DESCRIPTION:--An erect shrub ·9 to 3 m. high. _Stem_ and branches terete, ashen-grey, prickly. _Leaves_ pinnately trifoliate, 5 to 7·5 cm. long and wide, broadly ovate, gradually narrowing to an acute apex, occasionally very much attenuated and 3-veined at the base; the terminal leaflet similar but smaller and broader in proportion to its length; the midribs of all usually bearing prickles; stipule 6 mm. long, oblong, acute; stipellae glandular. _Petiole_ 5 to 7·5 cm. long, with scattered broad-based prickles along its whole length. _Peduncle_ 30 to 40 cm. long, terete, bearing flowers in the upper half. _Flowers_ crowded. _Calyx_ 5-toothed, 1 cm. long, pubescent; tube subcylindric; teeth acute. _Vexillum_ 3·7 cm. long, oblong; alae 1 cm. long, oblong; carina 1·1 cm. long, ovate. _Ovary_ many-ovuled, tipped with the persistent style. _Legume_ 7·5 to 12·5 cm. long, 2-to 5-seeded, torulose with wide spaces between the seeds. PLATE 112.--Fig. 1, leaf and raceme, natural size; 2, calyx, twice natural size; 3, vexillum; 4, wing; 5, keel; 6, stamens; 7, pistil; 8, pod; 9, portion of branch, much reduced. F.P.S.A., 1923. [Illustration: _113._ S. Gower del.] PLATE 113. ADENIA DIGITATA. _Transvaal._ PASSIFLORACEAE. Tribe MODECCEAE. ADENIA, _Forsk. Fl. Aegypt. Arab._ 77 (1775). =Adenia digitata=, _Engl. Bot. Jahrb._ vol. xiv. p. 375; _Modecca digitata, Harv. Thes. Cap._ t. 12, 167; _Fl. Cap._ vol. ii. p. 499. The species of _Adenia_ described below and figured on the accompanying Plate is of special interest, inasmuch as the large tuberous roots have proved to be extremely poisonous. In October 1922 the plant was brought to the notice of the Division of Botany by Dr. H. Osborne of Pretoria, who reported that two white labourers were admitted to the Pretoria Hospital suspected of having been poisoned by eating a portion of the root, and that one of them died shortly after admission to the Hospital. A sample of the root sent in by Dr. Osborne was submitted to Drs. H. H. Green and W. H. Andrews of the Division of Veterinary Research, and as a result of their investigations two types of poison were discovered. One of these acts very rapidly, and with symptoms which can be attributed to the small amount of a cyanogetic glucoside; the other acts more slowly, but its chemical nature is as yet unknown. A full account of these investigations will be published in the _Report of the Director of Veterinary Research_. The fruits of _Adenia digitata_ are berries of a very attractive nature, and also appear to be poisonous, for some years ago in the Pretoria District two native children died after eating them. The plant is quite common in the Pretoria District, and also occurs in the Barberton District. It has long, graceful branches provided with tendrils, by means of which it climbs up neighbouring bushes and shrubs.