Liparia
(from liparos, oily, shining; in allusion to the shining surface of the leaves). ORD. Leguminosae. A genus comprising about four species of greenhouse shrubs, confined to the Cape of Good Hope. Flowers yellow, in terminal heads; bracts large, imbricate, involucrate; standard oval-oblong; wings oblong; keel narrow, acute. Leaves simple, entire, coriaceous. L. parva and L. sphaerica are the two species introduced. They thrive in a compost of fibry loam and turfy peat, with a small quantity of sand added. Propagated by cuttings of young shoots, inserted in sand, under a bell glass. Water must at all times be given with great care.
L. parva (small). fl. yellow, small, capitate; bracts orbicular, acuminate, with bearded edges; segments of calyx lanceolate-elliptic, bearded. March and April. l. ovate-elliptic, acuminate, three to five-nerved, spreading or reflexed. 1840.
L. p. angustifolia (narrow-leaved).* This is a variety having narrower leaves than the type. 1840. (B. M. 4034.) L. sphaerica (spherical). fl. orange, in dense nodding heads, fully 3in. or 4in. in diameter. July and August. l. lanceolate-oblong, pungent, three to seven-nerved, smooth. h. 4ft. 1794. (B. M. 1241.)