Sarcocaulon
(from sarx, sarkos, flesh, and caulon, a stem; alluding to the fleshy stems). ORD. Geraniaceae. A genus comprising three species of divaricately-branched, fleshy or succulent, rigid, greenhouse herbs or sub-shrubs, armed with spines formed out of persistent and hardened petioles; they are confined to South Africa. Flowers purple, on axillary, one-flowered peduncles; sepals five, imbricated; petals five, hypogynous, imbricated; stamens fifteen. Leaves small, on the spinous petioles, or tufted or solitary in the axils of the thorns. The species thrive best in a compost of loam, peat, and leaf mould or sand. Propagation may be readily effected by young cuttings, inserted in sand, under a glass; or by cuttings of the roots. S. Burmanni (Burmann's). fl. 1 1/2in. to 2in. broad; petals twice as long as the mucronate sepals; stamens five long and ten shorter. May. l. obovate-cuneate, 1/2in. to 3/4in. long, inciso-crenate, glabrous or downy, fleshy, on short petioles. h. 1ft. 1800. (B. M. 5729.) S. L'Heretieri (L'Heritier's). fl. petals not much exceeding the cuspidate, attenuated sepals. May. l. obovate or obcordate, acute or obtuse, entire, glabrous. h. 1ft. 1790. This is often confounded with S. Patersoni. S. Patersoni (Paterson's). fl. smaller than in either of the other species; petals not twice as long as the obtuse, mucronate sepals. May. l. cuneate or obcordate, obtuse or mucronulate, entire, glabrous. h. 2ft. 1827.