PLATE 90.--Fig. 1, leaf; Fig. 1_a_, section of leaf; Fig. 2, spathe valve; Fig. 3, perianth from outside; Fig. 4, same from above; Fig. 5, section of flower; Fig. 6, stamen; Fig. 7, base of filament; Fig. 8, anther (front); Fig. 9, anther (back); Fig. 10, style; Fig. 11, inner valve. F.P.S.A., 1923. [Illustration: _91._ S. Gower del.] PLATE 91. LACHENALIA ROODEAE. _Cape Province._ LILIACEAE. Tribe SCILLEAE. LACHENALIA, _Jacq._; _Benth. et Hook. f._ vol. iii. p. 807. =Lachenalia Roodeae=, _Phillips_, sp. nov. _Bulbus_ 2·5 cm. longus, 1·8 cm. latus. _Folia_ 2, 7-14 cm. longa, basi 2-4 cm. lata, ovato-lanceolata, apice obtusa, aliquando mucronata, glabra. _Pedunculus_ 2-3·5 cm. longus, c. 7 cm. latus. _Inflorescentia_ spicata, 9-14 cm. longa. _Bracteae_ c. 1 mm. longae, ovatae, apice obtusae. _Pedicellus_ c. 1 mm. longus. _Flos_ 1-1·2 cm. longus, campanulatus, basi obliquus; lobi exteriores 8 mm. longi, 4·75 mm. lati, oblongo-ovati, apice obtusi; lobi interiores 1 cm. longi, 4·5 mm. lati, oblongo-obovati, apice rotundi. _Stamina_ exserta; filamenta 1·2 cm. longa; antherae 1·5 mm. longae, oblongae. _Ovarium_ 3·5 mm. longum, 2·5 mm. latum, trigonum; stylus 1·1 cm. longus, teres; stigma minute 3-lobatum. Van Rhynsdorp District: Van Rhynsdorp, _Mrs. E. Rood_ in _National Herbarium Pretoria_, 1461. This extremely fine species of _Lachenalia_ was sent to the Division of Botany by Mrs. E. Rood of Van Rhynsdorp, who states that the plant is quite common there. It belongs to an endemic South African genus of about fifty species, and surpasses any other species known to us in the rich colouring of the flowers. It flowers during August and September, and should make a welcome addition to the bulb garden as one of the earlier flowering species. There has been some doubt about the identity of this plant, and we were inclined to regard it as _L. carnosa_, Baker, which was collected by Drège in Little Namaqualand. Mr. N. E. Brown, of Kew, very kindly examined the plate, and is of the opinion that it is not this species, and that nothing like it is in the Kew Herbarium. It, however, is very near _L. carnosa_, Baker, but may be distinguished from this species in the inner perianth segments being longer than the outer and in the far exserted stamens. This latter character is not constant, as we find after examining a large series of specimens that the length to which the stamens are exserted from the perianth depends on the age of the flower. The stamens are in more or less two unilateral rows, the lower three ripening before the upper three.