Notes

(The following references may belong here or partly to the varieties d below:— S. variegata, Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8; Burm. Fl. Cap. Prodr. 7; Rottb. Bot. Udstrakte Nytte, 62, fig. 10; Poir. Tabl. ii. 325, t. 178, fig. 1; Encycl. vii. 388, and Dict. Sc. Nat. l. 391; Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 1, i. 309 and ed. 2, ii. 95; Willd. Sp. Pl. 1292, and Enum. Pl. Hort. Berol. 283; Moench, Suppl. Meth. Pl. 314; Pers. Syn. Pl. i. 280; Herb. Gén. Amat. ii. t. 125; Drapiez, Herb. Amat. i. t. 41; Schultes, Syst. Veg. vi. 37; Link, Enum. Pl. Hort. Berol. i. 256; Spreng. Syst. Veg. i. 838; Brongn. in Ann. Sc. Nat. xxiv. 268, 279, t. 14; Schlechter in Journ. Bot. 1898, 483, partly. Orbea variegata, Haw. Syn. Pl. Succ. 40.— Fritillaria crassa promontorii bonæ spei &c., Stapel in Theophrast. Hist. Pl. (1644), 335, with fig. Apocynum humile aizoides &c., Hermann, Hort. Acad. Lugd. Bat. Cat. 52 and 53, with fig.; Ray, Hist. Pl. (ed. 1688) ii. 1903; Pluk. Almagest. Bot. 37, with fig. Asclepias aizoides aphylla &c., Moris. Hist. Pl. iii. 611, § 15, t. 3, fig. 4. Crassa Rivini, Rupp. Fl. Jen. ed. 1718, 26–27. Stapelia denticulis ramorum extrorsum prominentibus, Linn. Hort. Cliff. 77. Stapelia denticulis ramorum patentibus, Royen, Fl. Leyd. Prodr. 409. The plant figured as the “Small Cape Fritillary,” “ Apocynum fritillaricum minus ,” in Petiver, Opera, i. (Gazoph. dec. ix.) 10, Cat. no. 450, t. 90, fig. 4, may be intended for some form of this species.) Stapelia variegata is the oldest known member of the tribe Stapeliæ and would appear to have been introduced into cultivation in Holland about 1640, since the first mention of the plant I can find is in Stapel's edition of Theophrastus Historia Plantarum, 1644. The type specimen of S. variegata in Linnæus' Herbarium consists of a well-preserved flower of the particular form of this variable species described above, the inner corona-lobes have been removed from the specimen, but the outer (which afford one of the chief characteristics of this form) are well preserved. It is the plant figured by Jacquin as S. normalis, and the same as the type specimen of Orbea woodfordiana, Haw., in Haworth's Herbarium at Oxford. On Linnæus' specimen the spots on the corolla-lobes are arranged in longitudinal rows exactly as figured by Jacquin. On Haworth's they are rather indistinct, but seem more scattered, this variation, however, I have seen on different flowers produced by the same plant. In its flowers S. variegata is extremely variable, the stems of the various forms being very similar and often indistinguishable. The flowers vary in the shape of the mature (but not young) bud, coloration, ciliation of the lobes, flatness of the disk, shape of the annulus, form and toothing of the outer corona-lobes, and length and direction of the outer horn of the inner corona-lobes. Upon the various combinations of these characters, numerous forms have been described and cultivated as distinct species. But some of these supposed specific characters vary in different flowers produced by the same individual, sometimes in the same, at others in different years. As distinct varieties are often crossed by insect agency, innumerable variations have thus arisen in their native habitat and in European gardens. Until recently I had supposed that most of these different forms were local variations or races, and that only one form grew in the vicinity of Cape Town, but I am informed by Mr. Pillans that several forms often grow intermingled within quite a limited area—for example, he states that he “gathered 17 different variations of S. variegata on Robben Island in an area of 80 by 100 yards. All these had distinct coronal and colour distinctions. Above Cape Town [on Table Mountain] there are quite as many, and on the Lion's Rump rather fewer, I think.” For those forms which have been fully described and figured as distinct species I here give a synoptic key and enumerate their distinctive characters, but many variations of them merge into one another. Besides these, there are a large number of forms, distinct from any described, growing wild, which have not received names, but I refrain from describing these (except in 2 cases), because they are merely hybrid forms. In the Monatsschrift für Kakteenkunde, vi. 35–43, Dr. Rüst has published a synoptic key to 58 species and 27 varieties of the group to which S. variegata belongs. The characters given in the key are unfortunately quite inadequate for identification and there are no descriptions, but Dr. Rust has very kindly lent to me his admirable drawings of all the forms he has enumerated. With the exception of S. Barklyi and S. namaquensis and its two varieties, all are forms of the different varieties of S. variegata described below or of S. mutabilis or hybrids between these and other forms, which have been raised in Europe, most of them in the nursery of Messrs. Dammann & Co. at Naples. Some are arranged among the varieties here recognised and the remainder in alphabetical order at the end, as I have not seen specimens. All the forms enumerated in the key have the margin of the annulus very spreading or recurved except in 72, S. albicans, in which it is only slightly recurved.