
above the base and often pointed, or the tip may be broad and
waved, marking the lip into three distinct parts — a lower,
upper, and middle.

Disperis, Pterygodium, and Ceratandra are nearly

280 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

allied genera with the differences given in the key. In
Disperis and Ceratandra the lip is clawed. Pterygodium has a

FIG. 2$2.—Disa melaleuca, Sw. Orthopenthea bivalvata (Rolfe).

sessile lip, and, like that of Disperis, it is often bent back over
the column into the helmet.

Habenaria is a large genus found chiefly in the East. It
may be recognized by the long spur of the three-parted lip and
the usually 2 -parted petals. The lip is sometimes entire.

Stem either leafy at the base or the entire length. Flowers in spikes
or racemes, large or small, sometimes quite beautiful, though not bright
coloured. Found in February and March.

Corycium is nearly like Pterygodium, but the two sepals
join in front to form a lower lip. The stigmas are two, separate,
or one 2-lobed. Capsule usually much narrowed toward the
apex. Stem leafy. Leaves flat or crinkled. The genus
merges into Pterygodium.

Classification of Plants

281

Order AMENTACE^E.
The orders Salicaceae, Myricacese, Juglandaceae,

FIG. 253. — Floral diagrams of Quercits. A, staminate ; B, pistillate flower
(Hooker).

Betulaceae, and Fagaceae of cohorts 3, 4, 7, and 8 (Engler),

FIG. 254.— Willow seeds ready for flight.

may be united under the one order Amentaceae. They are
woody plants with alternate leaves. The staminate flowers hang

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

in aments or catkins. The pistillate flowers form catkins as in
Willow and Poplar, or they may occur in few- flowered heads.
In the Oak the head is reduced to one flower. The fruit of
Salicaceae is a many-seeded capsule, in the other orders it is
a nut. The flowers are dioecious or monoecious. They are
out in good season in the early spring, and are swinging their
gold-and-silver tassels before the leaves get large enough to be
in the way of the wind-scattered pollen.

FIG. 255.— A, Catkin or amentum of the Oak. I. Flower of Oak. II.
Female flowers. (Both x 3.) (From Edmonds and Marloth's "Elementary
Botany for South Africa ". )

The flowers of Willows, Poplars, and Myrica (the Wax Bush) are sub-
tended by a single bract. The staminate flowers of the Oak have a
greenish 6-parted perianth. The few genera in each order, the simple
flowers and fossil forms, indicate that these orders represent very old
families of flowering plants.

SALICACEA:. — Flowers dioecious. Capsules containing
many minute seeds. The order contains two genera, Popuhts

Classification of Plants 283

(Poplars), and Salix (the Willows). Both consist of deciduous
trees, which border the streams in many parts of the country.
They are introduced from the northern hemisphere. Salix
capensis is a native of South Africa.

MYRICACE^E. — Flowers dioecious or monoecious. Perianth
wanting. Fruit indehiscent, dry, or covered with waxy scales.

III.

FIG. 256. — Sallow, Salix Caprea : I. male catkin (natural size) ; II. male
flower (magnified) ; III. female catkin (natural size) ; IV. female flower (magni-
fied) ; V. transverse section of ovary ; VI. fruit ; VII. ripe seed (magnified).

Myrica, the wax berry plant, referred to on p. 128, is the only
genus. Shrubs with exstipulate fascicule leaves.

FAGACE^E. — The leaves of this order bear scale-like stipules,
which drop off as the leaves unfold. Stamens often surrounded

284 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

by perianth leaves. Fruit a nut surrounded by an involucre,
the cup of the acorn and the burr ,of chestnuts.

Pollination in the Oak occurs in September. At this time there are
no ovules in the three-chambered ovary to be fertilized. Soon, however,
two anatropous ovules appear in each chamber, only one of which is
destined to become a seed ; and after fertilization which occurs early in

FIG. 257. — Protea cynaroides, L., vtifaStaaviaglutinosa, Th. (Photograph
by E. J. Steer, Esq.)

November the other five disappear, the one seed filling the entire ovary
which becomes the acorn.

Classification of Plants 285

Quercus (the Oak) and Castanea (the Chestnut) repre-
sent the two genera of this order which have been introduced
into South Africa.

Order PROTEACE^E.

The Proteaceae, the glory of the Cape, are found also in
Australia, New Zealand, Eastern Asia, the mountains of Tropical
Africa, as well as in South America. Most of the plants of
this order live in regions where there are long dry seasons
alternating with rainy periods, and since they are neither suc-
culent nor bulbous plants, their xerophytic habit is shown in

their leaves. These meet their need of preventing transpira-
tion in such a variety of ways that the order has received its
name from the mythical sea-god Proteus, who delighted in a
constant change of form.

A reduction of the leaf surface is a simple mode of preventing trans-
piration. Australian Hakea (used for hedges), Serruria, and Protea rosacea,
Linn., adopt this plan. Protea cynaroides, Linn., has broad leaves, but
they are protected by a thick leathery cuticle. The coating of hairs on
the silver leaves have a similar use and, like all white surfaces, reflect the

286 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

light-rays which would heat the plant. The sugar-bush leaves present
their edges to the light by a twist at the base. The guard cells of the

stoma are protected by over-arching cells. Flowers usually perfect.
Sepals 4, coloured ; petals wanting. Stamens 4. Anthers sessile in the

Classification of Plants 287

tips of the sepals (except Brabeium). Ovary superior, i-celled; style
long. Fruit an achene in South African species.

Four small glands at the base of the ovary in some genera secrete
honey which is sought by birds and beetles. The flowers are pro-
tandrous.

Of the 960 species there are, according to Engler, 591
Australian, Eastern Asia 25, New Caledonia 27, New Zealand
2, Chili 7, Tropical South America 36, South- Western South
Africa 300, Mountains of Tropical Africa 5, Madagascar 2,
the greater number living in regions with long dry seasons.

The distribution recalls that of Restiacetz and serves to con-
firm the evidence of a former land connexion between these
distant countries.

The order is divided into two groups : —

I. Persoonioideae. — Flowers single in the axils of bracts ;
ovules seldom few or two. Drupe or nut i -seeded.

II. Grevilloideae. — Flowers in pairs ; ovules several or two ;
fruit usually dehiscent.

South African representatives are found in the first group.
Hakea and Grevillea are familiar representatives of Australian
types which have been introduced belonging to Grevilloidece.

KEY TO y.A. GENERA.

A. Flowers imperfect.

Staminate flowers in racemes . . AULAX.
Staminate flowers in heads . . LEUCADENDRON.

AA. Flowers perfect.

Flowers many in a head.

Calyx irregular, 2-lipped, 3-sepals or

all, cohering.
Bracts showy, surrounding the head.

Fruit bearded, tailed by the style . PROTEA.
Bracts not showy, subtending each
flower.

Fruit neither bearded nor tailed LEUCOSPERMUM.
Calyx regular, 4-parted.
Heads lateral.

Achene not on a stalk ; leaves flat. MIMETES.
Heads terminal.

Achene on a short stalk ; leaves pin-
nate parted, needle-shaped, rarely
entire . . . SERRURIA.

288 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Leaves entire, small ; heads small . DJASTELLA.
Leaves large, expanded ; heads large

with large showy bracts . . OROTHAMNUS.
Flowers in i-flowered or 2-6-flowered invol-
ucred heads, clustered in spikes or
heads.
Calyx regular.

Achene not stalked; upper leaves

entire or cut, lower pinnati parted NIVENIA.
Achene stalked ; leaves linear entire,

or some of the lower compound SOROCEPHALUS.
Calyx irregular, i sepal larger . . SPATALIA.
Flowers in spikes or racemes (not in heads)
Anthers sessile; nut bearded; spikes
terminal ; leaves alternate, not

notched FAUREA.

Anthers on short filaments ; ovules 2 ;
drupe velvety ; racemes axillary ;
leaves whorled, serrate ; fls. perfect
and imperfect .... BRABEIUM.

According to Dr. Wiegand, hairy coverings are employed by plants
in situations where, as on Table Mountain, a supply of water is available
but where there is bright sunshine and frequent high winds. Hairs do
not interfere with transpiration when mists hover over the mountain.

Cutin, on the other hand, is effective in places where a scarcity of
water is constant.

Leucadendron. — Flowers dioecious, borne in cone-like
heads. Involucre formed by the upper leaves, which give the
delicate yellow colour to the veld in spring where these shrubs
abound. In some species the involucre is reddish. The fruit
may be flat, and distributed by wings or globose, as in the
Silver Tree (L. argenteum, R. Br.) (see pp. 155, 188). About
sixty species chiefly in the Coast region.

Protea flowers are perfect ; one perianth segment be-
comes separated from the other three. The genus may be
distinguished by this character and by the showy involucres.
The style remains on the hairy ovary. The involucres of P.
mellifera, Thunb. (the Sugar Bush) are often half filled with
honey in the early morning. The firm involucres in some
species serve as a landing place for birds which aid in pollina-
tion.

Classification of Plants 289

Erect or prostrate shrubs or trees. Mostly in the south-western

FIG. 260.— Staminate cones of the Silver Tree, Leucadendron argenleum,
R. Br. (Photograph by E. J. Steer, Esq.)

parts of Cape Province but also extending northwards. A few are found
north of the Equator. About a hundred species.

19

290 Plants and their Ways in South Afric

Leucospermum lacks the involucre that makes Protect
conspicuous, but each flower is subtended by a well-developed
bract. The claws of the peri-
anth usually remain united or
they may separate at the tips.
The styles are deciduous and
the fruit smooth. Trees or
shrubs sometimes trailing.
Flowers usually yellow (rarely
red). About thirty species,
mostly at the coast but ex-
tending to Rhodesia.

Mimetes has the habit
of Leucospermum, but the
flowers are reddish or purple,
and the small axillary heads
are arranged in a racemose

FIG. rt-L.—

macrophylia, R. Br.

inflorescence, each head being
hooded by a bright bract subtending a head above.

Serruria may be known by the needle-shaped, usually
divided leaves, and purplish silvery heads, frequently in
clusters. Shrubs erect or trailing. Fifty species, chiefly
Western.

Nivenia has 4-flowered heads in terminal spikes ; in-
volucres of four bracts, becoming hardened in fruit. Twiggy
shrubs known usually by the two kinds of leaves, the lower
pinnate, the upper simple, spathulate, flabellate, linear, or
lanceolate. Some species have only slightly dimorphic leaves.
About thirteen species.

Dr. Marloth in "The Flora of South Africa" retains the
name Paranomus, Salisb. (1807), instead of Nivenia, the name
given to the genus by Robert Brown (1810).

Faurea. — The calyx bursts below like that of the Silver
Tree, but finally falls off. Nut bearded ; style finally falling.
Native of Natal and Rhodesia. The flowers are in terminal
solitary spikes or racemes. Shrubs or trees with vertical
leaves.

Brabeium (Kafir Chestnut or Wild Almond). — Staminate,

Classification of Plants

291

pistillate, and perfect flowers are found on the same stalk. A
shrub with whorled leaves, common along streams. The

FIG. 262. — Leucospermum conocarpiim, R. Br.

almond-like fruits, when roasted, make a good substitute for
cocoa, though they are poisonous if eaten raw.

One species, B. stellatifolium, L., found in the western part
of the Cape Province.

Order LORANTHACE^E.

The order consists of partially parasitic plants, which at-
tach themselves, by means of haustoria or modified roots, to
other plants. The leaves (when present) and stems possess
19*

292 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

chlorophyll. Perianth either sepal-like or petaloid. Stamens
joined to the perianth, and as many
*_ as its lobes. Fruit a berry, sunk

in the fleshy receptacle. Around the
seed is a very sticky substance, which
prevents it from being swallowed by
birds. In freeing its bill from the
seed the bird sows the seed on the
tree.

Loranthus. — Flowers perfect; showy
style long.

FIG. 263.-Floral diagram of Viscum. — Flowers dioecious ; style

Loranthus (Hooker). none> of yery short_

Loranthus. — Shrubby plants, with opposite or alternate
leaves. Flowers in umbels, axillary, orange, scarlet, or white
with dark tips (see p. 161). Parasitic on Acacia, Rhus, and
other plants. It adapts itself not only to native plants but to
introduced plants as well, such as oak, apple, etc. Eastern.

Viscum (Mistletoe). — Shrubs with forked, jointed green
stems, leafy or leafless. Berries white or reddish. Parasitic
on Euphorbia, Willow, Crassula, etc. Several species, both
Eastern and Western. Dr. Marloth states that Viscum may
grow on Loranthus, or the reverse may be seen.

Order HYDNORACE/E.

Fleshy, scaly-coloured root parasites, becoming very woody.
Calyx 3-parted. Fruit indehiscent, many-seeded.1

Hydnora is a parasite on the roots of Euphorbia. The
bright red flowers are the colour of raw meat. A large glandular
cushion on the inner surface of each of the three perianth
lobes secretes an ill-scented fluid which induces insects to visit
these striking plants. A fringe of hairs projects downwards
from the top of the petals. These at first prevent the insect

1 The distribution of this order shows a relation between the flora
of the Old World and that of the New. It is placed by some in the order
Rafflesiaceae which is found in South America. (Engler retains the order
Hvdnoraceae but places Cytinus in the South American order.)

Classification of Plants

293

from escaping. The stigmas ripen before the anthers ; by the
time the latter are ripe the hairs are
withered ; the insect then escapes
carrying some of the pollen with it.
The flowers are bome along an under-
ground rhizome which sends out
haustoria into its host plant.

Cytinus has handsome scarlet
flowers with a six-parted perianth.

The flowers are dioecious. The
pollen grains from the numerous
anther chambers remain in fours.
Found on Eriocephalus (Harvey), Agathosma (Dr. Bolus),
Selago (Dr. Kolbe) and other hosts.

FIG. 264. — Floral diagram
of Hydnora.

FIG. 265. —Hydnora africana, R. Br. , parasite on the roots of Euphorbia,
showing underground four-angled stem with tubercles in A, B. Section of flower
showing the gland (gl) which secretes an offensive substance attractive to certain
carrion beetles ; sta, monadelphous stamens ; sti, stigma ; ov, pendulous ovules.

Order AIZOACE^E (FICOID^E).

Herbs, usually succulent, with simple petaloid perianth.
The ovary may be few- or many-seeded., superior or inferior.
The most familiar genera are Mesembrianthemum and Tetragonia.

294 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

The order has few well-defined characters and the genera
approach the orders Phytolaccacea and Caryophyllacece. The
order comprises spreading or prostrate herbs, half shrubs or
shrubs.

Mesembrianthemum (Hottentot Fig genus). — The
species of this genus are well fitted for their life on the hot,
dry sands or sea coast, where they flourish. The leaves store
an abundance of moisture, and standing erect, face to face, at
the growing point, protect the bud. The leaves of M. crystal-
h'num, L., are covered with globe-shaped hairs, that glisten in the
sun. The fruit, unlike most capsules, opens and scatters in
seeds only in moist weather, when the seeds can germinate.
The parts may be made to open and close again and again by

I. II.

FIG. 266. — Mesembrianthemum. I. Stamens. II. Diagram. (From
Henslow's " South African Flowering Plants ".)

placing them alternately in a glass of water, and then drying
them in the sun. Dr. Marloth has called our attention to the
similarity of the angular leaves to the rocks and pebbles among
which they grow, which is a protection from grazing animals,
as is also the astringent juice of the leaves. The showy part
of the flower is made of stamens which have changed into
petal-like bodies. The ovary is inferior, many-seeded, usually
5 (4-2o-celled). The stamens and glandular receptacle secrete
honey. Three hundred species. Abundant south of the
Orange River and west of the Fish River.

The placentation is peculiar in this genus. It is at first

Classification of Plants

295

axile or nearly basal but by rapid growth of the tissue the
seeds are carried out so that the placentation becomes parietal.

In this order are to be found some of the interesting types,
first described by Dr. Marloth, of plants with " window leaves "
which lie covered with earth except the upper end which is
more or less flattened and transparent. Through this region
the light penetrates to the underground part where the chloro-
phyll is formed. In the clear central cells of the leaves the
light comes to a focus and is then diffused to the chlorophyll
at the margin. When the sand washes off so as to expose the
leaves above ground they become quite red, which serves to
protect the exposed chlorophyll from the heat rays (see p.
1 1 6).

Tetragonia. — Calyx 4-parted, yellow within. Stamens
varying in number. Ovary inferior, i-g-celled (usually 4-
celled). Fruit sharply 4-angled, winged or horned; cells i-
seeded. Succulent herbs, spreading, or sometimes erect and
shrubby. Fruit often ripening under the protection of the
fleshy leaves close to the ground. ^

Order CARYOPHYLLACE^:.

Flowers with both calyx and corolla or carolla wanting.
Stamens 4-10, free from the perianth, obdiplostemonous.
Ovary superior, i -celled, or at the
base 2-5-celled. Styles 2-5. Ovules
2 -many.

Placentation is usually known as
" free central " but it seems to be
axile with the adjacent walls of the
carpels broken down. Traces of the
septa may be seen at the base of the
ovary. Fruit usually a capsule^ de-
hiscing by apical teeth.

The inflorescence is definite form-
ing a dischasial cyme, but often one branch outgrows the other
and at length one branch does not develop at all so that a
cincinnus appears. In some a cincinnus appears from the
start.

FIG.

267.— Floral diagram
Silene venora.

296 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Herbs with opposite, usually simple leaves, often stipulate. Stem often
swollen at the nodes. Carnations belong to this order.

The order consists of honey-forming plants of two groups, one being
polysepalous for short-tongued insects, the other having a gamosepalous
calyx in which honey can be reached only by long-tongued butterflies and
moths.

A. Calyx gamosepalous. Ovary raised on a stalk (gyno-
phore}.

FIG. 268.— Dianthus caryophyllus. I. Portion of plant (natural size). II.
Stamens (magnified). (From Thom6 and Bennett's " Structural and Physio-
logical Botany".)

Silene. — Calyx ribbed. Petals on long claws, the limb en-
tire or divided. The flower-stalk is continued a node between
the perianth and the other parts of the flower. Stamens 10,
Styles 3, corresponding to the number of carpels.

Small herbs often with sticky hairs, which guard the nectar from

Classification of Plants 297

pilferers. On account of the small seeds, it is called the gunpowder plant.
Children make pretty necklaces of the smooth shiny fruits.

Dianthus (the Carnation genus) differs from Silene in the
smooth calyx tube, surrounded at base by several bracts.
Styles 2. Herbs with generally grass-like leaves.

B. Calyx poly sepalous. Ovary not raised.

Spergula, Stellaria, and Cerastium are common
spreading weeds found in cultivated places. The flowers are
small and often self-fertilized.

Stellaria media, V., has small white flowers with 2-parted
petals. There is a double row of hairs at each internode,
which may convey the water off in drying the plant, or they
may absorb the water that runs down the stem.

Order RANUNCULACE^E.

Sepals 3-20, mostly 5, usually petaloid. Petals 5-15 or
wanting. Perianth usually deciduous. Stamens many, carpels
many and apocarpous (in Nigella, a garden flower, they are 5
and syncarpous). The flower parts are placed spirally or the
perianth (and carpels when united) may be cyclic. The
flowers are usually regular. In the garden flowers Aconitum
and Delphinium a single spur of the perianth makes the flowers
zygomorphic.

Nectaries occur between the stamens and perianth ; they
are possibly suppressed stamens. The flowers are visited by
various insects.

Leaves alternate except in Clematis, with broad sheathing
bases.

Herbs or twining shrubs, mostly perennial with rhizomes.
Each year's shoot ends in a definite inflorescence, a lateral bud
continuing the rhizome.

A. Climbing shrubs with opposite leaves.

Clematis. — Sepals valvate, 4-8. Carpels with feathery tails.

B. Erect herbs with alternate or radical leaves.
* Sepals coloured. Petals none.

Thalictrum. — Sepals 4-5, shorter than stamens. Carpels without

tails.
Anemone. — Sepals many, longer than the stamens. Carpels

tailed.

298 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

** Sepals green. Petals present.

Knowltonia.— Sepals 5. Petals many. Carpels juicy.
Ranunculus. — Sepals 3-5. Petals 5-10, each with a honey scale
at the base.

FIG. 269.— Flowering branch of Clemati
petals.

Two stamens have changed to

Clematis. — Flowers white or delicate green in definite
clusters. No petals or honey secre-
tion. Climbing by means of the sensi-
tive petioles. "Klimop'' or "Tra-
veller's Joy ".

Each indehiscent fruit is wafted by the
feathery styles, carrying the seed to its final
resting-place. Found east of Swellendam.
The fleecy clusters of feathery fruits render
as much joy to the "traveller" as do the

flowers themselves,
r IG. 270. — Floral diagram

of Clematis (Hooker). Thalictrum.— Sepals soon falling,

leaving the tufts of purplish stamens with slender filaments

Classification of Plants

299

and large anthers. Carpels 4-8. Stem 2-3 feet high. Wind
pollinated. Kafirland.

Anemone. — The large delicately tinted calyx makes this
one of our most beautiful flowers. The Eastern species, A.

FlG. 271. — Anemone capensis, L.

caffra, E. and Z., is stemless with lobed leaves. A. capensis, L.
in the West has much-cut leaves.

Abundant on shady, grass-covered mountain lopes. From Groenkloof
to Swellendam.

Knowltonia (Brand blaren).— Petals greenish. Herbs
with radical compound leaves. Flowers in branching cymes
or umbels. Throughout the Colony.

3OO Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Ranunculus. — Sepals falling. Petals bright yellow, each
with a scale at the base.

Weeds with lobed or divided leaves growing in damp places, sending
out rhizomes or runners. Cultivated species become double and varied in
colour.

Order CRUCIFER^E.

Sepals 4, in two whorls. Petals spread in the form of a
cross, often clawed. Stamens 6, in two whorls, the four inner
ones longer (tetradynamOUS four in power). Carpels 2,
with parietal placentation. A thin white partition grows up
between the carpels. The carpels usually split up from the
centre, leaving the placentas surrounding the partition. Fruit
a siliqua, silicula, lomentum, or a schizocarp. The stamens
have nectaries at the base which pour honey into the pouched
bases of the inner sepals. The flowers are often borne in
corymbs, which brings a number of flowers close together, so
that a good many can be pollinated in a short time. As the
flowers blossom the stalk lengthens, and so it forms a simple
raceme. The flowers are not subtended by bracts, as is usually
the case. Many garden vegetables belong to this order, as the
Cabbage, Turnip, Mustard, and Cress.

Heliophila (" the sun-loving plant ") is a familiar wild
flower of this order. The flowers are bright blue, yellow, or
white. The pods are straight edged, or sometimes constricted
between the seeds, forming pretty bead-like siliquas. Delicate
herbs or half shrubby plants. About sixty species are known,
both Eastern and Western.

Capsella is a common weed with a heart-shaped silicula
for a fruit.

Lepidium is another common weed differing from Cap-
sella in the smaller i -seeded fruits. There are several species
found in dry or shady waste places. The garden cress (L. sati-
vum] is introduced.

Brachycarpea is a handsome Western genus with large
purple or yellow flowers. The fruit is indehiscent, the carpels

Classification of Plants

301

falling apart, each carries a single seed. A twiggy half shrub,
3 feet or more high.

FIG. 272. — I. Tetradynamous stamens and pistil of Brassica nigra: a,
shorter, b, longer stamens. IL Floral diagram. (From Edmonds and Mar-
loth's " Elementary Botany for South Africa ".)

Braasica is a genus of common garden plants. They are interesting
in showing how one group of plants can, when cultivated, develop along
different lines ; the Cabbage stores its food in the leaves ; Brussels Sprouts
in lateral branches, Cauliflower in the inflorescence. Mustard is cultivated
for its seed.

Order CAPPARIDE^E.

This order resembles the Cruciferae in the 4 sepals in
2 whorls, 4 petals. The stamens are sometimes 6 as in
Cruciferse, but vary from 4 to many. The ovary is formed
of 2 carpels meeting at their edges with parietal placentation,
but there is no false partition or replum. The order may be
recognized by the long stalk or gynophore which extends the
ovary beyond the perianth. The stamens also may be raised
on the stalk. Herbs, shrubs, or trees with simple or compound
leaves, often with sticky hairs. Fruit a capsule or berry.

A. fruit a capsule —

Gynandropsis. — Stamens 6. Capsule pod-like, i -celled,
many-seeded. The stem axis is lengthened between the petals
and stamens, and also between the stamens and ovary. Herbs
with compound leaves, the upper sessile, the lower on long stalks.

3O2 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

B. Fruit a berry —

Calyx persistent —

Niebuhria. — Berry roundish. Calyx funnel-shaped. Petals
small or none. Trees or shrubs with simple or compound
leaves.

FIG. 273. — Cadaba juncea, Harv.

Masrua. — Berry long, cells i -seeded. Trees with simple
leaves. Natal.

Calyx deciduous —

Cadaba. — Stamens 4-8, raised with the ovary on a gyno-
phore. Cadaba juncea, Harv., is shown in Fig. 271. It is a
much-branched, twiggy, pale, leafless shrub about 2 feet high.

Classification of Plants

303

Flowers yellow or purplish. Fruit a long berry with sticky
hairs.

A Karroo plant formerly called Schepperia " in honour of some obscure
botanist whose memory has otherwise passed away ".

Capparis (the Caper). — Stamens 8-many, on a slightly
raised disk. Ovary on a long gynophore. Trees or shrubs

^
FIG. 275. — Floral diagram of

FIG. 274. — Flowering branch of Cap-
paris. (From Henslow's " South ~ Drosera
African' Flowering Plants ".)

with simple leaves, often climbing by means of thorny hooked
stipules.

Order DROSERACE^E (the Sundew Family).

Flowers regular, perfect. Sepals 5. Petals 5, very
delicate. Stamens 5. Carpels 2, 3, 5. Ovary 1-5 -celled.
Styles long ; stigmas simple or branched. Fruit a capsule.
Flowers in cymes. Herbaceous plants with a perennial
rhizome. Of the six genera of this order, two are found in
South Africa.

304 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

A. Ovary i -locular ; seeds many, parietal ; anthers opening by
s.

Drosera. — Delicate herbs with a rosette of leaves or a
leafy stem ; covered with
curious " tentacles " ; or
stalks ending in swollen
purple heads which glisten
with a sticky fluid. Flies,
mistaking this for honey,
are caught fast. The ten-
tacles are so sensitive to
even a gentle pressure that
they curve inward and
smother their hapless vic-
tim. A fluid in the purple
heads digests the food
containing nitrogen in the
insect's body. This is used
by the plant especially in
seed-making, although the
plants can live without in-
sect food. This is why
sundews can live in very
poor soil which will sup-
port nothing else. The
FIG. 276.— Drosera tistiflora, L. genus is found in all parts

of the world.

B. Ovary 3- • locular ; seed one, pendulous, anthers opening by
pores, stamens with a sensitive gland.

Roridula is a branched shrubby plant. The tentacles do
not curve over its victim as in Drosera.

Dr. Marloth has found that the sticky fluid which impales
the insects does not digest them. This fact, together with the
differences in habit and in floral structure, possibly entitles it
to a position in a separate order.

A spider acts as a scavenger for the plants, removing the
insects from the leaves, and is saved the trouble of making a
web. Strangely enough the spider can run where the flies

Classification of Plants

305

would fear to tread if they but knew the doom awaiting them.
Another still smaller insect lives within the flower and pays for
its food by setting off a little spring in the hinged stamen which
flies up and scatters the pollen.

Order CRASSULACE^E.

Flowers perfect, regular. Sepals and petals 4-7. Petals
separate or united. Stamens as many or twice as many as
the petals. When more than one whorl, the outer are op-
posite the petals, obdiplostemonous. Carpels separate, as
many as the petals, with a honey gland at the base of each.
Fruit a group of follicles. Flowers in cymes. The plants are
mostly herbs or half shrubs, living in hot, dry climates with
the necessary adaptation for such situations. Water is stored
in the stems and leaves. The leaves are often packed closely,
as in Crassula pyramidalis, L. (p. 1 06), and have a waxy, or a
lime-encrusted surface. The lime attracts and retains moisture.

A. Stamens as many as the
petals.

Grammanthes. — A small
annual growing in sandy soil,
with orange or cream - white
flowers commonly marked with
a V-shaped dark spot on each
petal. Stems wiry, with distant
pairs of leaves.

Rochea. — Corolla gamo-
petalous. A half shrub with
handsome flowers, crimson,
white, or yellow. Stamens
borne on the corolla tube.
Leaves opposite, sheathing or
joined at base. Four species.
Western.

Crassula. — Corolla polypetalous. Shrubby or herbaceous
plants, with white, red, or yellow flowers. Flowers smaller
than in Rochea, arranged in cymes. Leaves usually opposite
20

FIG. 277. — Crassula arborescens,
Willd. (From "Botanical Maga-
zine".)

306 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

and connate, often fringed with fleshy hairs. About a hundred
species.

AA. Stamens twice as many as the petals.

Cotyledon. — Corolla gamopetalous, showy, with an egg-
shaped tube and spreading limb ; either in cymes or racemes,
hanging. Succulent plants with opposite or alternate fleshy
leaves. Mostly Eastern. C. venfricosa, Burm. (C'Nenta) is
poisonous to cattle (L. H. Walsh). Its flowers are greenish.

Kalanchoe. — Calyx 4-parted. Corolla with an urn-shaped
tube and spreading limb ; yellow, turning to red. Flowers in
closely-branched cymes or loose panicles. Succulent half-
shrubs with opposite leaves. Eastern.

Bryophyllum differs from Kalanchoe in the inflated calyx.
B. proliferum, Bowe, has both simple and compound leaves
on the same plant. B. tubiflorum, Harv., shows the lower
pinnate of the first leaves of a branch reduced so that the
leaves appear simple.

The name means " sprouting leaf". The fleshy leaves fall to the
ground, and young plants sprout from the notched edges. These send
out roots, and finally the entire plant takes root. See Fig. no, p. 122.
Vegetative reproduction is quite frequent in the order.

Order BRUNIACE^E.

This order of nine genera and forty-four species is peculiar
to South Africa. It is confined
chiefly to the South- Western Cape
Province. One of the two species
of Thamnea extends to Grahams-

/ v ^oIL $ ^ I I town and one species of Berardia

\ CW J reaches to Natal.

V^^'V} J J They are heath-like shrubs,

with flowers in dense globose or
flattened heads or spikes or solitary.
The flowers are perfect, usually
regular, five parted, perigynous,
protandrous. Stamens in one
whorl, anthers arrow- or heart-shaped. Carpels (3-2), each
with three to four ovules, or one, with one ovule. The carpels

FIG.

278. —Floral diagram of
Brunia.

Classification of Plants 307

split apart when ripe, as in Saxifragacea to which the order

FIG. 279. — Staavia glutinosa , Th. (Photograph by E. J. Steer, Esq.)

bears other points of resemblance. Seeds endospermous,
arillate.

20*

308 Plants and their Ways in South Africa
KEY TO THE GENERA.

Fruit i-seeded, mostly indehiscent.

Ovary i-locular, style i BERZEUA.

Ovary 2-locular.

Style i ; flowers axillary .... TITTMANNIA.
„ i ; „ solitary, terminal . . THAMNEA.
,, 2 ; „ capitate or panicled . BRUNIA.
Fruit a capsule.

Ovary 2-locular, 2-ovuled ; flowers capitate.
Styles 2 ; petals free or slightly cohering . BERARDIA.

„ i ; „ „ STAAVIA.

Ovary 2-locular, 4-ovuled; flowers in leafy

spikes.

Flowers sympetalous, 5-lobed . . . LONCHOSTOMA.
Flowers choripetalous, 5-lobed ; anthers

apiculate LINCONIA.

Ovary 3-loculate, 6-ovuled.

Flowers in spike-like terminal heads, red . AUDOUINIA.

Order ROSACES.

Like the Ranunculaceae, the Rosacese have many free
stamens and apocarpous ovaries ; but in the Rosacese the
receptacle is generally hollowed, and the flowers are perigynous

FIG. 280.— Flower of Peach with stamens around the ovary. (From
Henslow's "South African Flowering Plants".)

or epigynous. The carpels are often borne on a raised portion
of the receptacle, as in Ranunculacese. Sometimes the re-
ceptacle is free from the carpels, or it becomes joined to them,
as in the apple (epigynous), so that hypogyny, perigyny, and
epigyny occur.

Classification of Plants

309

The plants of this order are usually trees or shrubs with simple or
compound stipulate leaves. To this important order belong many of our
fruits, as Apples, Pears, Peaches, Strawberries, Blackberries, as well as the
Roses. The flowers are open, and expose their honey to bees and flies.

The order has a variety of fruits. The fruit is rarely a capsule. The
single carpel may form a drupe or stone fruit, as in Apricot. Blackberry
has a cluster of drupels. Strawberries have clusters of achenes on an
enlarged receptacle. The hollow receptacle of the Apple forms most of
the fruit.

The garden fruits belonging to this order and Roses have been intro-
duced into South Africa.

Rubus (the Bramble) is a native of the Colony and of
Natal. The fruit is a cluster of little drupes. Trailing shrubs
armed with prickles.

FIG. 281. — -Floral diagram of Pear.

FIG. 2%2.—Cliffbr'tia. I. Male
flower. II. Vertical section
of female flower.

Geum has handsome bright yellow flowers i-i-J inch
across. The achenes are very hairy, tailed with the hooked
or curved styles.

G. capense, Th., the only South African species, is a herbaceous plant 1-2
feet high, with large radical leaves and a few small stem leaves, From
Grahamstown to Natal,

3io Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Cliffortia. — Calyx 3-parted (sometimes 4). Corolla want-
ing. The flowers secrete no honey, but the stigmas are wind
pollinated. The staminate flowers are
often found a long distance from shrubs
bearing pistillate flowers. Leaves trifoliate,
or the three leaflets may be joined into
one. Leaves sometimes opposite. Many
have reduced leaves tipped with sharp
points. A common bush in the Colony
and Natal with small greenish axillary
flowers.

Grielurn is a trailing plant with hoary
compound leaves, growing in sandy places
and salt ground. Calyx joined with the
5 -parted succulent fruit. Corolla regular,
5 -parted, with the 10 stamens borne at
the throat of the calyx (receptacle), tube.
Flowers are large and yellow.

Agrimonia, a north temperate genus
has been introduced to this country. It
is a pest to eastern wool growers on ac-
count of the hooked bristles of the per-
sistent receptacle which surrounds the two achenes.

Order LEGUMINOS^E.

This order, the second largest in the world, with about 440
genera and 7000 species, is found in every kind of soil, in any
climate, and shows a corresponding variety in habit. Trees,
shrubs, herbs, erect, climbing, or prostrate occur. Because of
the bacteria which live in their roots, they can thrive in and en-
rich very poor soil. The plants climb by leaf tendrils, stem
tendrils, by twining, and by hooks. Leaves alternate, stipulate,
or sometimes opposite and ex-stipulate, and nearly always com-
pound. Fruit usually a legume, sometimes a lomentum.
Some pods explode and scatter their seeds. Sutherlandia has
inflated pods which catch the wind. The pods of Medicago
are furnished with hooks, which catch hold of the passer-by
and so obtain free rides for the seeds.

FIG. 283. — i, Flower
of Strawberry cut
through ; 2, front : 3,
back of stamen ; 4,
pistil ; a, ovary ; b,
style ; c, stigma.
(From Henslow's
" South African
Flowering Plants".)

Classification of Plants 3 1 1

Inflorescence a raceme, panicle, or spike, apparently cymose
in Dalbergia. The order is divided into three groups or sub-
orders.

Mimoseae. — Flowers regular. Corolla valvate. Stamens many
or 10.

Caesalpineae. — Flowers zygomorphic or nearly regular, back petal
folded within the side petals, which are overlapped by the front petals.
Stamens 10 or fewer.

Papilionaceae. — Flowers irregular, back petal (standard) folding over
the side petals (wings or ahe). The side petals overlap the two front
petals, which join to form the keel. Stamens 10.

In some flowers of this group the stamens and pistil are
held in the keel, and are released with an explosion, as in
Indigofera, so that only one visit of the bee is invited. In the
Sweet Pea a brush .on the style sweeps the pollen out of the
keel. The flowers are usually self-pollinated. In the Bean
and Snail Creeper the stigma is forced out when the bee presses
down upon the wings, and returns when it flies away, so that
the bee is invited repeatedly.

I. II.

FIG. 284. — Floral diagrams of Leguminosae, showing folding of sepals and
petals in I. Mimosece ; II. Ccesalpinea ; III. Papilionacea.

Sub-tribe MIMOSEJE.

A. Stamens indefinit ; pollen collected in masses.

B. Stamens free.

Acacia. — The minute flowers are clustered in golden
heads or spikes. They are delightfully fragrant. The sepals
form a short tube.

Trees with twice-pinnate leaves, except in the Australian wattles,
which often develop the blade only in the first few leaves ; the petiole
then becomes flattened (Phyllode) with the edge turned toward the sun.

312 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

A, horrida, W. (Karroo Thorn or Doornboom) has ivory-white thorns
(stipules). A. giraffae, Bch., has strong brown thorns.

BB. Stamens connate.

Albizzia. — Petals united ; stamens joined at base into a
tube ; leaves bipinnate with glands ; unarmed. Flowers in
heads or spikes with long white, rosy, or purple feathery
clusters of stamens. Two South African species.

Zygia, found in Natal, has a longer staminal tube than
Albizzia.

A A. Stamens i o ; pollen powdery.

Entada has spicate flowers ; the margined fruit breaks
transversely into i -seeded parts. Shrubs, mostly climbing by
tendrils (terminal pinnae) or by hooked prickles.

Blephantorhiza (Eland's boontjes) is a small glabrous
shrub with very large roots. Legume dehiscing by valves
separating from the margins continuous. Leaves bi-pinnate ;
flowers in dense spike-like racemes.

Cassia. — Flowers nearly regular, yellow. Stamens 10, or
the 3 upper wanting. In some the lower anthers are longer,

FIG. 285. — Cassia arachoides. Bur. Vertical section of flower : sa, large
stamens ; st>, small stamens ; sc, staminodes. (From Edmonds and Marloth's
" Elementary Botany for South Africa".)

and open by terminal pores. These brush against the insect's
body while it is eating pollen from the upper ones. The

Classification of Plants 3 1 3

ovaries bend to the right in some flowers, toward the left in
others. Trees or shrubs. Eastern. Leaves pari-pinnate.

Schotia. — A handsome Eastern tree, with panicles of
crimson or pink flowers. .S. latifolia, Jacq. (Boerboon) has
monadelphous stamens. Each seed has a yellow cup-like
arillus. The pods are'roasted for food. Legume winged ; leaves
paripinnate.

Sub-tribe PAPILIONACE^E.

A. Stamens free.

Podalyria. — Legume rounded, woolly. Leaves simple or
palmately compound.

Silvery-leaved shrubs with deciduous stipules. Flowers purple, rosy,
or bluish white.

Virgilia.— Legume flattened, woolly, stuffed between the
seeds. Calyx silky. Flowers rosy purple. Leaves ex-stipulate.

V. capensis, Lam., the Wilde Keureboom, is a tree found along river-
sides throughout the Colony. Leaves compound. Leaflets becoming
smooth above, woolly, and rolled beneath.

AA. Stamens monadelphous, forming a split tube. Shrubs
or herbs with simple or palmately compound leaves.

Crotalaria. — Legume swollen (not flat) keel sharply
beaked. Style long, sharply bent. Legume turgid.

A large genus of shrubs with simple or compound leaves, and yellow,
rarely purple flowers, in few-flowered racemes.

Aspalathus. — Calyx nearly regular. Flowers usually
yellow.

Shrubby plants with heath-like tufted leaflets on a prominent cushion
which is often spine-pointed. The stems are often pale with brown mark-
ings.

A A A. Stamens diadelphous. Ovary i-ovuled.

Psoralea. — Calyx concealing the pod, the lower lobe
longer and broader than the others. Flowers purple, blue, or
white.

A large genus of shrubs or herbs, with pinnate or trifoliate leaves,
rarely one foliate, with stipules, and commonly marked with black
resinous dots. Strongly scented. Common, often along water-courses.

3 1 4 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

AAAA. Stamens diadelphous. Ovary 2- to several-ovuled.

B. Small herbs, erect or trailing, but not climbing. Leaves
3-, rarely 5- foliate.

Trifolium. — Calyx showy after flowering, concealing the
fruit. Keel joined to the wings. Flowers small, red, white,
or yellow, in dense spikes or heads. Leaves usually 3-foliate,
stipules joined to the petiole. Herbaceous annual or perennial.
The clovers belong to this genus.

MedicagO. — Legume not hidden, spirally coiled, often
provided with hooks. Keel free from the wings. Lucerne
belongs to this genus.

FIG. 286.— Branch of Medicago denticulata, FIG. 287.— Twisted legume ot

Willd. Lucerne {Medicago sativa,

L.). (From Thom6 and

Bennett's "Structural and

Physiological Bo.any".)

Indigofera. — Flowers red, purple, or white. Standard
bent back. Keel with a spur at each side. Anthers with a
small point at the top. Pollen scattered by explosion. Leaves
imparipinnate, or 3 to many palmately compound. Legume
usually with partitions between the seed. Shrubs or annuals,
erect or procumbent.

BB. Trees or shrubs.

Sutherlandia. — Standard shorter than the keel, wings very

Classification of Plants

315

short. Stamens diadelphous. Legume inflated, papery, inde-
hiscent. A fine shrub with scarlet or bright red flowers.

FIG. •zW.—Sutherlandia jru'escens, R. Br.

S.frutescens, R. Br., the only species, is found throughout the Colony,
usually on dry hillsides, sometimes near water.

Erythrina. — Standard very much longer than the other
petals. The petals forming the keel
are not joined to form a support for
visitors, as is usually the case, but
the flowers are sometimes inverted,
so that the standard can serve as a
landing. Leaves pinnately trifoliate,
the odd one removed from the other

two.

Trees or shrubs with large handsome scarlet flowers. Stem and
leaves often prickly.

316 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Order GERANIACE^E.

Flowers perfect, regular or zygomorphic, hypogynous.
Sepals 5, imbricate, persistent. Petals usually 5, convolute,
clawed. Stamens 5 + 5, obdiplostemenous, or fifteen in
groups of three, connate at base. When but one whorl of
stamens is present, the outer antepetalous whorl forms stamin-
odia. Carpels 5, opposite the petals, upon a disk which grows
up between them. Stigmas 5 ; placentation axile, ovules 2

FIG. 290. — Monsonia speciosa. Linn./.

or i in each carpel. The carpels separate when ripe and
are indehiscent, forming a schizocarp, e.g. Erodium ; or the
segments dehisce and set free the seed, and the fruit is a schizo-
carpic capsule, e.g. Geranium.

Leaves alternate or opposite, stipulate. Herbs or shrubs,
often hairy. Roots sometimes large tubers.

Classification of Plants 3 1 7

Protandrous, but the stigmas in small flowers may roll
back and effect self pollination.

A. flowers regular.

Monsonia. — Stamens 15, in groups of three. Annuals or
perennials with usually deeply cut leaves. Peduncles with two
bracts above the middle, and one, two, or several flowers in
umbels. Flowers large and showy, usually pink or marked
with pink. Rootstock often perennial.

Sarcocaulon. — Stamens 15, monadelphous. Much-
branched, fleshy rigid shrubs, armed with spines, formed from
old petioles. The stem is covered with a thick coating of wax

FIG. 291. — Sarcocaulon Marlothii, Eng., from Die NatUrlichen Pflantzen-
familien.

and burns with a pleasant odour. Found in very dry places
of Eastern and North-Eastern districts.

Geranium. — Stamens 10, the alternate longer, with honey
glands at the base. Herbaceous plants, with alternate or op-
posite leaves, palmately lobed. A small genus from the
Peninsula to Natal. Fruits explosive when splitting.

Erodium. — Flowers regular, outer whorl of stamens
sterile, inner with anthers and a gland at the base of each.
Flowers mostly in cymose umbels. Common weeds with
simple, usually pinnate parted or cut leaves. The styles twist
like a corkscrew on drying, and are caught fast in the weeds.
When rain conies they uncoil, and as they lengthen push the

318 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

seed into the soil. The downward pointing hairs help in
scattering the seed.

\ (

A B

FIG. 292. — Floral diagrams. A, Erodi-um ; B, Monsonia.

AA. Flowers zygomorphic.

Pelargonium. — Filaments 10, unequal in length. From
2 to 7 of them bearing anthers. There is but one gland,

FIG. 293. — Garden Pelargoniu

found at the ' base of the broad sepal. The honey is stored in
a hollow spur of the calyx joined to the flower-stalk.

Classification of Plants

319

A large genus, usually half shrubby, often with underground tubers
chains (moniliform). The flowers are often cultivated and are

FIG. 294.— Geranium. I. Pistil with honey-glands below the ovary. II.
Carpels splitting from the central column of coherent margins. (From Thom6
and Bennett's " Structural and Physiological Botany".)

FIG. 295. — Pelargonium cucullatum, Ait. I. Section through flower,
sepals and 2\ petals being removed ; Sp, hollow spur of upper sepal. II. Style
with stigmas ready for pollination. III. Diagram of flower. (From Edmonds
and Marloth's " Elementary Botany for South Africa ".)

commonly called Geraniums, from which they differ in the irregular
flowers, the stamens, and the one gland. The flowers often give forth a
delightful odour at twilight.

320 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Order OXALIDACE^E.

Flowers regular, perfect. Calyx imbricate ; petals twisted
in the bud, clawed, deciduous. Stamens 10, the 5 opposite
the petals shorter. Ovary 5 -celled, with styles of different

FIG. 296.— The Oxalis. I. Awake. II. Asleep.

lengths in different flowers. Fruit a fleshy, many-seeded
capsule. The seed has a fleshy cup or aril at the base.
When ripe, this turns suddenly inside out, and the seed is shot
off some distance.

Oxalis. — Usually stemless herbs with compound ex-stipulate leaves
of 3 to many leaflets. The leaves sleep at night and on very cold days,
and the flowers on very bright days as well.

Many species have underground bulbs and fleshy stems. Oxalis is
one of our brightest winter flowers. Early in April and May, they clothe
the veld with masses of yellow, or stud it with white and red in many
shades during July and August.

Classification of Plants

321

Order SAPINDACE^.

Flowers regular, or often zygomorphic, with the ovary at
one end of a boat-shaped flower, and a disk at one
side of the ovary, between the stamens and petals.
The flowers are perfect or dioecious. The staminodes
in the pistillate flowers are often so well developed as
to be taken for perfect stamens. Stamens 4 to 10,
more or less united at the base. Ovary usually a
few-seeded capsule. Leaves alternate, simple, or
compound, frequently stipulate. Trees, shrubs, or
half shrubs.

Aitonia. — Dear to the children's hearts is the Hstame'iis
" Christmas Tree " of the Oudtshoorn, Uitenhage, and P'5.1'1
and Albany districts. Flowers more or less regular, ( F r o ni
t. with 8 monadelph-

ous stamens bending
toward one side of
the flower. The
scalloped disk is
surrounded by the
stamens. Flowers purple.

Of even more interest
than the flowers are the gay
clusters of balloon-like fruits,
hanging purple and yellow
and red among the narrow
evergreen leaves. Such bright
little lanterns are just the
thing for lighting' Christmas
trees. The simple, entire
leaves come from clusters of
dwarf cushion-like branches.

Melianthus may be mis-
taken for Aitonia from the
similarity of the inflated fruit,
but the leaves are compound,
FIG. 298.-AXon^c<,?eHsis, L./. (the the petjoie usually winged

21

Edmonds
and Mar-
1 o t h ' s
"Elemen-
tary Bot-
any for
South Af-
rica".)

322

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

between the pinna;. The flower has from 4 to 5 stamens.
A horseshoe-shaped disk lies between the stamens and petals.

FIG. 299.— Floral dia-
gram. Melianthus
major, L. (Engler).

FIG. 300. — Melianthus minor, L.

FIG. 301. — Woody capsule
of Melianthus dregeana,
Sond.

During flowering the flowers turn on their axis halfway around.
M. dregeana, Sond., has a woody capsule.

Ptaeroxylon (Sneezewood) and Sapindus (Wild Plum)
belong to this order. Sneezewood furnishes beautiful wood,
which takes a polish like mahogany.

Classification of Plants 323

Order RUTACE^;.

Flowers perfect, or unisexual, regular. Sepals 4 or 5. Petals
4 or 5, twisted or imbricate. Stamens as many, or twice as
many, as the petals, mostly obdiplostemonous. Those op-
posite the petals may be without anthers. Honey is made in
a ring or cup-shaped disk around the ovary. Handsome shrubs
or trees known by their gland-dotted leaves, often heath-like.
The dots are cavities containing a strongly scented oil. Leaves
opposite or alternate, without stipules.

Some of the more familiar genera : —

A. Fruit a 5-i-celled capsule.
Leaves simple.

Staminodia absent.

Petals neither clawed nor bearded . . . DIOSMA.
Staminodia 5.
Ovary raised on a stalk.

A handsome tree ...... CALODENDRON.

Ovary not raised.

Style short. ' .

Petals not clawed, or but slightly clawed . . ADENANDRA.
Petals clawed, the claw bearded . . . ACMADENIA.
Styles as long as the petals.

Petals sessile ; flowers axillary . . . BAROSMA.
Petals clawed ; flowers terminal . . . AGATHOSMA.

Leaves trifoliate TODDALIA.

Leaves paripinnate ; flowers imperfect . . . ZANTHOXYLON.
Leaves imparipinnate ....... CLAUSENA.

AA. Fruit a many-celled berry.

Trees, often with axillary thorns .... CITRUS.

The Orange and Lemon belong to the Citrus genus, which is not
native to South Africa.

Diosma. — Petals and capsule longer than the calyx.
Anthers tipped by a gland. Ovary sunk in the disk.

Small shrubs with alternate or opposite heath-like leaves.
Flowers white or reddish.

Calodendron (Wilde Kastanien) is found in forests of the
Eastern districts and Natal. Petals much longer than the
calyx. Staminodia petaloid. Leaves opposite and decussate,
evergreen. Flowers white or purplish, in showy panicles ter-
minating the branches. C. capense, Thunb., is a handsome tree
in Eastern forests.

21 *

324 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Adenandra (" Shepherd's Delight "). — Petals broad.
Stamens and staminodia tipped with a gland. Capsule gland-
dotted. Small shrubs, with alternate or rarely opposite leaves,
and pretty white flowers flushed with red at the back.

Barosma. — Petals much longer than the calyx. Stamens
longer than the thread-like or petaloid staminodia, both bearing
glands at the tip. Capsule eared at the tip. Small shrubs,

cl/

FIG. 302.— I. Section througli flower of Barosma crenulata, Hook., after the
removal of the petals (magnified) : sf, .fertile stamens ; sto, barren stamens
(staminodes) ; d, lobes of disc. II. Diagram of flower ; sfo, staminodes ; </.
disc. (From Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary Botany tor South Africa.")

leaves mostly opposite, bordered with glands. B. crenulata,
Hook., is the true " Buchu ".

Agathosma. — Petals longer than the calyx. Staminodia,
like slender clawed petals. Ovary 2-4 lobed. Small shrubs,
with alternate or rarely opposite leaves. Flowers in heads or
umbels (axillary in one species), white or reddish purple.

Zanthoxylon has flowers with calyx and corolla each of
4"(3"5) parts. Staminate flowers have stamens equal in num-
ber to the petals and a reduced ovary, which suggests that the
flowers were in former times perfect. The pistillate flowers
have 5-1 carpels, separate or partially united; stamens none
or much reduced ; each carpel has 2-1 black shining seeds.

Eastern trees with paripinnate leaves, panicled flowers, and large
strong thorns on stem and branches.

Order POLYGALACE^E.

This order is often mistaken for Leguminosre, as the flowers
suggest a gay swarm of little butterflies ready for flight. A

Classification of Plants

325

difference in the flowers will be brought out by comparing the
floral diagrams. Instead of a large standard at the back, the
Polygalaceae have two small petals. One large one in front
forms the keel. The two side petals are often absent, and the
wings are formed by the two broad coloured side sepals. The
stamens are usually 8, monadelphous. The fruit a bilocular
capsule, achene, or a i-2-seeded drupe.

Sepals very unequal, the two side ones wing-like.

Polygala. — Fruit a 2-celled, heart-shaped capsule.

Mundtia.— Fruit a juicy drupe.

Securidaca. — Fruit a winged achene.
Sepals nearly equal similar.

Muraltia.— Capsule flattened, usually horned.

Polygala is a large genus of shrubs or herbs, with showy

'»\

FIG. 303.— Floral diagram. Poly- FIG. 304. — Polygala bracteolata, L. : a,
gala vulgaris, L. (after Engler). section of fruit ; b, stamens ; c, section

of flower. (After " Botanical Maga-
zine.")

mauve or white flowers in racemes, spikes, or heads. The
stamens are concealed within the keel away from rain or

326 Plants and tJieir Ways in South Africa

marauder. As the bee lights on the fringe of the lower petal,
its weight bears down upon the keel, so that the pollen, which
has been caught in the spoon-tipped pistil, is pushed out and
rubbed off on the bee's body. It is then carried to another
flower and brushed off on the stigma, which is on the lower
side opposite the spoon-tip : 450 species from New Zealand
to Arctic Zone.

Mundtia is a stiff bush, with spine tipped branches, 2 to
3 feet high. Flowers red or white. The berries are eaten by
birds and children. Common in dry, rocky places and on the
seashore. One species, M. spinosa, D.C.

Muraltia. — Usually small, rigid, twiggy shrubs. Leaves
often ending in a sharp point. Capsule furnished with four
horns or hornless. Flowers purple, or two petals white. Over
fifty species.

The genus may be divided into two sub-genera : —

I. Eumuraltia. — Flowers nearly sessile, leaves usually fas-
cicled ; capsules long horned.

II. Psilocladus. — Flowers on pedicels ; leaves solitary ; cap-
sules not horned.

Order EUPHORBIACE^E.

This large order is very prominent in South Africa. The
plants, found in dry, rocky places, frequently resemble Cactus,
which is represented in the flora of
this country only by one native
genus Rhipsalis, and Opuntia which
has become naturalized. Unless
the plants are in flower, it is often
difficult to distinguish the two
orders. The flowers of the Eu-
phorbia family are inconspicuous
and always imperfect. Both corolla
and calyx may be absent. The
fruit is a 3-celled capsule, which
often bursts with an explosion and
scatters the seed.

Euphorbia is the most familiar genus of the order. Like

FIG. 305. — Diagram o a Cya-
thium of Euphorbia Pepliis, L.
(Eichler) containing one female
and five male inflorescences.

Classification of Plants

327

the Cactus plant, the stem may be reduced to a roundish or
club-shaped body, surrounded with cushions of leaf bases.
Frequently a pair of stout thorns represent stipules of abortive
leaves. An axillary thorn (reduced inflorescence) occur in
some species. (Cactus has clustered thorns.) What at first

FIG. 306. —Euphorbia Lathyris, L. I. Fart of a plant. II. Inflorescence.
III. Male flower (magnified). (From Thom6 and Bennett's "Structural and
Physiological Botany".)

seems to be a single flower is an inflorescence consisting of a
group of staminate flowers and a single pistillate flower. The
pistillate flower is raised on a stalk, and is reduced to an ovary.
Each staminate flower is also raised on a little stalk or pedicel,
and consists of a single stamen. The central stamens ripen
first. The whole inflorescence is surrounded by a cup-shaped

328 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

involucre of 4 or 5 united bracts. The delicate green E. helio-
sco/>ia, L., is a common weed. The Euphorbia often found in
gardens (Poinsettid) is showy, with large bright red bracts
underneath the inflorescences. The genus has a milky juice,
by which, if not flowering, it may be distinguished from Cactus.
Cluytia is a dioecious shrub or half shrub ; the flowers

FIG. 307. — Euphorbia tree in Natal. (Wni. Laws Caney, Maritzburg.)

have a double perianth of a greenish colour. The abortive
pistil in the staminate flowers suggest that these flowers have
at one time been perfect.

Ricinus communis, L., the Castor-oil plant, is partly
naturalized in the Colony. Flowers monoecious, calyx 5 -parted ;
filaments much branched. Ovary trilocular, with one seed to
each loculus.

Order TILIACE^;.

Flowers perfect. Sepals valvate. Stamens usually many,
free or united in groups. Ovary superior. Fruit of 1-4 hard-

Classification of Plants

329

shelled drupes or a capsule with hooked bristles. Trees or
herbs, mostly with star-like hairs and stipulate leaves. Flowers
in cymose umbels. Anthers with two pollen sacs distinguish
this order from Malvaceae as well as the absence of a staminal
tube.

Flowers 4-parted : —

Sparmannia is a handsome tree growing from George to
Natal. The flowers are showy, with white or purple sepals
and petals. The stamens
are sensitive, and spring
outward on being touched.
The outer filaments are sta-
minodia. In South Africa
the stamens are yellow, the
staminodia purple - tipped.
Leaves on long petioles.

Flowers five-parted : —

Grewia. — Trees or
shrubs with purple or yel-
low flowers and a 4-lobed
drupe, containing 2-4 hard-
shelled nuts.

Triumfetta.— Shrubs
or herbs with small yellow
or orange flowers. Capsule
covered with long hooked
or straight bristles.

Corchorus. — Herbs
or shrubs. Leaves alter-
nate, often bordered with FIG. 308. — GrmnaoccidentaKs.'L. (After
long sharp points. Flowers

yellow, on simple or branched stalks. The plants are culti-
vated in India for their fibres, which are woven into coarse
cloth for gunny sacks.

Order MALVACEAE.

Flowers perfect, regular. Sepals valvate, often surrounded
by a circle of bracts (epicalyx). Petals 5, twisted in the bud.

33° Plants and their Wavs in Sontli Africa

The stamens are always joined to form a tube (monadelphous),
and attached to the petals at the base, so that the corolla
is slightly gamopetalous. The stamens branch at the top,
so that a great many half anthers are present (anthers with but
one cell). The fruit is a capsule or a schizocarp with several
carpels ; placentation axile. The flower-stalk is jointed below
the flower. Seeds often hairy. The cotton plant (Gossypiuni)
belongs to this order.

Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with alternate, stipulate leaves.
Flowers solitary or in cincinni.

A. Fruit of separate carpels. Stamens bearing anthers at or to the

very top.

B. Stigmas as many as the carpels.
C. Styles thread-like.

Althea. — Epicalyx 6-g-leaved
Malva. — Epicalyx 3-leaved.
CC. Stigmas cushion-like.

D. Epicalyx present, 3-parted.

Malvastrum. — Carpels with i ovule.
Sphaeralcea. — Carpels with 2-3 ovules.
DD. Epicalyx wanting.

Sida. — Carpels i-seeded.
Abutilon. — Carpels 3-ia-seeded.
BB. Stigmas twice as many as the carpels.
Pavonia. — Epicalyx of 5-20 leaves.

AA. Fruit a capsule. Stamen tube 5-toothed at the apex.1 Stigmas
cushion-shaped (capitate).

Hibiscus. — Ovary 5-celled. Epicalyx of 5-many bracts.

Malvastrum. — A shrub or herb with purple flowers (rose-
red or red and white), borne on short stalks in the axiles of the
leaves, singly or in racemes. The leaves and stems are often
sticky, softly downy, or covered with bristles.

Sida. — A low-growing shrubby plant with small white or
yellow flowers (rarely purple). The flowers open for a short
time about noon. The stigmas ripen at the same time as the
anthers. (The stigmas reach out among the anthers and help
themselves to pollen.) Flies sometimes visit the flowers.

Abutilon. — Shrubs or herbs, erect or prostrate, with soft

1 The teeth are regarded by some as the remnant of the outer whorl
of stamens.

Classification of Plants

331

velvety stems and leaves. Pale yellow flowers an inch or more
across. They are sometimes visited by birds.

Hibiscus. — Several species of this genus are cultivated in
the garden. H. rosa sinensis, L., has large brilliant scarlet flowers.

FIG. 309. — Hibiscus. I. Corolla, with petals adherent to monadelphous
stamens. II. Diagram. (From Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary
Botany for South Africa ".)

If. calyctnus, Willd., and H. Ludwigii, E. and Z., are tall shrubs

FIG. 310.— Malva. I Portion of plant (reduced). II. Pistil. (From
Thom6 and Bennett's " Structural and Physiological Botany".)

with large yellow flowers and dark purple centres. Some
species are low herbs with smaller flowers. Five pointed teeth

332 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

crowning the staminal tube are considered to represent the
outer whorl of stamens.

The larger flowers are much frequented by sugar-birds,
which sip the honey on the wing. The fact that the birds
seldom light on the flowers may account for the fact that these
obliquely hanging flowers are so nearly regular. The smaller
herbaceous flowers, like those of Siffa, have short stamen tubes,
and stigmas that can curve over and help themselves to the
pollen which ripens with the stigmas (cf. Geraniaceae and
Composite).

Order STERCULIACE^E.

Flowers regular. Calyx lobes united, valvate. Petals 5,
convolute. Stamens monadelphous (sometimes merely joined at
the base). The outer whorl staminodial or absent. Ovary
superior, of i, 2, or 5 carpels. Fruit capsule, or indehiscent.
Flowers in cymes, with no epicalyx.

Trees, shrubs, or herbs with alternate stipulate leaves. The order is
closely related to Malvacea, from which it may be known by the 2-celled
anthers. Theobroma, from which chocolate is derived, belongs to this
order.

A. flowers imperfect — petals none.

Cola. — Staminate flowers with 10-12 sessile anthers in a
ring. Pistillate with a five carpelled ovary and abortive
stamens ; seeds numerous, ex-albuminous. Leaves entire.

C. Natalensis. — (Kafir Umtenenenda, a tree in East Pondo-
land.) From trees on the West Coast seeds are used in
preparing "Coco-Kola".

Sterculia. — Calyx coloured, downy on both sides ; sta-
minal column bearing many scattered extrorse anthers. Car-
pels 5, seeds many, albuminous.

Trees with palmately compound leaves, found at Uitenhage
and the Transvaal.

AA. Flmvers perfect, petals present, staminodia alternating
with the stamens.

Dombeya. — A 3-leaved, i -sided, deciduous involucre
subtends the flowers. Calyx bending back as the flowers

Classification of Plants

333

open. Petals twisted, unequal-sided. Stamens 10-15, alter-
nating in parcels of 2-3 with 5 slender staminodia. Ismail

YlG.3i-i.—Hermanniaalth<sfolia,l^.: FIG. y.z.—Hermannia (Mahernia}
a, stamens. (After " Botanical Ma- ovalis, H. : a, stamens,

gazine".)

Eastern trees with an abundance of white or rosy flowers. The
petals become papery and enlarged, remaining on.

A A A. Floivers perfect, no sta-
minodia.

Hermannia is a very common,
more or less prostrate, weed with the
habit of a shrub or an under-shrub.
The calyx is often inflated. The
flowers red, orange, or creamy white.
Stamens 5, opposite the petals,
broad, narrowed toward the top or
bottom. Leaves entire or toothed,
often plaited. The entire plant often
covered with stellate hairs, woolly, .velvety, or sticky.

FIG. 313. — Floral diagrai
Hcnncinnia.

334 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

MaJiernia, formerly regarded as a separate genus, is placed
in a sub-section of Hermannia by Engler. In Mahernia there
is a sudden cross-like broadening of the stamens above the
middle.

Order

This order is confined to the narrow limits of the south-
western region of the Cape Province. Its six genera, compris-
ing twenty-two species, are all heath-like, xerophytic shrubs
with opposite evergreen leaves.

Flowers regular, 4-parted ; calyx coloured, persistent,
valvate, enlarging ; petals wanting. Stamens 4, alternating
with the sepals, borne at the throat of the tubular receptacle.
Ovary free, 4-locular, styles simple, ovules 4-2 in each loculus,
anatropous, ex-endospermous. Fruit a capsule. Flowers
axillary, solitary, or in pairs, surrounded with showy bracts
which are resinous in Sarcocolla.

Ovules 2 in each loculus, erect.

Styles 4-angled or winged ; stigmas 4, placed

crosswise.
Styles 4-winged ...... PEN^F.A.

Styles 4-angled, not winged .... STYLAPTERUS.

Styles terete ; stigmas 4-lobed capitate .
Calyx tubes not longer than the lobes ; stamens

included ....... BRACHYSIPHON.

Calyx tube longer than lobes ; stamens ex-

serted ; bracts resinous .... SARCOCOLLA.

Ovules 4 in each loculus, 2 ascending, 2 hanging.
Calyx tube 4-ribbed, scarcely longer than lobed.

Flowers crowded in dense spikes . . . GLISCHROCOLLA.
Calyx tube long ; flowers axillary scattered . ENDONEMA.
The few genera and species, their limited distribution and the
development of the embryo sac which Miss Stephens has investigated,
goes to confirm the belief that this endemic order is a very primitive
one.

Order GEISSOLOMATACE/E

This order, containing but one genus, was formerly included
among the PENAEACE/E but has been removed because of the
following characters.

Classification of Plants 335

In Geissoloma the calyx is imbricate, subtended by two

FIG. 314.— Geissoloma marginatum, A. Juss. (Photograph by E. J. Steer,
Esq.) The oldest flowers are above.

ranked, imbricate scaly bracts. Stamens 8 in the base of the
perianth, the four alternating with the lobes rather smaller,

336 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

anthers versatile, seeds endospermous. Capsule loculicidal,
seed solitary. Clanwilliam, Swellendam.

A shrub with opposite, ovate-cordate leaves and axillary
solitary flowers. Perianth membranous. The photograph,
Fig. 314, shows the oldest flowers at the top, the younger below.

Order THYMEL^EACE^E.

Flowers perfect, with a long coloured tube and a 4-parted
calyx (sometimes 5). The petals are wanting, or possibly re-
presented by 2 or 8 scales at the throat of the long " calyx
tube " or hollow receptacle. The fruit is an achene, or a berry

FIG. ^s.—Struthiola. (From Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary Botany
for South Africa".)

which fits so closely within the hollow receptacle that it looks
like an inferior ovary. The tube often breaks off just above
the ovary. Stamens as many or twice as many as sepals, borne
on the tube.

Classification of Plants 337

Mostly slender shrubs with very tough bark and heath-like
leaves. The flowers are arranged in heads, umbels, racemes,
or leafy spikes. Honey may be found at the base of the tube
by long-tongued insects. Phloem is formed internal to xylem.

A. Calyx without scales or glands.

B. Flowers in stalked umbels 4-5-parted. Anthers within the tube.
Peddiea. — A glabrous shrub with obovate shining leaves,

found in Natal.

BB. Flowers in heads or spikes, or in the axils of the leaves.
C. Anthers concealed within the tube on short filaments.

Arthrosolen.1 — Flowers in heads or axillary. Leaves sessile.
CC. Anthers on slender filaments showing above the tube.
D. Stamens 10. Flowers in heads.

Dais. — Flower heads surrounded by a 4-leaved involucre.

Leaves large, flat. Eastern district and Natal.
DD. Stamens 8. Flowers in spikes within axils of leafy bracts.
Passerina. — Nut dry, with a hard shell. Leaves opposite

and decussate.
Chymococca. — Berry fleshy, containing a hard seed, similar

to Passerina. Fruit a fleshy drupe.

AA. Calyx having Scales or glands in the throat, or more or less con-
cealed in the tube.

Cryptadenia. — Stamens 8. Glands in the middle of the tube.
Flowers purple or rosy, single or few. Leaves opposite.
Western.

Lachnaea. — Stamens 8. Glands in the upper part of the tube,
partly hidden among bristles. Flowers in heads. Scales 8,
below the stamens. Shrubs with slender branches and opposite
or scattered leaves. Floweis in umbels with or without an
involucre (sometimes solitary).

Struthiola. — Glands at the top of the tube, conspicuous. Fila-
ments very short. Calyx 4-parted. Stamens 4. Heath-like
shrubs with linear leaves.

Gnidia. — Stamens 8-10. Glands petaloid or fleshy, 4 or 10.
Heath-like shrubs, with rarely broad leaves. Flowers in spikes
or solitary. A large genus. (Including Lasiosiphon.)

Order ONAGRACE^.

At first one would hardly suspect the members of this
order found in South Africa to be the near relatives of the
well-known Fuchsia. But the solitary flowers agree in an
inferior ovary, usually 4-celled, with axile placentation and

1 Also placed in Gnidia.
22

338 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

many seeds ; a 4-parted valvate calyx, 4 petals usually twisted.
Fruit usually a capsule. Perennial herbs or shrubs. Flowers
adapted to bees or butterflies and moths. Those of Montinia
to flies. Phloem internal to xylem.

Jussieua. — A genus of land or floating plants. Calyx
persisting as a crown on the inferior ovary. Sepals 4-5. Petals
4-5. Stamens 8-10. Capsule 4-5 -celled. Flowers yellow,
white. Seeds small. Herbaceous or shrubby. Leaves
alternate. Eastern.

QEnothera (O. biennis^., Evening Primrose). — Naturalized
near Cape Town. The flower has a very long axis tube, ad-

FiG. 316. — Floral diagram of Epilobiiim.

FIG. 317. — QZnothera biennis, L.
Section of flower.

milling only Ihe long longues of moths, which fly at night about
the spikes of delicate yellow flowers, atlracted by the evening
scent. After a night of revelry the flower withers and falls, leav-
ing the long green ovary, which looks like a flower-stalk. If the
flower does not succeed in attracting the moths il slays open for
a while Ihe following day.

Epilobium can be dislinguished from CEnothera by the
smaller rosy purple blossoms and hairy seeds which, after the
capsule has burst, are sent adrift far and wide. In E. hirsutum,
L., the stigmas and stamens ripen together. If put to it the
stigmas can roll back and pollinate themselves. In other

Classification of Plants

339

species the stigma is undivided, and since the stamens ripen
first the flower cannot fertilize itself. It was Epilobium which
led Conrad Sprengel to make the discovery of dichogamy, or
the unequal ripening of stamen and pistil.

Montinia, which is described in Chapter XIV, also belongs
to this order.

Order UMBELLIFER^E.

Plants of this order can usually be easily recognized. Many
are herbs with stout stems hollow between the nodes. In

FIG. 318. — Bubon Galbanum, L. I. Flower. II. Floral diagram. (From
Edmonds and Marloth's " Elementary Botany for South Africa".)

South Africa, as in the case of so many other plants, the flower-
ing stalks often appear after the leaves, which have prepared
food to be stored in underground reservoirs.
They have alternate, exstipulate, much-divided
leaves sheathing the stem. Or the leaves may
be entire with narrowed petioles. The flowers
are usually arranged in compound umbels with
an involucre. Sepals 5, small. Petals 5 or
none, usually regular, but the outer petals of
the outer flowers are often longer, reminding us
of the ray flowers of the Sunflower family.
Stamens 5. Ovary inferior, 2 -parted. On the
top of the ovary is a disc where the honey is
exposed to short-tongued flies, though bees visit
the flowers also. When ripe, the dry schizocarp
splits apart ; the two carpels are supported on a forked stalk
which runs up between them. The fruit may be flattened, on
both sides or at the backs of the carpels. Carpels i-ovuled.

22 *

FIG. 319.— Fruit
of the Fennel :
a, carpophore.
(From Thom(§
and Bennett's
"Structural
and Physiolo-
gical Botany".)

34O Plants and their Ways in South Africa

A strongly scented oil is contained in cavities extending the
length of the fruit.

The seeds have abundant endosperm ; the fruit are adapted
to wind distribution.

The plants show a sympodial growth and the umbels are
frequently cymose.

The flowers are protandrous. Perfect, monoecious and
dioecious forms occur.

Hydrocotyle has few flowered umbels of a cymose type.
They are so reduced that the umbel may be mistaken for a
single flower and the 4-6-parted involucre for a calyx. The
fruits are flattened at the sides. Frequently but one flower
bears fruit in the umbel, and one carpel is reduced.

FIG. 320.— Peltate leaves of Hydrocotyle.

Slender herbs in moist places with peltate or reniform leaves
or creeping shrubs showing a xerophytic nature in their well-
developed underground system and rigid or hairy leaves.

H. verticillata, Th., is common by furrows with peltate leaves. H.
solandra, L., is adapted to the sandy hillsides where it is found. It has
white, woolly, wedge-shaped leaves, which come up in tufts from under-
ground stems. Some species have linear leaves.

Bubon. — Umbels large, many rayed, yellowish-green. In-
volucre and involucel of many linear segments. Carpels flat-

Classification of Plants 341

tened at the back, with narrow wings at the side. B. galbanum,
L. (wild celery), is a common shrub with wedge-shaped leaflets.
Some people are poisoned by touching the leaves.

Bupleurum has compound umbels of yellow flowers.
Fruit flattened at the sides. First leaves divided, upper ones
simple, linear. The petioles may become changed into phyl-
lodes.

Arctopus is a common, low-growing plant with a rosette
of leaves flat on the ground. The flowers are dioecious, but
the two plants are not far apart. The staminate flowers have
ovaries which are sterile. The involucre leaves are sometimes
large and spine-tipped.

Hermas is a large almost shrubby plant, with entire leaves
and large compound umbels of white or purple flowers. Some
umbels contain only staminate flowers. The leaves are large,
simple, clothed on one or both sides with white, woolly hairs.
Hermas gigantea, L. _/"., is the " tondelboom ".

Garden vegetables belonging to this order, are parsnip,
carrot, celery, caraway.

While every South African knows in general what heaths
are, it is difficult to give in a few terms the characteristics of
the order. A so large and widely distributed order we should
expect to vary in different ways from any genus which might
be taken as a type.

That the flowers are perfect and the corolla regular are
about the only unqualified statements that can be made of the
floral characters. The glandular disc " usually " present be-
neath the ovary suggests that the order may be one derived
from the Geranial group of Choripetalre, a group that usually
retains a double whorl of stamens and carpels equal in number
to the petals.1

Calyx free 4-6 toothed, lobed or parted.

1 In the orders belonging to the cohorts Contortae and Tubiflorae the
disc is also frequently evident. It is possible that they too have had a
Geranial origin, an opinion held by Werner. (" New Phytologist," 1913.)

342 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Corolla hypogynous or (in Lagenocarpus) arising from the
middle of the ovary, contorted or valvate in bud ; sympetal-
ous, of 2-5 (6-10) lobes or free, of 3-7 petals.

Stamens 3-10 (rarely more), obdiplostemonous, frequently
horned or bearded at base, often dehiscing by terminal pores
or lateral slits. The anthers are in-
cluded within the corolla or they may
be exserted.

When bees visit the flower they touch
the hanging stamens, or their horns, and
are dusted from the pores. The stigma,
being longer, is touched first. The horns
also prevent the entrance into the flower
of unwelcome visitors.
Edmonds and Mar- Nineteen of the fifty-six world's

loth's " Elementary , ., , , ,

Botany for South genera are described as belonging to
Africa".) South Africa. All are mentioned as

"heath-like " (except Hexastemon which differs in being white,
woolly). The heaths are usually shrubs rigid with reduced
narrow rigid linear leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, with
revolute margins, connate or free from the under side, forming
a channel beneath.

Miss Ternitz has found that the fungi which grow on the roots of
Ericaceae forming mycorhiza, appropriate free nitrogen. It is difficult
to transplant heaths successfully, which may be in part due to the fact
that the appropriate fungus is lacking.

Azalea, Rhododendron and Laurel, northern representatives
of this order, have broad leaves.

Stamens 8 — rarely 6-7.

Erica. — Calyx equally 4-parted, usually much shorter
than" the ^corolla. Seeds light and usually very numerous
rarely 2 in a cell. A large genus of over 400 species. The
flowers are beautiful and of a great variety of shapes and
colours. Inflorescence terminal or in upper axils ; pedicels
i-flowered; bracts 3, rarely fewer or wanting.

The finest heaths are found at Riversdale and Caledon. A few are
found as far east as Natal. Some are sticky on the outside of the flower,
and so ward off ants. The stems, closely beset with small leaves, perform

Classification of Plants

343

a similar service. The leaves are often bordered with hairs, which are
always a severe trial to ants. Shrubs, from a few inches to 10 feet high.

Eremia. — Seeds one in a cell. Cells 2-4. Flowers small,
bell-shaped, in terminal umbels. Chiefly Western.

FIG. 322. — Erica Massoni, L.

FIG. 323. — Erica cerinthoides,
L. One-half of flower.

Stamens 3-4 — sometimes 5-6.

Blaeria. — Flowers 3-4 parted, bracts none Corolla small.
Small shrubs resembling Erica. Western.

Grisebachia. — Small shrubs differing from Eremia in the
number of stamens, and ovary 2-celled.

Order PLUMBAGINACE^E.

Calyx remaining on. Corolla regular sympetalous. Sta-
mens 5, opposite and adnate to the petals. Ovary i -celled,
superior, with one pendulous ovule. Herbs or half shrubs,
often growing near the sea.

Plumbago (Kafir, Um Ti wamadoda). — Calyx with sticky
hairs along the ribs, which help to scatter the seed. Corolla

344 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

tube much longer than the calyx, twisted in bud ; limb spread-
ing. Stamens free from the petals. Herbs or shrubs, often
climbing, with alternate, stipulate leaves thickly encrusted with
lime on the under surface. The spikes of pale blue flowers of
P. capensis, Th., brighten the roadsides in the East. Often
used for hedges. Two species. P. zeylanica, L., has white
flowers. It occurs in Natal and Transvaal.

FIG. 324.—

FIG. 325. — Floral diagram
J-'lumbago.

Statice. — Corolla nearly polypetalous, bearing the stamens.
Calyx coloured. Halophytes or plants growing in salt ground,
by the sea. Since they cannot absorb much water without
getting too much salt, such plants conserve water by the same
means used by plants in dry situations. Statice has dense
rosettes of leathery leaves and underground stems.

Classification of Plants 345

Order GENTIANACE.*.

Flowers usually regular, perfect. Calyx 5-lobed, persistent.
Corolla 4-6 lobed, the limb twisted, remaining on and wither-
ing (marcescent). Stamens 5 on the corolla, alternate with the
petals. Carpels 2. Ovary 2-1 -celled, many-seeded. Placenta-
tion parietal or axile. Fruit a capsule or berry. Leaves oppo-
site without stipules (alternate in water plants). Flowers
arranged in cymes like those of Caryophyllaceae. Herbs, rarely
shrubs, with very bitter juice. Intraxylary phloem is found
in the stem.

A. Leaves opposite. Corolla twisted in the bud —

B. Flowers pink or purple, rarely white, ovary i-celled —
Chironia. — Anthers straight, very large, yellow. Fruit a

capsule. Flowers very handsome. Growing near the sea.

Orphium. — Anthers spirally twisted. Flowers handsome,
rosy. A much-branched shrub with long narrow leaves.
Common on the Cape Flats. When near the sea the growth
is very compact and the leaves become thick and fleshy.

BB. Flmvers yellow or white, ovary 2 -celled —

Sebaea. — Calyx and corolla segments 4-5 ; sepals acute or
acuminate, keeled or winged. Corolla tube long or short,
lobes convolute, spreading. Stamens 4-5 inserted at or below
the throat, frequently with an apical gland and one or two at
the base of the anthers, within the tube, or exserted.

Style filiform with an apical stigma and two stigmatic
patches towards the base. Seeds many, minute or larger and
ringed or frilled.

Annual, biennial or perennial herbs ; stems erect or procumbent,
simple or branched, with wings.

AA. Leaves alternate —

Corolla in the bud with incurved edges. Water or marsh
plants, ovary i -celled —

Villarsia. — Erect marsh-growing plants with entire alter-
nate leaves. Flowers yellow. Capsule i -celled, opening at
the top. Common in the Colony.

Limnanthemum. — Floating plants with leaves on very
long petioles, shield-shaped or heart-shaped. Flowers yellow,

346 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

apparently springing from the upper end of the petiole, which
is adnate to the inflorescence axis, so that as Goeble points out,
the food materials passing from the leaves to the ripening seeds
do not have to go down the length of the long petioles and up
again as they do in many water plants. Cape Flats, Grahams-
town, Uitenhage Div., Transkei.

Order APOCYNACE/E.

Flowers perfect, regular. Calyx deeply 5-lobed. Corolla
salver- or funnel-shaped. Petals twisted in the bud. Stamens
5, alternating with and upon the petals, with short filaments.
Anthers more or less conniving. Disk usually present. Carpels
2, separate or united. Fruit a capsule, berry, or drupe. Shrubs
with usually climbing, generally opposite leaves and usually
poisonous, milky juice. Internal phloem is present.

The Oleander (Nerium) and Periwinkle (Vinca) belong to this genus.

A. Carpels united into a 2-celIed berry or drupe.

Carissa. — Milky shrubs with forked spreading branches,
opposite rigid leaves, and forked or twice-forked spines in the
axils. Berry delicious. From Knysna district to Natal.

AA. Carpels separate ; style single.
B. Not spiny or fleshy.

Strophanthus. — Glands at the base of the calyx. Corolla
funnel-shaped. Petals with very long points. Throat furnished
with a 2 -parted scale between the petals. Stamens closely
surrounding the stigma, taper-pointed, and often bearded.
Follicles with long hairy seeds. Flowers corymbose or soli-
tary.

Climbing or erect shrubs with opposite or whorled leaves. Eastern.
Furnishing the drug Stropanthin.

Acokanthera. — Shrubs or small trees with leathery leaves
and corymbose dichasia. Flowers white or tinged with pink.

A. venenata (Kafir gift boom) has sweet scented flowers
and purple berries. The plant is very poisonous. The Zulus
obtain poison for their arrows from the stem and root.

BB. Spiny shrubs with succulent stems.

Classification of Plants

347

Pachypodium. — Corolla salver-shaped, lobes five, twisting
to the right. Stamens inserted in the corolla tube. Anthers

FIG. 326. — Floral diagram
of Vinca. Two glands of
the disc alternate with the
carpels.

FJG. 327. — Strophanthus ca-
pensis, D.C. (speciosus, R. ), and
a corolla laid open showing
scales at the throat.

conniving, tailed. Fruit of lanceolate follicles, many seeded ;
seeds hairy at one end.

FIG. 328.— Pachypodium. I. Branch showing spinous stipules and follicles
with hairy seeds. II. Flower.

Leaves in spirals, sometimes suppressed, with stipular spines.

348 Plants and tJieir Ways in SoutJi Africa

Small shrubs with tuberous roots. Flowers white, red, or
yellow.

Order ASCLEPIADACE/E.

Flowers perfect, regular, five parted ; sepals imbricate, odd
sepal at the back. Corolla sympetalous, valvate, or rarely con-
volute. Stamens five; carpels two, apocarpous below but
sharing a single large five-angled stigma.

This order is like Apocynaceae in general habit, latex,
opposite leaves, follicles, and hairy seeds. But the stamens
are united at base.1 In most flowers each stamen bears a
petal-like or tongue-like process at the back, forming a
crown.

The pollen is granular or united in masses as in Orchidacere.
When granular (in the smaller group, Periplocae), the pollen is
shed into curious horny cornucopias or spoon-like pollen
carriers (translators). These lie between the stamens, each
translator receiving pollen from a half of two anthers. At the
lower end of this remarkable structure is a sticky gland by which
it becomes affixed to a visiting insect and then discharged
of its pollen upon the stigma of the next flower visited. Six
genera of this interesting group are described found in the
Kalahari and Eastern regions. In most genera around the
stigma five small dark brown pollen carriers may be seen to
which pollinia are attached. The translator is the chief
character separating the order from Apocynaceae. In section
Cynanchae, the translator is y-shaped.

By placing a needle under the glands they may be with-
drawn, as they are when an insect frees its foot from the slit
between the anthers. The glands are between the stamens,
and the pollen masses on either side come from the halves of
two adjacent anthers.

The inflorescence is cymose or racemose. In some genera,
e.g. Asclepias, the inflorescence is extra-axillary, as it is the
main branch that turns aside to bear the flowers.

1 Except in section Periplocae.

Classification of Plants

349

Many are climbing, some are fleshy and leafless. A large
order of which fifty-three genera are found in South Africa.
Internal phloem is found in the stems.

A. Pollen masses 20, very small ; anthers ^-celled.
Secamone, the " monkey-ropes " of the East. Loose

climbing plants with leathery leaves. Flowers small. The
genus is also found in Asia and Australia.

AA. Pollen masses 10, hanging, attached to an inverted y-
shaped yoke (or translator).

B. Stamens without a crown.

Microloma. — Corolla urn-shaped, lobes twisted to the
left. Tube furnished within with tufts of downward pointing
hairs. Usually twining. Umbels of
beautiful little waxy bells, scarlet, or
pale red with green tips. Kalahari,
Western, and Central.

BB. Stamens with a single crown.

Asclepias (Gomphocarpus). —
Crown of 5 petal-like bodies, the
edges folded toward the stigma be-
coming erect or recurved, with or
without a horn on its concave sur-
face. Umbels at the nodes or tipping
the stem, many flowered. Flowers greenish,
backward. Follicles single or rarely in pairs.

FIG. 329. — Floral diagram
Asclepias.

Petals bending

FIG. 330. - Translator of Phyl- FIG. 331.— Pollen mass of Stapelia.

lanthera carrying pollen. (From Henslow's "South African

Gland at base. (After Deles- Flowering Plants ".)
sert and Blume.)

Shrubby or herbaceous. A.fruticosa, Linn., with large spiny follicles
and linear leaves, is common in the Karroo. Often tuberous.

35° Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Pachycarpus has larger bell-shaped or globose flowers,
and a corona of long flattened spreading lobes. Follicles
winged. Mostly Kalahari and Eastern regions.
BBB. Stamens with a double crown.

Sarcostemma. — Corona of an outer fleshy ring and 5
inner leaves. Erect or climbing
leafless shrubs, with fleshy jointed
stems and wheel-shaped corollas.

A A A. Pollen masses 10, erect,
with the gland below. Corona double.
Riocreuxia. — Corolla bell-
shaped, swollen at the base, the
slender tips meeting to form an arch.

Half shrubby graceful climbers, with
heart-shaped petiolate leaves and greenish
or dark purple flowers, and tuberous roots.

Stapelia. — Flowers large, star-
shaped, greenish purple, mottled.
Their strong and disagreeable odour
attracts carrion flies, which aid in
fertilization. The tufted stems are
leafless, 4-angled, and swollen. In
the central portion water is stored.
Flowering Plants".) Hoodia has large showy flowers

over an inch in diameter ; stem stout, cylindrical bushily
branched, leafless ; with many tubercled angles ; tubercles
spine or bristle tipped. The plant resembles Cactus or Eu-
phorbia (fleshy species) in habit.

Order LABIATE.

Calyx gamosepalous, 5-toothed, remaining on, and often
showy after flowering. Corolla more or less zygomorphic, and
2 -lipped. Stamens 2 or 4, of two lengths or nearly equal,
borne on the petals. Ovary of 2 carpels, becoming 4-celled
each cell containing one basal, erect seed. The style comes
from the base instead of the top of the carpels. When
ripe the fruit separates into four nuts. The order may be re-

Classification of Plants

351

cognized by the four nuts in the persistent calyx, the square
stem, opposite and decussate, ex-stipulate leaves, and strong
odour, due to oil secreted in hairs on the stem and leaves.
The main stem continues growing, but the branches are tipped
by a flower.

FIG. 333. — Leonotis Leonorus, R. Br.
Elementary Botany for South Africa ". )

(From Edmonds and Marloth's

There are 8 Eastern genera in which the filaments bend to the lower
side of the flower. In the genera in which the lower lip serves for a
landing-place for bees, which are their most frequent visitors, the fila-
ments arch toward the upper petals. The upper lip shelters the essential
organs.

In Mentha (the Mints) the corolla is nearly regular, and
the four stamens spread equally around the flower.

Salvia. — Corolla large, the upper lip sheltering the stamens
and stigma. Stamens 2, T-shaped, with short filaments and
a long connective hinged to the filament near the centre. In
South African Salvias, the half anther on the lower end of the
connective bears no pollen (see p. 163).

352 Plants and their Ways iti South Africa

The Blue Sage (Salvia africana, L.) is common throughout the
western part of the Colony.

Stachys. — Stamens 4 (the lower pair longer), anthers
2-celled. Upper lip of the corolla
spreading, lower longer. Herbs or
shrubs with a disagreeable odour.

Leonotis. — Calyx 10 - toothed,
upper tooth larger. Corolla densely
hairy, tube much longer than the
calyx ; upper lip long, curved, lower
short, spreading, 3-lobed. Stamens 4.

Anthers in pairs> 2-celled- Herbs or

(From Edmonds and half shrubs, with bright scarlet or
a^tSlany'^S orange flowers. L. Leonorus, R. Br.
Airica".) (Wild Dagga) leaves are smoked

by natives. Twelve species.

Order BORAGINACEA;.

The deeply 4-parted ovary and the more or less irregular
flower, suggests the order Labiateae. The flowers of this order
are not so distinctly 2-lipped. The leaves are usually alternate,
the stem round, and often succulent, and the strong odour of
the Labiateae is lacking. Stamens 5, epipetalous. The flowers
are arranged in a coiled cyme, which straightens as it lengthens.
Stem and leaves frequently rough with hairs. Fruit of four
separable nuts, or a berry. Seeds erect, basal as in Labiatae, but
radicle points upwards.

Calyx 5 -parted, sepals lance-shaped.

Lobostemon. — Corolla more or less zygomorphic, funnel-
shaped. Stamens joined at about the middle of the corolla,
each provided at base with a hairy bordered scale, which
protects the honey from short-tongued insects. Fruit of four
nuts. Herbs or shrubs with rough leaves and showy pink,
purple, or blue flowers.

Echium is similar to Lobostemon. The stamens have no
scale at base, but its bristly calyx would discourage ants.

Myosotis (Forget-me-not). — Corolla regular; tube closed

Classification of Plants

353

with scales, serving as a honey-guard. Softly hairy herbs.
Radical leaves tapering into petioles, stem leaves sessile. The
colour changes as the flowers grow older, from white to rosy

FIG. 335. — Anchusa (Alkanet). i, Corolla laid open showing corona and
stamens ; 2, calyx ; 3, pistil with 4-lobed ovary ; 4, fruit. (From Henslow's
"South African Flowering Plants".)

buds and blue flowers, or from yellow through bluish to violet.
In Echium the change is from red through violet to blue. This,
says Herman Muller, suggests that white, yellow, and red
flowers were the ancestors of violet and blue flowers.
Heliotrope belongs to this order.

Order SOLANACE.E.

Calyx 5 -parted, persistent (except Datura). Corolla con-
volute. Petals plaited in bud. Stamens 5, alternate with
and upon the petals. Carpels 2, placed obliquely in the
flower. Flowers solitary or in cymes. Herbs, shrubs, or small
trees. Fruit a capsule or berry.

Leaves exstipulate, alternate (whorled in Retzid). In the
flowering portions the leaves appear more or less opposite.
This is due to a peculiarity of growth. A leaf remains adnate
23

354 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

to its axillary branch and is carried up to its first node where
it meets the lowest leaf of the branch which is usually smaller.
It may be carried past the smaller leaf. The main branch on
which the larger leaf was borne is turned aside and bears the
inflorescence (as in Fig. 336).

A large order of herbs, climbing shrubs or, rarely, trees,
unarmed or spinous, especially abundant in the Southern
Hemisphere. Some, like the Potato, Tomato and Cape Goose-
berry, are of economic importance, others are poisonous.

FIG. 336. — Solatium. Flowers, fruit, and seed. (From Henslow's
"South African Flowering Plants".)

The order is related to Scrophulariaceae and Boraginaceae
from which it may be distinguished by its internal phloem and
the oblique ovary.

Fruit a many-seeded berry.

Solanum. — Anthers opening by terminal pores.

Physalis. — Anthers opening lengthwise. Calyx covering and

much enlarged in fruit.
Lycium. — Anthers opening lengthwise. Calyx unaltered after

flowering.
Fruit a capsule.

Classification \ of Plants

355

Datura. — Calyx deciduous. Fruit a thorny 4-celled capsule.

Nicotiana. — Calyx persistent, bell-shaped, 5-fid. Capsule 2-celled,
many-seeded.

Retzia. — Calyx deeply lobed. Corolla tubular. Capsule few-
seeded.

Solanum. — Corolla wheel- shaped, white, yellow, or purple.
Anthers yellow, forming a cone, as in
some of the Boraginaceae.

A large genus of herbs, shrubs, or trees,
often prickly or spiny. Often densely
covered with star-shaped hairs. The potato
and egg plant, natives of South America,
belong to this genus. Engler also includes
the tomato. The berries are showy, bright
red, yellow, or blue. By cultivation, the
number of carpels in the Tomato has been
increased. By heaping earth around the
stem more underground stems are developed
in the Potato and so the crop is increased.

337- — Floral diagram
Solanum showing ob-

G •
of
liquely placed ovary.

Physalis. — This genus may be recognized by the bladdery
calyx. P. peruviana, L., is the " Cape Gooseberry ". Other
species of this genus are native.

Lycium. — Small trees, often with spiny thorns, funnel-
shaped. Reddish flowers, usually solitary. L. afrum, L. (Kaffir
thorn) is used for hedges.

Datura. — The shrub in many gardens with large white
hanging bells and thorny capsules belongs to this genus.
Capsule 4-locular by secondary divisions.

D. Stramonium, L. — The purple Stramonium grows in waste places.
Bees are debarred from this flower by the inward turn of the stamens, but
the long tongue of moths can reach the nectar. The plant is poisonous.

Nicotiana (Wild Tobacco) is found in many parts of the
Cape. It is not a native of this country.

Order SCROPHULARIACE^E.

Flowers perfect in cymes or racemes. Calyx 4- or 5-
parted. Persistent. Corolla 5-parted, or 4 by the union of two
back petals, often 2-lipped. Anthers 4, of two lengths

23*

356 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

(didynamous, two in power), sometimes with one or two
loculi. Ovary 2 -celled. Ovules many. Fruit a capsule,
rarely a berry, with axile placentation. Below the ovary is a
honey-making disc. The flowers are short-tubed and open
for flies, or with a long tube for bees, with the stamens so
placed as to brush the back of the insect ; 1 60 genera, 46 South
African, widely distributed in temperate zones.

Herbs, trees, or shrubs, found in all countries.

A. Back lobe of the corolla overlapping the front lobes in

the bud.

B. Corolla saccate or spurred at base, lube short or none,
C. Corolla with two pouches or spurs —

Hemimeris. — Corolla 2-lipped. Stamens 2. Anthers
i -celled. Two tooth-like bodies at the side of the throat
clasp the stamens. Small annuals with opposite leaves and
bright little yellow flowers. Western.

FIG. 338.- — I. Floral diagram of Halleria flower. II. Bilocular ovary of
Antirrhinum. (From Edmonds and Marloth's "Elementary Botany for South
Africa ").

Diascia. — Corolla 2-lipped, but more regular than in
Nemesia. Upper lip 2-parted, lower 3-parted. Middle lobe
often notched. As in Nemesia the two longer (front) stamens
curve round and clasp the upper pair.

Annuals or persistent herbs, often spreading, with dark wine-coloured
or purplish flowers. Eastern and Western. In dry, sandy soil. Forty-
seven species in South Africa.

CC. Corolla with a single pouch or spur at base.
Nemesia. — Upper lip 4-bped, lower entire. Stamens
4, the lower filaments curved round at the base and clasping

Classification of Plants

357

the upper, as in Diascia. Anther cells clinging together in
pairs.

Herbs annual or perennial, bearing racemes of pretty flowers of
many hues. Twenty-eight species, both Eastern and Western. Beautiful
Nemesias in great abundance are found in the Malmesbury district.

FIG. •$•&.— Nemesia.

FIG. ?>qo.—Halleria lucida, L.

BB. Corolla not saccate or spurred. Stamens 4 —

Freylinia. — Calyx 5-parted. Corolla tubular, limb
spreading. Shrubs with opposite (or upper alternate), shiny,
entire leaves and panicles of orange or lilac flowers.

Halleria. — Calyx cup-like, 3-5 -parted. Corolla tubular,
widening upwards, and shortly lobed at the tip. Stamens 4.
Fruit fleshy, indehiscent. Shrubs with red flowers, hanging in
clusters or single from the axils of dark glossy leaves.

Zaluzianskya (Nycterinia}. — Corolla tube long, slender;
limb 5-lobed, spreading; lobes often 2-fid. Anthers of two
upper stamens large, often two lower small or wanting.

Herbs, more or less viscid, turning black in drying. Flowers light
inside, dark outside, opening in the evening.

Sutera (Lyperia). — Corolla with a long sticky tube, in-

358 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

curved and swollen at the top. Anthers exserted, i -celled,
kidney-shaped. S. atropurpurea, Hiern. — called "Cape Saf-
fron " (Geele bloemetjes).

Herbs or small shrubs, often much branched. Lower leaves opposite ;
upper alternate, entire, toothed, or much cut. Sometimes viscid ; turning
black in drying.

Manulea is similar to Sufera, but the tube is not swollen.
Common little plants, often covered with woolly hairs. Corolla

FIG. yt,\.—Harveya capensis. Hook. A, section of flower, B, stamen
showing one long empty anther cell, c, floral diagram.

nearly regular, orange. Found in sandy soil. Herbs, rarely
woody. Usually not drying black.

AA. Back lobes covered by the front lobes in bud. Root
parasites —

B. Anthers i -celled —

Hyobanche. — Calyx deeply 5-parted. Corolla tubular,
curved and hooded at the top, limb shortly 3-lobed. Stamens
of two lengths. Rose-red, thick stemmed. Parasites on the
roots of Proteaceae and other plants. Mr. v. d. Merwe, of
Wellington, has found this parasite growing on roots, in an
ant heap, 30 feet below the surface.

Classification of Plants

359

BB. Anthers 2-celled—

Harveya. — Calyx campanulate or, oblong, somewhat

FIG. 342.— Harveya capensis. Hook- (Photograph by E. J. Steer, Esq'.)

inflated. Corolla with a long curved tube, spreading above.
Stamens of two lengths, one cell of each anther containing

360 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

pollen, ovate with long point, the other long and slender,
empty. A parasite on roots of various plants, with handsome
white, orange, rosy, or scarlet flowers.

Leaves scale-like, opposite or upper alternate.

Order BIGNONIACE^E.

Flowers perfect, zygomorphic. Calyx 5 ; corolla 5, trumpet
or bell-shaped, imbricate; stamens 5, epipetalous, didynamous,
or 4, the staminode at the back always present ; one anther
lobe is usually above the other. Ovary raised on a disc,
bicarpellary, with many anatropous ovules. Seeds without
endosperm, with large membranous wings.

Inflorescence usually dichasial, passing into a cincinnus.

Trees or shrubs. Many are found in Brazil. Often tendril
climbers, the tendrils taking the place of leaflets.

Stamens 4 with staminode.

Tecomaria is a handsome shrub with racemes of scarlet
flowers. Stamens are exserted. The
walls of the capsule are flattened at
right angles to the septum and de-
hiscence takes place loculicidally.

The opposite imparipinnate leaves are
without stipules. Used as hedges in the
West. - Wild in the East. ,

Bignonia has the pod flattened parallel
with the partition, the dehiscence is septi-
fragal, and the compound leaves end in a
tendril. Probably not native. B. capensis,
Th., is placed in Tecomaria in '^Flora
Capensis."

Stamens 5.

Cataphractes is a spiny shrub, with calyx tubular cleft
on one side. Corolla white. Stamens 6 or 7. Ovules few,
fruit warted. Found in Namaqualand. Leaves simple, tufted.

Rhigozum. — Calyx campanulate. Flowers yellow, borne
singly in the axils of alternate leaves. A rigid shrub in the
Eastern and Northern districts. Fruit warted.

Classification of Plants

36 1

Kigelia. — A tree with panicles of pendulous flowers, on
long peduncles, springing from dormant buds of old wood.
Flowers claret-coloured. Ovary i -celled, fruit indehiscent.

" The sausage plant," named from the fruits, sometimes a

FIG. 344, — Tecomaria capensis, Spach. a, Pistil with disc below.

foot long, that hang from the long stalks. K. pinnata, B.C., is
found about Delagoa Bay, it has ternate leaves.

Jacaranda is a handsome tree with racemes of purple
flowers frequently cultivated in gardens. It is from South
America.

Order RUBIACE.E.

Flowers usually perfect, regular. Perianth epigynous.
Sepals 4-5, often very small, one frequently enlarged. Petals
4-9. Stamens 4-5, borne on the corolla, alternate with
the petals. Ovary 1-2- or more celled, 2- or many-seeded.

362 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

The order may be recognized by the opposite entire rarely toothed
leaves and stipules. Sometimes the stipules are as large as the leaves,
which gives the appearance of a whorl of leaves ; but the presence of
axillary buds will tell which are leaves. If the stipules are simple, six
leaves appear to stand at a node. They may be fused in pairs on the
same plant when four appear. Each stipule may be divided.

The inflorescence is cymose, it may be reduced to a solitary flower,
umbellate or capitate.

One of the largest orders, 350 genera, of which about 24 are native
to South Africa. Trees, shrubs or herbs of world-wide distribution.
Most are tropical.

Honey is usually secreted by a nectary upon the ovary, at the base
of the styles (cf. Umbelliferae).

A. Fruit indehiscent, many -seeded. Shrubs or trees —

FIG. 345.— Galium (Cleavers), i, flower ; 2, section of flower ; 3, stamen ;
4, fruit ; 5, section of 4 showing embryo. (From Henslow's "South African
Flowering Plants ".)

Burchellia. — Corolla funnel-shaped, with a very short
limb. Anthers with the corolla. Berry nearly round, 2-
celled, crowned by the calyx.

B. capensis, R. Br. (Buffels doom ; Kafir, Tobankone), the only
species, is a tree 12-14 feet high, with axillary corymbs of deep scarlet or

Classification of Plants 363

orange flowers, and leaves 3-5 inches long. Frequent in forests east of
Swellendam.

Gardenia. — Corolla funnel- or salver-shaped. Anthers
extending beyond the tube, 8 or 9 ; sessile in the throat of
the corolla.

G. TkunbergiajL.f.CWild Katjepiering : Kafir, Umkangaza.) Trees
or shrubs with large, solitary, white flowers, or marked with red. Often
sweetly scented. The berry is very hard.

A A. Fruit a 2 -celled capsule, many seeded.

Hedyotis. — Corolla with a slender tube and spreading
4- or 5 -parted limb. Capsule crowned with the calyx, dehiscing
at the top. Sma'l herbs with ovate lanceolate or linear leaves
and bristle-like stipules.

A A A. Fruit nearly dry, 0/2-6 nut-like parts —

Hydrophylax. — Glabrous, creeping fleshy herbs, growing
by the sea, with stipules and leaves united, forming a cup.

AAAA. Fruit 2 -par ted or 2 -celled, seeds one in each cell.

Galopina. — Flowers often dioecious or imperfect and per-
fect on the same plant. Perennial herbs with small flowers.

Anthospermum is frequently a shrub with long slender,
rigid branches having an aspect of the narrow leaved Cliffortias
for which it may be mistaken. The stipules are small, 1-3
toothed. Flowers small, axillary, sessile, or rarely panicled,
dioecious, polygamous or hermaphrodite. The fruit consists
of two easily separable mericarps, distinguished from Um-
bellifera by the erect seed in each.

Galium. — Corolla 4-parted. Fruit dry, separating into
two i -seeded carpels. Branching, erect or spreading herbs,
supported by hooks on the stem and leaves. Flowers white
or greenish. Leaves 4 or many in a whorl. The enlarged
stipules, united in pairs, make a whorl of 4. If each stipule
is divided there is a whorl of 10. The ovary resembles that of
Umbellifera.

Order CAMPANULACE^E.

Flowers regular or zygomorphic. Sepals not meeting in
the bud. Corolla valvate. Stamens 5, epigynous, free from

364 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

the corolla. Anthers 5, free or united. Ovary inferior, or
half inferior, 2-5-celled. Axile placentation and ovules many.
Style simple, stigmas as many as the carpels. Fruit a capsule
or berry. Leaves alternate, exstipulate.

The flowers are very protandrous, and the style has the pollen shed
upon it, where it is held by a ring of hairs just below the stigma. In
many cases the stigmas turn back and touch the pollen of their own
flowers, and so self- fertilization results. The flowers show interesting
transitions to Composite, to which the order is related.

FIG. 346. — Lobelia, I. Flowering shoot. II. Stamens with syngenesious
anthers closed over stigmas in bud. III. Style and addressed stigmas from II.
IV. Diagram of flower. V. Transverse section of fruit. (From Henslow's
" South African Flowering Plants".)

A. Corolla zygomorphic with a split tube ; anthers united —
Lobelia. — The flowers are twisted on their axis so that

Classification of Plants

365

the odd sepal is at the back, and three petals form the lower
lip. The two lower or all the anthers are bearded.

Weak herbs or small shrubs, with alternate toothed leaves and blue
or violet flowers.

Parastranthus (Inverted flower) has the odd sepal in
front and the upper lip of three petals, as there is no twist as
in Lobelia. Herbs similar
to Lobelia, with yellow,
white or blue flowers.

AA. Corolla regular ;
anthers separate —

B. Capsule opening at
the top by triangular lids —

Lightfootia.— Corolla
open to the base, or nearly
so. Filaments broad, fringed
with soft hairs. Capsule
half below the flower.
Small shrubs or herbs.
Leaves sometimes opposite.
Flowers mostly in racemes,
blue or white. Eastern and
Western.

Wahlenbergia. —
Funnel-shaped or tubular.
Filaments broad at base.
Stigmas 5-3. Herbs with
long forked flower-stalks,
axillary or terminal.
Flowers blue. The droop-
ing flowers protect the pol-

len. ripening.

The capsules after flowering stand erect, so that the seeds do not all
fall out at once, but blow out a few at a time. Forty-six species.

Roella. — Corolla large, funnel-, tubular-, or bell-shaped.
Ovary z-celled. Stigmas 2, thick. Capsule opening by a
large pore at the top.

366 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Rigid undershrubs. Leaves narrow, crowded, often tufted in the
axils. Flowers sessile, blue, white, or pale yellow with a dark centre.
Eleven species.

AAA. Flowers more or less irregular. Anthers free —
Cyphia. — Petals 5, separate, or partly clinging by the

FIG. 348. — Cyphia /.eyheriana, Pr.

upper part of their claws. Capsule 2 -celled, half superior
opening at the top.

Erect or climbing herbs, mostly with succulent or tuberous edible
roots. Flowers blue, white, or'pink.

Order COMPOSITE.

This is the largest order of flowering plants. The flowers
are massed together in heads, as in Protect, and surrounded by
an involucre. In compensation the calyx is either wanting or
very much reduced, or it is constructed so as to aid in distribut-
ing the seed. The calyx is known as the pappus. After
flowering, it may enlarge into a parachute for carrying the
seeds in the wind, or it is developed into bristles, which seize
hold of animals and so distribute the seeds. The corolla is
gamopetalous. All the flowers may be tubular and regular or
all may be strap-shaped, or the central disc flowers may be

Classification of Plants 367

tubular and surrounded by the strap-shaped (ligulate, " little
tongue '') ray flowers. The ray flowers are usually developed
at the expense of the stamens, and contain only pistils.
Stamens 5, alternating with the petals, cohering by their
anthers (syngenesious), as in Lobelia, forming a tube around
the style. Ovary inferior, of two carpels with a simple style
forking into two stigmas. The one-celled ovary contains one
ovule, growing from the base of the ovary. The fruit is an
i achene.

Since the flowers are massed together, they may be very small, and
yet form an attractive cluster for insects, especially when there are ray
flowers. One insect may visit a great many flowers in a short time.
The slender tube and united stamens protect the honey and pollen; if
cross pollination fails, the divided stigmas may turn back and pollinate
: themselves from the pollen which the styles have brushed out of the
anthers of the same flower. The flowers are so well equipped that they
' have been distributed, and flourish, in nearly every part of the globe.
Of the 810 genera, 153 are found in South Africa.

The genera are grouped according to the style branches,
under six tribes, of which only a very few genera can be
mentioned.

* Disc FLOWERS TUBULAR, REGULAR.

TRIBE I. VERNONIE^E. — Style branches long, slender, pointed,
hairy outside. Flowers not yellow, all tubular. Stigma tic
papilla all over the inner surface.

Vernonia. — Involucre of many overlapping scales, not
spine-pointed. Pappus of many bristles in two or more rows.
Achenes smooth or silky, ribbed. Erect or half-climbing
shrubs and herbs with white or purple flowers. Heads single
or in corymbs. Eastern.

Corymbium. — Heads i -flowered, involucre of two op-
posite scales, with two or three outer bracts at base. Achenes
silky. Nearly stemless herbs, with linear parallel-veined leaves.
The rootstock clothed with long, soft, silky hairs. Cape Town
to Uitenhage.

TRIBE II. EUPATORIE,E. — Style branches long, blunt or

368 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

flattened at the tip. Flowers all tubular. Stigmatic papilla
in marginal rows.

Ageratum. — Heads many-flowers, roundish, clustered
in corymbs. Pappus 5-io-toothed scales. Herbs with ovate
or heart-shaped leaves on long petioles. Flowers mauve. Often
cultivated ; found in Natal.

TRIBE III. ASTERE^E. — Style branches long, flattened,
often crossing instead of curling backwards. Heads usually with
ray flowers. Stigmatic papilla marginal, tips unreceptive.

Aster. — Heads many- flowered. Ray flowers, and usually
disc flowers bearing fruit. Involucre of overlapping scales.
Achenes flattened. Pappus of many saw-toothed bristles of
equal length. Flowers with white, pink, or purple rays and
yellow or purple discs. Herbs or shrubs with often small,
rarely petioled leaves. A large genus.

Diplopappus. — Flowers as in Aster, except the pappus of
two rows, the outer of short, the inner of long bristles. Much
branched shrubs or rigid simple herbs.

TRIBE IV. SENECIONIDE^. — Style branches linear, flattened
at the top, bristly at the apex,
or tipped with a bristly cone.
Flowers all tubular or with ray
and disc flowers.

A. Anthers without tails ;
pappus of large scales —

Sphenogyne. — Heads radi-
ate, but the disc flowers bear
the fruit. The receptacle bear-
ing papery scales (palese) among
the flowers. Involucre of over-
lapping scales, the inner larger
with papery tips. Achenes
surrounded at base with long
silky hairs. Pappus of five broad
scales, spirally rolled before the
flower opens ; much enlarged in fruit and milk-white.

Herbs or shrubs with simple or compound leaves, strongly scented.
Flowers yellow, often copper-colour beneath.

FIG. 349. — Sphenogyne anthem-
aides, R. Br. Achene with
scaly pappus. (From Edmonds
and Marloth's " Elementary
Botany for South Africa ".)

Classification of Plants 369

Ursinia differs from Sphenogyne in having within the
pappus scales an inner row of slender bristles.

FIG. 350. — Eriocephalus umbelluZatus, D.C. (Photograph by E. J. Steer, Esq.)
AA. Anthers without tails. Pappus none.
Eriocephalus (Woolly head), the " Capok-bosch ". —
24

37o Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Heads small, the rays usually broad and heart-shaped, bearing
fruit. Disc flowers bearing stamens. Involucre double, the
outer of separate scales ; the inner scales cohere to form a cup.
The achenes are without pappus.

Much-branched rigid shrubs, silky or silvery. The flower heads
become very woolly with age. These hairs are not pappus.

Athanasia. — Heads many-flowered, without rays. In-
volucre of dry, overlapping scales. Receptacle-bearing paleae
between the flowers. Achenes sharply five-angled or winged.
Pappus of short, flat, unequal scales, or of short, woollen, jointed
hairs or none.

Small shrubs or under-shrubs. Leaves entire, toothed or pinnate-
parted. Heads yellow, mostly in corymbs. Common. In flower nearly
throughout the year.

A A A. Anthers tailed. Pappus plume-like. Involucre
shining, not withering.

Elytropappus, — Heads a-8-flowered. Involucre horny.

FIG. 351. — ffelipferumcatuscens,D.C. I. Flower. II. Diagram of disc-
flower. (From Edmonds and Marloth's "Elementary Botany for South
Africa".)

Much-branched shrubs with heath-like, spirally twisted
leaves.

Classification of Plants 371

The Rhenoster bosch is the despair of farmers ; it is chiefly Western,
but has spread as far as Grahamstown, crowding out other plants as it
advances. Introduced from the Congo.

Helichrysum. — Heads many- or few-flowered, either all
tubular or with ray flowers. Pappus of slender bristles.
Involucre showy, rosy, yellow, or white. These and the next
genus are the beautiful Everlastings, the Cape Flower.

Herbs and shrubs, mostly with woolly leaves and sterns.

Helipterum differs from Helichrysum in having feather-
like pappus.

AAAA. Anthers without tails. Pappus bristles abundant.
Involucre in one row —

Senecio. — Heads with or without rays, rays pistillate,
disc flowers perfect, purple or yellow. The genus may be
known by the involucre of one row of scales with a few small
bracts at the base. Herbs, shrubs, or small trees.

Othonna. — Rays yellow or purple, pistillate, disc flowers
staminate. Involucre as in Senedo, but without bracts.

Shrubs or herbs with smooth shiny leaves. The herbs often have
tuberous roots.

AAAAA. Anthers with short tails. Pappus none —

Dimorphotheca. — Heads with rays. Involucre in one
row. The genus may be readily recognized by the two kinds
of fruit. Those of the ray flowers are slender, three-cornered,
tubercled ; of the disc flowers, flattened, heart-shaped, with thick,
wide wings.

Herbs or half shrubs, often sticky, with yellow or purple flowers, or
white with purple underneath.

Osteospermum. — Heads yellow, many flowers with
disc flowers staminate. Only the ray flowers bear fruits, which
contain white, bony seeds. Involucre in few rows, its scales free.

Shrubs, rarely herbs, with alternate leaves, which may be cobwebby,
or rough with sticky hairs, or smooth.

Tripteris. — Heads with ray flowers, which bear the fruit.
Disc flowers perfect but sterile. Flowers yellow, white, or
purplish. Fruits three- winged. Herbs or shrubs, mostly
sticky, strongly scented.

372 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

TRIBE V. CYNARE^E. — Heads with rays (rarely all tubular].
Anthers with short tails. Achenes swollen, with a flat disc at
the top, often woolly. Pappus none, or of scales or bristles.
Receptacle usually bristly.

Arctotis. — Ray flowers pistillate, disc flowers perfect.
Pappus of two rows of scales. "Achenes very silky near the
base. Receptacle honeycombed, with bristles. Involucre of

FIG. 352. — Osteospermum FIG. 353.— Three- winged fruits of Tripteris.
moniliferum L. fruits ; the
ray flowers produce large
achenes with bony seeds ;
the disc-flowers are sterile.

small outer scales, the inner with large, thin, papery tips,
spirally twisted before flowering.

Herbs, often stemless. Flowers large, handsome, white, yellow, or
orange, the rays usually purplish beneath.

"* Gazania. — Heads radiate, the disc flowers all forming
fruit. Involucre in several rows, forming a cup at the base.
Receptacle honeycombed. Pappus in two rows of toothed
scales, often hidden in the wool of the achenes.

Herbs with or without stems. Leaves all radical or scattered, often
white woolly beneath. Heads large, showy rays, yellow or orange, dark
at base, reflecting peacock colours.

Classification of Plants 373

** ALL THE FLOWERS STRAP- SHAPED AND PERFECT.

TRIBE VI. LIGULIFLOR^E. — Styles long. Plants with milky
juice.

Urospermum. — Heads many-flowered. Involucre in one
row. Pappus one-rowed and feathery. Receptacle bristly.

FIG. 354. — Printzia. I. Ray flower. II. The stigma, pushing out,
brushes the pollen from the stamens. III. The following day it draws back
and leaves the pollen in a ring at the top of the stamens.

Achenes with long, sharp beaks, bladdery at base and rough
with sharp points. Herbs with stem-clasping leaves.

SonchllS. — Heads many -flowered. Involucre in several
rows. Pappus soft, very white slender hairs. Achenes not
beaked.

Common weeds with yellow flowers. Leaves with a wavy margin,
or pinnatisect.

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE BOTANICAL REGIONS OF SOUTH AFRICA.

REFERENCE has been made to several orders which are found only in
South Africa and which are confined wholly or largely to the south-
western portion. They probably represent very ancient types of plants
of southern origin which have been confined in this restricted area by
impassable climatic and geographical barriers farther north.

The origin of South African flora has greatly interested botanists
since Sir Joseph Hooker published the results of his observations during
the Antarctic expedition with Sir James Ross.

Certain orders of South Africa are abundantly represented in
Australia ; owing to the predominance of species in the latter country, it
has apparently been the centre of distribution for several orders found in
both South Africa and South America.

A South African tree Metrosideros belongs to the order Myrtaceae
which supplies us with Australian blue gums. This tree, found in the
western mountains of Cape Province, has its centre of distribution in New
Zealand. Besides the South African species, M. angustifolia, Sm., one
species is found each in Chili, Java, and Madagascar.

Proteaceae are especially interesting as representing a southern dis-
tribution. Of the two main groups into which the order is divided (see
p. 285) the first is found in Australia and South Africa, while the
Grevilloideas are largely represented in Australia and Chili, but none
occurs native to South Africa. Many of the South American types thus
associated are in the extreme south-western part of Chili.

A glance at the map will show that South America is much nearer to
Africa than it is to Australia, it will therefore appear strange that its
flora should be more closely related to Australia.

Among other orders representing a South African-Temperate
Australian alliance may be mentioned Iridacece, Restiacete, Hamodor-
acea, Composite, Thymeliacea, and Rubiacece.

By referring to the chart, p. 375, a partial similarity will be seen
between the distribution of Proteaceas and Cycadaceae. Fossil forms
of the latter order show that they were once widely distributed in the
northern hemisphere. Well-grounded evidence for fossil Proteaceae in
the northern regions is wanting.

A distribution such as that of Proteaceae, supports the belief that
a former land connexion existed between South Africa and Australia.
374

The Botanical Regions of South Africa 375

Index map of floral regions of South Africa, with approximate boundaries
by H. Bolus, 1905.

(By t/ie courtesy of Dr. H. Bolus.)

376 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

That such a connexion existed until after the Antarctic glacial period in
Permian times, is generally admitted by geologists. Types common to
South Africa and to South America may have found their way to the
latter country from Australia by a land connexion after that between
South Africa and Australia had been severed. This supposition is
strengthened by fossil land tortoises common to Australia and Patagonia
and by the fossil remains in Patagonia of an animal which seems to have
been identical with the present Tasmanian wolf. The discovery in
recent times of a marsupial in South America belonging to a division
(Diprodonts) hitherto known only in Australia may also tell of a long
southern migration over this same land bridge, Antarctica, from Australia
to South America. It is true that fossil marsupials are found in North
America and Europe (division Polyprodonts), even earlier than any in
South America. It may be that the northern division found their way
south giving rise to the southern diprodonts, which then migrated to
South America from Australia.

Amundsen and Scott in their expeditions to the South Pole secured
interesting geological information bearing on this problem. The associa-
tions of rocks and the nature of the coal seams found in Antarctica serve
to strengthen the view that the South Polar Regions are geologically a
continuation of the Andes and of Tasmania and West Australia. How-
ever this may be, the similarity of the flora may be due in part to the
plankton carried by ice-bergs and to the agency of winds. It is interest-
ing to note in this connexion that Dr. Fritsch found the pollen of Podocar-
pits in material from the South Orkneys which he thinks must have been
brought from South America, and Mr. Brown attributes to the agency of
birds the presence of the Arctic mosses.

From geological evidence it is also thought that, after the land con-
nexion between South Africa and Australia was severed, South Africa
remained connected with India through Madagascar. (In Permo Car-
boniferous times, forming what is known as Gondwanaland.)

It is a much-disputed point as to whether there was a land bridge
between South America and West Africa late enough, if at all, to account
for an interchange of animals and plants between those two countries.
How the South African Gloriosa (Liliaceae) found its way to South
America and the so-called Transvaal lily (Order Bromeliaceas) found its
place in Rhodesian mountains is as puzzling a question as to account for
the Edentates and fresh-water i fish that are common' to these two
countries.

In the Eastern portion of South Africa the flora has gradually re-
ceived forms from the southern migration of tropical plants while the
southern forms were advancing north along the highlands. The northern
forms have met the older flora of the south-western region and have
partly driven them back. In the neighbourhood of Grahamstown, East
London and Pondoland, signs of conflict between the old and the newer
flora may be seen. Fossil forms show a meeting of the southern
(Angiopteris) flora with the northern (Sigillaria) at Vereeniging.

The Botanical Regions of South Africa 377

It is difficult in a small book for South African schools to give a
satisfactory list of plants. A group of plants familiar in one district will
be quite strange on the opposite side of a mountain range. The " South
Easter " that parches one part of the country brings needed rains to
another. Rainy winters of the Western Province produce a different
flora from that of the dry winters and rainy summers of the East. Plants
in a sandy soil will differ from those in a clayey soil. Dr. Bolus, in his
" Sketch of the South African Flora," has given a vivid picture of the five
botanical regions he has defined as follows : —

1. The South-Western Region is a strip from 40 to 80 miles wide,
extending along the coast from near the mouth of Oliphant's River to
the region of Port Elizabeth. It is bordered on the landward side by a
range of mountains from 4000 to 8000 feet high. It is characterized by
low-growing scattered shrubs, with small leaves of a sombre greyish-green,
due to their waxy covering. Trees are chiefly confined to the seaward
mountain slopes, and seldom exceed 50 feet in heigth. To the east, how-
ever, beautiful forests exist in this region. They are composed of Podo-
carpits (Yellow-wood), Ptaroxylon (Sneezewood), Grewia, Sideroxylon
(Milkwood), Olives, and others, some of which furnish good timber.

Few flowers are found in summer except in the mountains. Disa
uniflora can be found in January, and in March the flowers are at their
best along the mountain streams of the Peninsula and about Wellington.

The Amaryllideae have so much stored food that they need not wait
for the rains, and Buphane and Brunsvigia fruits, chasing each other
over the veld, remind us to be on guard. May is the beginning of the
fall season. In a few weeks after the first rains the veld is aglow
with Irideae, Proteaceae, Oxalis, Leguminosae, and Ericaceae.

2. South-Eastern Region. — From the Zitzikamma forests around
the east coast, a broader strip of country than that on the south-east
coast passes up to the Tropics. The vegetation changes. Trees are
conspicuous with handsome green foliage. Palms and Encephalartos
(Kaffir Bread) begin to appear, and the vegetation becomes tropical.
Euphorbias and Aloes are typical ; epiphytic orchids festoon the trees
and tree ferns become more frequent.

3. The Karroo Region. — North of the South-West region, and ex-
tending some%vhat farther east, there is a similarly curved region with
the Nieuwveld mountains as a northern boundary. It is a large shallow
basin surrounded by mountains. Violent rains have carried off the soil.
Grazing flocks, by destroying vegetation and thereby loosening the soil,
aid in the process, and year by year the rivers have carried away " the
dust of continents yet to be". The climate is marked by dryness and
extremes of heat and cold ; the desert of the dry season becomes a garden
after rain. Its plants are thorny and succulent, with underground
storage systems. Acacia horrida (Karroo thorn), Portulacaria afra
(Spekboom), Sarcocaulon (Candlebush), Tesiudinaria (Elephant's foot),
serve as examples.

4. The Upper Karroo, or Region of Composite, a mountainous

378 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

region lying north of the Karroo region, but not extending to the Orange
River except at the extreme east and west, has a flora in some respects
similar to that of the Lower Karroo region, but Composites abound, some
of which furnish excellent food for stock.

5. The Kalahari Region is the name which Dr. Bolus gives to the
large tract of land lying to the north of the Composite Region, west of
the Natal Region and south of the Tropic of Capricorn. The western
coast strip is a weird desert producing the curious Welwitschia on i stony
ground among the sand dunes, and the Naras, or Acanthosicyos horrida.
The latter is one of the Calabas family. It has roots as large as a man's
arm and 50 feet or more in length. They push down until they find
water below the sand of the desert. The rigid green stems have opposite
thorns in the axils of reduced leaves. Growing in sandy places, the
winds sweep over and often completely bury the stems. The stems push
quickly up, and the sandhills are often built upon the plants, in the centre.
A bitter juice protects all parts but the sweet juicy fruits, which are eaten
by jackals and Hottentots.

To the east and north the region is largely a grass country. The
tufts of grass grow to a great height. Between the months of November
and February large tracts of grass look like fields of corn. Maize
reaches a height of 8 to 13 feet, and it becomes necessary to cut down
the stalks in order to get at the grain.

INDEX.

ABUTILON, 330.

Amphitropous, 132.

^m^a, 266, 268.

Acacia, 101, 113, 115,

Anacampseros, 115, 117.

AristicE, 266.

3".

Anacardiacece , 213. Aristotle, 195.

Acacia horrida, 115, 127,

Anagallis, 137, 178. | Arthrosolen, 337.

142, 268, 312.

Anatropous, 133.

Arum, 157, 159.

AcanthacecB, 220.

Anchusa, 353.

Asclepiadacece, 204, 218,

Achene, 175.

Androcymbiiim, 255.

348.

Achlamydeous, 207, 209.

Andrcecium, 140.

Asclepias, 164, 186, 348,

Acidanthera, 267.

Aneilema, 251.

349-

Acmadenia, 323.

Anemone, 297, 299.

Aspalathus, 40, 313.

Acokanthera, 346.

Angiospermce, 196, 202,

Asparagus, 42, 126, 254,

Aconitum, 297.

206, 220, 236, 243. 255. ~

Actinotnorphic, 142.

Angrcecum, 276.

Aspidium, 120, 233.

Adenandra, 323, 324.

Annual, 25.

Assimilation, 92, 96.

Adiantum, 230, 234.

Annual rings, 31.

/Ister, 368.

Aerial roots, 29.

Annulus, 224.

^ster^a", 368.

^Estivation, 142.

Anoiganthus, 262.

Athanasia, 370.

Agapanthus, 254, 257.

•i4w0«ac£<z, 2n.

Audouinia, 308.

Agathosma, 323, 324.

Anther, 132.

/iM/a*, 287.

Agave, 257. 1 Antheridia, 221, 226, 232.

^4w«wa, 246, 247, 248.

Ageratum, 368.

/InMo/jsa, 166, 167, 169,

Avond-bloemetjes, 269.

Agrimonia, 310.

267, 271.

Axil of leaves, 25,

Aitonia, 321.

Anthospermum, 363.

Azalea, 342.

Aizoacece, 203, 210, 293.

Anthotaxy, 145.

Albizzia, 312.

Ants, 103. ! BABIANA, 267, 270.

Albuca, 185, 254, 257.

Apocarpous, 134, 178.

Bacteria, 89, 101, 223,

Algae, 221.

Apocynacea, 204, 218,

225.

Alkanet, 353.

346.

BalanophoracetB, 211.

/1/00, 254, 256.

Apodolirion, 262.

Barberetta, 271.

.(4/otf ciliaris, 51.

Apogeotropic, 240.

Barium hydroxide, 85.

Althea, 330.

Aponogeton, 10.

Bark, 31.

Amanita, 224.

/4rac«<?, 207.

Barosma, 138, 139, 323,

AmarantacecB, 209.

/4ra/tac««, 217.

324-

Amaryllidacece, 205, 208,

Araucaria, 34.

Bartholina, 276.

257, 261.

Araucariacea, 206.

Baryta-water, 85.

Amaryllidece, 262.

Archegonia, 228, 232.

Bast, 197.

Amaryllis, 262, 264.

Archlchlamydece, 132,

Bauhin, 5.

Amentacece, 205, 281.

199, 200, 20g.

Baviaan's touw, 164.

Amides, 67.

Arctopus, 341.

Begoniacea, 216.

Ammocharis, 262.

Arctotis, 372.

Bentham, 198, 201, 202.

Amphigena, 279.

Aril, 174.

Berardia, 306, 308.

379

380 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Berry, 181.

CACTACE/E, 216.

Ceratandra, 276, 279.

Berzelia, 308.

1 Cactus, 198.

Chalaza, 132.

Betulacece, 281.

Cadaba, 302.

Chenopodiacete, 209.

Bidens, 189.

Caducous, 141.

Chestnut, 285.

Biennial, 27.
Bignonia, 360.

Casalpinece, 311, 312.
Calodendron, 323.

Chironia, 345.
Chloral hydrate, 93.

Bignoniacece, 204, 219,
360.

Calyciflorcz, 201, 203.
Calyptrogen, 81.

Chlorophyll, 94, 97, 99,

222.

Bisexual flowers, 135.

Calyx, 131.

Chloroplastids, 64, 70.

Bixacecs, 211, 215.

Cambium, 31, 74, -197.

Choripetala, 141, 341.

Blade of leaves, 46.

CampanulacecE, 204, 220,

Christmas tree, 321.

Blceria, 343.

363-

Chromoplastids, 64, 70.

Blastophaga glossorum,

Campylotropous, 133.

Chrysanthemums, 131.

183.

Canna, 49.

Chymococca, 337.

Blue gum, 112, 127,

Cape Edelweiss, 272.

Cilia, 226.

128.

Cape Flower, the, 371.

Citrus, 323.

Bobartia, 266.

Cape Lilac, 33.

Classification, 194.

Boerboon, 313.

Capitulum, 145.

Clausena, 323.

Bolus, Dr., 5, 126, 165,

Capok-bosch, 369.

Cleanthe, 188, 266.

275, 375, 377-

Capparidacece, 140, 202,

Cleistogamous, 168.

Bolusiana, 5.

212, 301.

Clematis, 125, 126, 134,

Boraginacea, 204, 219,

Capparis, 303.

*35, 175. 297, 298.

352.
Botanical regions, 374.

Caprifig, 183. Cliffortia, 155, 169, 310.
Capsella, 300. Climbing plants, 124.

Bottle cell, 57.

Capsules, 177.

Clivia, 262.

Bowiea, 112, 254, 257.

Carbon dioxide, 85, 95,

Club mosses, 229, 234.

Brabeium, 287, 288, 290.

99

Cluytia, 328.

Brachycarpea, 300.

Carbonic acid gas, 92.

Cobalt chloride, 59.

Brachysiphon, 334.

Carex, 244, 245.

Coix, 247, 248.

Bracts, 149.

Carissa, 346.

Cola, 332.

Brandblaren, 299.

Carpels, 132.

Coleotrype, 251.

Brassica, 301.

Carpolyza, 262.

Combretacea, 217.

Briza maxima, 247.

Carpophore, 339.

Combretum, 176.

Brttnia, 306, 308.

Carrot, 28, 79, 80, 341.

Commelina, 19, 20, 168,

Bruniacea, 215, 306.

Caryophyllacecz, 202,

251, 252.

Brunsvigia, 126, 189,

212, 294, 295.

CommelinacecE, 205, 209,

262, 265.

Caryopsis, 176, 245.

251.

Bryophyllum, 123, 306.

Cassia, 116, 312.

Complete flowers, 134.

Bryophyta, 220, 225.

Cassytha, 98, 99.

Composite, 200, 203, 220,

Bryum, 232.

Castanea, 285.

366.

£«6o«, 339, 340.

Casuarina, 115.

Compound leaf, 46.

Buchu, 324.

Cataphractes, 360.

Cone, 148.

Budding, 122.

Catkin, 148.

Conifera, 238, 241.

Buds, 36.

Caudicle, 274.

Connaracea, 214.

Bulb, 27.

Caustic potash, 86.

Connective, 138.

Bulbine, 254, 257.

Celastiacea, 213.

Contorts, 341.

Bulbinella, 254, 257.

Celastrinece, 203.

Convolute aestivation,

Buphane, 190, 262, 265.

Celery, 341.

143-

Bupleurum, 53, 341.

Cells, 63, 68.

Convolvulacece, 219.

Burchellia, 362.

Cell sap, 64.

Corchorus, 329.

Burmanniacece, 208.

Cell walls, 64.

Cork, 31.

Burr weed, 189.

Cellulose, 65, 68.

Corm, 27.

Burseracea, 212.

Cerastium, 297.

Cornacecf, 217.

Index

Corolla, 132. 1 Delphinium, 297.

Entada, 312.

Cortex, 71. , Dermatogen, 81.

Enzymes, 68, 70.

Corycium, 276, 280. j Dianthus, 132, 296, 297.

Epicarp, 180.

Corymb, 145. Diascia, 356.

Epidermis, 71.

Corymbium, 367. \Diastella, 288.

Epigynous, 141, 201.

Cotyledon, 306.

Diclinous flowers, 157,

Epilobium, iSs, 187,

Cotyledonreticulata, 108.

238.

338.

Cotyledons, 7.

Dicotyledons, 10, 47,

Epipetalous, 139.

Crassula, 106, 107, 108,

196, 197, 202, 209.

Epiphytes, 28.

no, 134, 305.

Didynamous, 356.

Episepalous, 139.

Crassulacetz, 203, 214,

Dierama, 267.

Equisetum, 229, 231.

305-

Dilatris, 272.

Eremia, 343.

Crinum, 262.

Dimorphotheca, 371.

Erica, 194, 342.

Crocosma, 267.

Dioecious, 238.

EricacecB, 204, 218, 341.

Cross fertilized, 158. I EfloscoriacecE, 208.

Eriocaulacece, 208.

Crotalaria, 313. j Diosnia, 323.

Eriocephalus, 369.

Cruciferce, 202, 211, 300. ] Diplopappus, 368.

Eriospermum, 254.

Cryptadenia, 337. | Diplostemonous, 139.

Erodium, 189, 316, 317.

Cryptogams, 196.
Cryptostemma, 160.

Dipsacece, 203, 220.
Dtsa, 164, 275, 276, 278,

Erythrina, 315.
Essential organs, 135.

Cuciirbitacece, 220.

377-

Etaerio, 175.

Cunonia, 130. • Disciflora, 201, 203.
Curculigo, 262, 263. : Disperis, 276, 279.

Eucalyptus, 112.
Eucomis, 254, 258.

Cuscuta, 98, 99. | Dodoneea, 176.

Eulophia, 276.

Cutin, 65, 68, 288. JDomfoya, 332.

Eitmuraltia, 326.

Cuttings, 121. i Dovea, 249.

Eupatoriea, 367.

Cyanella, 272. : Drosera, 102, 137, 304.

Euphorbia, 176, 190,

Cyanotis, 251, 252. ; Droseracea, 202, 212,

198, 326.

Cyathea, 230. 3°3-

Euphorbiacea, 205, 213,

Cycadacece, 206, 238. I Drupe, 180.

326.

Cycadales, 237. Duthie, Miss, 275.

Euxyris, 253.

Cyme, 146.

Everlastings, 371.

Cynanchce, 348.

EARTH Star, 225.

Exstipulate, 46.

Cynarete, 372.

Ebenacea, 217.

Cyperacece, 205, 207, 243.

Ebenales, 217.

FAGACB^E, 210, 281, 283.

Cyperus, 245.

Echium, 352.

Faurea, 288, 290.

Cyphia, 124, 366.

Ecology, 117.

Fennel, 339.

Cypsella, 175.

Ectoplasm, 69.

Ferns, 229, 230.

Cyrtanthus, 262, 265.

Elatinaceez, 214.

Ferraria, 266.

Cystoliths, 67.

Elegia, 249.

Fertilization, 153, 159,

Cytimis, 292, 293. Elephantorhiza, 312.
Cytoplasm, 63, 69. Elephant's foot, 377.

236.
Fibro-vascular bundles,

Elytropappus, 370.

?i-

D.4/S, 337.

Embryo, 7, 234.

Ficoidece, 203, 210, 293.

Dalbergia, 311. .Encephalartos, 16, 237,

Fig, 182.

Danvin, 158, 163, 164. 238, 239, 240. Filament, 132.

Datura, 132, 134, 353, Endocarp, 180.

Fir, 242.

355. j Endodermis, 71.

Flagellaria, 126, 127.

Daucus, 79, 80, 149, Endoiiema, 334.
341. i Endoplasm, 69.

Flagellariaceee, 208.
Fleur-de-Lys, 267.

Deciduous, 141. j Endosperm, 8, 9, 197.

.F/ora Capensis, 192, 202,

Decussate leaves, 51. Engler, 199, 202, 206.

279.

Defences of plants, 103. ! Ensiform, 112.

Floral clock, 165.

Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Floscopa, 251.

Ginkgo, 237.

Heliotrope, 353.

Flowers, 131.

Ginkgoact'ce, 206.

Helipterum, 370, 371.

Fly catcher, 164.

Gladiolus, 171, 267, 270.

Hemimeris, 356.

Follicle, 177.

Gleichenia, 233.

Hemitelia, 230, 233.

Foreign immigration,

Glischrocolla, 334.

Henslow, Rev. G., 171.

126.

Gloriosa, 125, 255, 260.

Hermannia, 333.

Forget-me-not, 352.

Glumacece, 205.

Hermaphrodite flowers,

Frankeniacecz, 215.

Glumes, 149, 247.

136.

Freesia, 267.

Gnetacece, 206, 238, 243.

Hermas, in, 341.

Freylinia, 357.

Gnetum, 243.

Herschelia, 279.

Frog spittle, 221.

Gnittia, 337.

Hesperantha, 266, 269.

Frond, 233.

Gomphocarpus, 349.

Hessea, 262.

Fruit, definition, 174.

Goodeniacea, 220.

Heterochlamydeous,2o8,

Fruits, 174.

Gossypium, 330.

211.

Frutang, 268.

Grafting, 122.

Hexaglottis, 266.

Fumariacece, 211.

Graminacece, 206, 207,

Hexastemon, 342.

Fungi, 98, 222.

,245-

Hibiscus, 132, 134, 169,

Funicle, 132.

Grammanthes, 305.
Gr aphis. 4.

330,331.
Hilum, 7, 132.

GALAXIA, 266. I Grappling plant, 189.

Holothrix, 276.

Galaxiece, 266.

Grasses, 245.

Homer ia. 266, 268.

Galium, 363.

Grasshoppers, 3.

Homochlamydeous, 207.

Galls, 40.

Grenadilla, 125.

Honey glands, 143.

Galopina, 363.

Grevillea, 188, 287.

Hoodia, 350.

Gametophyte, 229, 235.

Grevilloidece, 287.

Hooker, 198, 201, 202,

Gamopetalce, 203.

Grew, Nehemiah, 158.

374-

Gamopetalous, 141.

Grewia, 329, 377.

Hook climbers, 126.

Gamopetaly, 200.

Grielum, 310.

Hottentot rig, 141, 294.

Gamosepalous, 141.

Grisebachia, 343.

Hybrids, 195.

Gardenia, 363.

Groo* Ttt//>, 268.

Hydnora, 99, 292.

Gazania, 160, 372.

Growth curvatures, 20,

Hydnoracea, 205, 211,

Geaster, 225.

21.

292.

Geele bloemetjes, 358.
Geissoloma, 335.

Guttifcra, 214.
Gymnospermce, 196, 206,

Hydrocharitacece, 209.
Hydrocotyle, 340.

Geissolomaceie, 215, 334.

220, 236, 238.

Hydrogen, 90.

Geissorhiza, 266.

Gynandropsis, 139, 301.

Hydrophylax, no, 363.

Gemmae, 227.
Genera of South African

Gyncecium, 140.

Hydrophyllacea-, 219.
Hymenophyllum, 233.

plants, 202.

HABENARIA, 276, 280.

Hyobanche, 99, 358.

Gentianacete, 204, 218,

Hamanthus, 126, 262,

Hyphae, 98.

345-

265.

Hypodiscus, 249.

Genus, 194

Hamodoraccce, 205, 208,

Hypogynous, 141, 201.

Geraniacea:, 176, 203,

271.

Hypoxidia, 262.

212, 316.

Hakea, 188, 285, 287.

Hypoxis, 178, 262, 263.

Geraniales, 212.

Halleria, 357.

Geranium, 316, 317.

Halophytes, 91, in, 344.

ILICACEM, 213.

Gerbera, 148.

Haloragidacecz, 217.

Imbricate aestivation,

Germinate, 6.

Hamamelidacece, 215.

J43-

Germs, 2.

Harpagophytmn, 189.

Imperfect flowers, 135.

Gerrardanthus, 125.

Harveya, 99, 359.

Incomplete, 205.

Gesneriacea, 219.

Hedyotis, 363.

Indian corn, 156.

Gethyllis, 192, 262, 263.
Geum, 309.

Helichrysum, 371.
Hcliophila, 300,

Indigofera, 161, 314.
Indusium, 233,

Index

383

Inflorescence, 145.
Insertion of flowers 139.
Insolation, 116.
Internode, 18.
Inulin, 67, 92.
Involucre, 149.
Iodine, 92.

Iridacece, 205, 208, 265.
Irregular flowers, 142.
Ixia, 267, 269.
Ixiea, 266.

JACARANDA, 361.
Job's Tears, 247, 248,

252.

yuglandiicece, 281.
Juncacea, 208, 249.
Jussieua, 338.

KAEMPFERIA, 273.
Kaffir beer, 223.
Kalahari region, 378.
Kalanchoe, 306.
Kalkoentjes, 141, 142,

270.
Karroo region, 105, no,

377-

Karroo thorn, 312.
Kei apple, 41.
Kigelia, 204, 361.
Kinoplasm, 69.
Klattia, 266.
Kleinia, 121.
Klimop, 298.
Klis grass, 189.
Kniphopfia, 254, 256.
Knowltotiia, 298, 299.
Kolbe, Dr., 51, 155, 171.
Kukumakranka, 191,

263.

LABIATE, 176, 204, 219,

350.

Lachenalia, 254, 258.
Lachnea, 337.
Lagenaria, 125.
Lagenocarpus, 342.
Lanaria, 272.
Lapeyrousia, 267.
Lauracece, 210.
Laurus, 342.
Leaf scars, 37.
Leaves, 45,

| Lebeckia, 48.
Legume, 177.
Leguminosce, 203, 214,

310.

Lemnacete, 207.
Lenticel, 33.
Lentibulariacece, 220.
Leonotis, 351, 352.
Lepidium, 300.
Leptocarpus, 249.
Leting, 223.
Leucadendron, 155, 185,

186, 188, 286; 287,

288. 289.

Leucoplastids, 64, 70.
Leucospermum, 32, 135,

172, 287, 290, 291.
Lichens, 4, 101.
Lightfootia, 365.
Lighting matches, 161.
Lignin, 68.
Ligulate, 367.
Ligule. 247.
Liguliflora;, 373.
LiliacecE, 205, 208, 253.
Limb, 141.
Limnanthemum , 345.
Linacecz, 212.
Linconia, 308.
Linnaeus, 158, 165, 195,

! 251.

Liparis, 275.
Litmus paper, 58.
Littonia, 255, 261.
! Liverworts, 225, 228.
Loasacece, 216.
Lobelia, 364.
Lobostemon, 352.
Locules, 133.
Loculicidal dehiscence,

178.

Locusts, in.
Lodicules, 247.
Loganiacea, 218.
Lotnaria, 233.
Lomentum, 178.
Lonchostoma, 308.
Loranthacece, 205, 211,

291.
Loranthns, 99, 161, 162,

292.

£,«£«, 125.
Lycium, 354, 355.

\Lycopodinece, 229, 234.
i Lyperia, 357.
Lythracece, 216.

MACOWANIANA, 5.

Mezrua, 302.

Magnolia, 199.

Magnoliaceie, 198.

Mahernia, 334.
, Maiden Hair, 230, 234.

Maizena, 92.

Malpigkiacea, 213.
1 Malva, 330.
j Malvacece, 176, 202, 214,
329-

Malvastrum, 330.

Manulea, 358.

Marchantia, 226.
| Marginal placentation,

! 137-

| Marloth, Dr., 116, 290,

234, 304.

Martyniacece, 219.
Matjesgoed, 245.
Medicago, 189, 310, 314.
Medulla, 72.
Medullary rays, 72.
Megaspores, 234.
Melasphcerula, 267.
Melastomacetz, 216.
Meliacea, 213.
Melianthus, 322.
Mendel, 170.
Menispermacece, 211.
Mentha, 351.
Meristem, 75.
V. d. Merwe, Mr., 358.
Mesembrianthemum, 9,

109, no, 116, 128, 141,

180, 293, 294.
Mesocarp, 180.
Metrosideros, 374.
Micranthus, 267.

4, 125, 164,

349-

Micropyle, 7, 196, 132.
Microsporangia, 138.
Microspores, 132, 138,

196, 234, 236.
Migration of plants, 124.
Milk bush. 164.
Milkwood, 377.
Mimetes, 287, 290.

384 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Mimosece, 311. | OAKS, growth of, 36, 128.

Parsnips, 341.

Mistletoe, 99, 100.

Obdiplostemonous, 139.

Passerina, 337.

Monadelphous, 139.
Monadenia, 279.

Ocknacetz, 213.
CEnothera, 338.

Passifloracea, 215.
Patrijsjes, 141, 142.

Monocotyledons, 10, 48,

(Enotheracece, 203.

Pauridia, 262, 263.

132, 196, 197, 198, 205,

Olacacecz, 213.

Pavonia, 330.

207, 243.

OleacecE, 219.

Peddiea, 337.

Monoecious, 238.

Oleander, 346.

Pelargonium, 188, 318.

Monopetalous, 141.

Onagracea, 216, 337.

Pellia, 227, 228, 230.

Monopetaly, 200.

Onagrariete, 203.

Pencea, 334.

Monsonia, 317.

Onion, 112.

Penaacece, 215, 334.

Montinia, 135, 153, 169,

Oogonia, 221.

Penicillium, 222.

339-

Opuntia, 326.

Perceptive zone, 20.

Moracecz, 210.

Orchidacea, 205, 208,

Perennial, 27.

Morcea, 266, 267.

209, 274.

Perfect flowers, 135.

Morceece, 266.

Orders, 194.

Perianth, 132.

Mosses, 225, 227.

Ornithogalutn, 134, 254,

Periblem, 81.

Motor zone, 20.

258.

Pericycle, 74.

Moulds, 2, 100, 222, 223.

Orobanchacecz, 219.

Peridium, 225.

Mucilage, 68.

Orothamnus, 288.

Perigynous, 140, 201.

Mucor, 223.

Orphium, 345.

Perisperm, 10.

Mundtia, 325, 326.

Orthopenthea, 279.

Periwinkle, 346.

Muraltia, 325, 326.

Orthotropous, 132.

Persistent, 141.

Musa, 274.

Osmosis, 30.

Persoonioidece, 287.

Musacecz, 205, 208, 272.

Osmunda, 232.

Petaloidece, 205.

Mushrooms, 100, 224.

Osteospermum, 175, 371.

Petiole, 40.

Mycelium, 222, 225.

Othonna, 371.

Phanerogama , 196, 202.

Mycorhiza, 222, 342.

Outer bark, 32.

Philippia, 194, 195.

Myosotis, 352.
Myrica, 128, 283.
Myricacea, 209, 281,

Ovary, 132, 134, 196.
Ovules, 132.
Oxalidacea, 203, 212,

Phloem, 72.
Phosphoric acid, 84.
Phosphorus, 84.

283.

320.

Phragmites, 248.

Myrsinacece, 218.

Oxalis, 119, 159, 160,

Phylloclades, 42.

My r facets, 216.

168, 190, 320.

Phyllodes, 114.

Myrtiflorce, 216.
Mystacidium, 276, 278.

Oxygen, 83, 84, 85, 90.

Phyllotaxy, 50, 51, 145.
Phytolaccaceez, 209, 294.

PACHYCARPUS, 350.

Physalis, 354, 355.

NAIADACE&, 207.
Nematopus, 253.

Pachypodium, 204, 347.
Painted Ladies, 270.

Pileus, 225.
Pine seedling, 43.

Nemesia, 356.

Palea, 149, 247.

Pinnate venation, 47.

Nerine, 262, 264.

Palmce, 207, 208.

Pinus pinaster, 242.

Nerium, 346.

Palmate venation, 47.

Pinus pinea, 235, 236,

Nicotiana, 355.

Palmiet, 249.

242.

Niebuhria, 302.

Panicle, 145.

Pinus sylvestris, 137.

Nigella, 297.

Papaveracece, 211.

PiperacecB, 209.

Nitrogen, 101, 222.

Papilionaceae, 311, 313.

Pistil, 132, 136.

Nivenia, 288, 290.

Pappe, Dr., 268.

Pistillate flowers, 135.

Node, 18.

Pappus, 188, 366.

Pittosporaceez, 214.

Nucellus, 132.

Paranomus, 290.

Placenta, 137, 175.

Nucleus, 63, 69, 159.

Parasites, 98, 222.

Placentation, 137.

Nyctaginacece, 210.

Parastranthus, 365.

Plantaginacece, 219.

Nycterinia, 357.

Parenchyma, 65.

Plastids, 64.

Nympheeacece, 211.

Parietales, 215.

Pleiostemonous, 139.

Index

385

Plerome, 81. Pteris aquilina, 233.

Rostellum, 275.

Plumbago, 344. Pterygodium, '92, 275,

Rotate, 141.

Plumbaginacece, 204, 276, 279.

Riibiacece, 204, 220, 361.

218, 343-

Puff balls, 225.

Rubus, 309.

Plumule, 7.

Pyrogallic acid, 86.

Rusts, 98, 223.

Podalyria, 313.

Rutacete, 203, 212, 323.

Podocarpus, 101, 241,

QUERCUS, 284, 285.

242, 377-

SACCHAROMYLES, 222.

Podostemacea, 214.

RACEME, 145.

Sage, 163, 351.

Pods, 177.

Radicle, 7.

Salicacecs, 209, 281, 282.

Poinsettia, 328. Rafflesiacece, 292.

So/i*, 283.

Pollen, 132, 158, 196,

Raphe, 133.

Salvador acea, 218.

236.

Ranales, 211.

Salvia, 163, 351.

Pollination, 153.

Ranunculacece, 198, 202,

Samara, 176.

Pollinia, 164, 274.

•210, 211, 297.

Sandersonia, 255, 258,

Poly gala, 325.

Ranunculus, 298, 300.

260.

Polygalacea, 202, 213,

Receptacle, 137.

Sansevieria, 272.

324-

Red rust, 98.

Sap, 30.

Polygonacece, 210.

Regular flowers, 142.

Sapindacece, 203, 213,

Polypetala, 202.

Replum, 177, 301.

321.

Polypetalous, 141.
Polysepalous, 141.

Reproduction, methods
of, 119.

Sapindales, 213.
Sapindus, 322.

Polystachya, 275, 277.

Resedacece, 211.

Sapotacece, 217.

Pome, 182.

Respiration, 83, 96.

Saprophytes, 98, 100,

Pomegranate, 41.

Restiacea, 124, 155, 205,

222.

Pontederiacece, 208.

208, 248.

Sarcocaulon, 317.

Poplars, 283.

Restio, 249, 250.

Sarcocolla, 334.

Populus, 283.
Portulacacecz, 210.

Retzia, 353, 355.
Rhamnacece, 213.

Sarcophyte, 99, 100.
Sarcostemma, 350.

Portulacaria, 137, 176.

Rhenoster bush, 371.

Satyridium, 278.

Prepotency, 159.

Rhigozum, 360.

Satyrium, no in, 164,

Primulacea, 218.

Rhipsalis, 326.

276, 277.

Primitlales, 217.

Rhizoids, 226, 230.

Saxifragacece, 214.

Printzia, 373.

Rhizomes, 27, 120.

Scape, 145.

Prionum paltnita, 249.
Pronuba moth, 165.

Rhizophoracece, 216.
Rhododendron, 342.

Schepperia, 303.
Schitaminece, 272.

Prophyll, 197.

Rhoeadales, 211.

Schizea pectinata, 232.

Prosenchyma, 65.

Rhus, 33.

Schizocarp, 176.

Protea, 134, 163, 175,

Rice, 247.

Schizodium, 276, 279.

188,284,285,287,288.

Ricinus communis, 328.

Schizostylis, 266.

Proteacea, 205, 210, 285.

Riocreuxia, 350.

Schotia, 313.

Proteids, 63, 67.

Rochea, 305.

Scrophulariacece, 204,

Prothallia, 230.

Roella, 141, 158, 159,

219, 355-

Protophloem, 76.

365-

Seaweeds, 221.

Protoplasm, 57, 58, 63.

Romulea, 266, 268.

Sebaea, 345.

Protoxylem, 66.

Rooedblad, 176.

Secamone, 164, 349.

Psalliota campestris,

Root cap, 30, 80.

Securidaca, 325.

224.

Root hairs, 17, 29, 57.

Seed, 6, 174.

Psilocladus, 326.
Psoralea, 313.

Root structure, 78.
Roridula, 304.

Seed-bearing plants, 235.
Seeds, distribution of,

Piceroxylon, 322, 377.

Rosacece, 203, 214, 216,

185.

Pteridophyta, 220, 229.

308.

Selaginella, 234.

Ptem, 233.

Rosales, 214.

Senecio, 107, 161, 371.

386 Plants and their Ways in South Africa

Senecionidea, 368.

Stapelia, 168, 186,350. Thalictrtim, 297, 298.

Sepal, 131.

Starch, 66, 92, 93. Thallophyta, 220, 221.

Septicidal dehiscence,

Statice, 344. ' Thallus, 226.

178.

Stele, 71. Thamnea, 306, 308.

Serruria, 285, 287, 290,

Stellaria, 297.

Thamnochortus, 249.

Sessile, 46, 145.

Stem structure, 71.

Theobroma, 332.

Setaria, 189.

Stem twiners, 124.

Thymelacea, 205, 215,

Shrub, 29.

Sterculea, 332.

336.

Sida, 330.

SterculiacecF, 202, 214,

Thymelceales, 215.

Sideroxylon, 377.

332.

Tiliacea, 202,214, 328.

Silene, 295, 296.

Stigma, 133, 134.

Tittmannia, 308.

Silicula, 177.

Stipules, 46.

Toddalia, 323.

Siliqua, 177.

Stomata, 61.

Tondelt oom (-bloem,

Silver tree, 103, 104, 135,

Strelitzia, 273.

-blaren), 112, 341.

155, 288, 289.

Streptanthera, 267.

Tracheae, 66.

Sisyrinchia, 266.

Streptocarpus, 189.

Tradiscantia, 252.

Smilax, 254, 255.

Strophanthus, 346.

Translator, 348.

Sneezewood, 322.

Sfrttmaria, 262.

Transpiration, 30.

Soil, 88.

Struthiola, 336, 337.

Traveller's Joy, 134, 188,

Solanacea, 204, 219, 353.

Stylapterus, 334.

298.

Solatium, 354, 355.

Style, 133, 134.

Tree, 29.

Sonchus, 373.

Suber, 68.

Triaspis, 176.

Sorocephalus, 288.

Sugar, 67, 92, 94, 246.

Tricholana, 248.

Sorus, 230.

Sugar-bird, 171, 172.

Trichomanes, 233.

Spadix, 148.

Sugar-bush, 105, 106,288.

Trifolium, 314.

Sparaxis, 267.

Sundew, 102.

Tripteris, 176, 371.

Sparmannia, 529.
Spatalia, 288.

Sutera, 357.
Sutherlandia, 310, 314.

Triumfetta, 329.
Tritonia, 267, 270.

Spathe, 149.

Symbionts, 101, 222.

Tropasolum, 60.

Spawn, 224.

Sympetal(e,i$2, 141,200,

Tuber, 27.

Species, 194.

217.

Tubiflorce, 341.

Spekboom, 137, 176.

Sympetaly, 200.

Tulbaghia, 254.

Spergula, 297.

Synandrous, 139.

Tunics, 27.

Spermaphyta, 196, 206,

Syncarpous, 134, 178. Turneracea, 215.

235'

Syngenesious, 139. 1 Typha, 243, 244.

Spermatozoids, 221.

Synnotia, 267.

Typhacea, 207, 243.

Sperm-cells, 226.

Synopsis of Orders, 202.

Spharalcea, 330.

Syringoidea, 266. UMBEL, 145.

Sphenogyne, 368.

Umbelllfera, 176, 203,

Spike, 145.

TAMARICACE&, 215. 217, 339.

Spirocyclic, 199.

Tannin, 32, 68, 70. Urospermum, 187, 189,

Sporangium, 123, 227.

Taxacece, 206. 373.

Spores, 222, 224, 230.

Tecomaria, 141, 172,

Ursinia, 369.

Sporogonium, 227.

360.

Urticacea, 210.

Sporophyte, 229, 230,

Tendrils, 125.

Utricularia, 102.

235-

Termites, 103.

U-tube, 60.

Sprengel, 158.

Ternetz, Miss, 222, 342.

Staavia, 307, 308.

Testudinaria, 377.

VALERIANACE&, 220.

Stachys, 352.

Tetradynamous, 300.

Vallota, 262, 265.

Stamens, 132, 138.

Tetragonia, 293, 294-5.

Valvate aestivation, 143.

Staminate flowers, 135.

T'gaukum, 9, 128.

Vascular bundles, 30.

Staminodia, 139, 151.

Thalami flora, 201, 202.

Vaucheria, 221.

Stangeria, 238, 239, 240.

Thalamus, 139.

Vellozia, 263.

Index

387

Velloziece, 263.
Venation, 46.

Water pressure, 58.
Water uintjes, 10.

Xyridacea, 209, 253.
Xyris, 253.

Verbenacea, 219.

Waterways, 57.

Vernonia, 367.

Watsonia, 267, 270.

YEAST, 3, 100, 222.

Vernoniecf, 367.

Welwitschia, 243.

Yeast plant, 115.

Villarsia, 345.

Werner, 341.

Yellow wood, 101, 241,

Vinca, 346.

Whorl, 131.

242.

Violacece, 215.

Widdringtonia, 242. I Fwcca, 165.

Viooltje, 258.

Wiegand, Dr., 288.

Virgilia, 313.

Willow whistles, 31.

ZALUZIANSKYA, 357.

Viscum minimum, 189,

Window leaves, 116, 118.

Zantedeschia, 157.

292.

Witsenia, 266.

Zanthoxylon, 323, 324.

Vitacece, 213.

Wonderboom, 5.

Zea mais, 9, 156, 246.

Wool spider, 189.

Zitzikamma forests, 377.

WACHENDORFIA, 271,

iy«rwfc«a, 255.

Zonal development, 199.

272.

Zygia, 312.

Wahlenbergia, 178, 365.

XANTHIUM, 189.

Zygomorphic, 142.

Waller ia, 255.

Xerophytic, in, 240.

Zygomorphy, 200.

Wallflower, 179.

Xylem, 71.

Zygophyllacecz, 212.

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