Ber 9 la '] XX. ELATJNE.E (OLIVER). 153 



verticillasters, subsessile or pedicels equalling or slightly exceeding the calyx. 

 sepals lanceolate to linear, very acute, pilose or hispid and ciliate, about equal 

 to the thin oblaneeolate petals. Stamens 5, occasionally varying with fewer 

 or more. Ovary globose ; styles very short.— B. peploides and B. pentandra, 

 WW et Perr. Fl. Seneg. i. 42, 44. B. erecla, Guill. et Perr. I.e. (an erect 

 variety, with narrow linear-lanceolate sepals and petals). 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Perrottet ! 



«»le Land. Nubia, Kotschy ! Kordofan (Schweinf. et Asch. Enum), also var. 



An Indian weed, extending also to Australia. 



3. B. polyantha, Sond. in Linnoea, xxiii. 17. A diffuse, much-branched, 

 fibrous annual herb of 3-8 in. ; the lateral branches often procumbent. 

 ■Leaves slightly fleshy, oval-oblong, acute, the lower narrowed to the 

 base, denticulate at least towards the apex, usually |-1 in. long, £-£ in. 

 broad. Stipules lanceolate. Flowers solitary or in pairs, on slender pedicels 

 exceeding or equalling the subtending leaf, about \ in. across when ex- 

 panded. Sepals lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, very acute, nearly equalling 

 °r sometimes exceeding the obtuse rose-coloured petals. Stamens 10. 



Lower Guinea. Mossamedes and Benguella, Angola, Dr. WelwiUch ! 

 Also at the Cape. 



Scarcely, I think, specifically distinct from B. anagalloides, E. Meyer, and nearly allied 

 to two Australian species. 



4- B. decumbens, Planch.; ffarv. et Sond. Fl. Cap. i. 116. A pro- 

 cumbent or ascending herb, branching from a woody stock ; branches tetrago- 

 "ous towards the extremities, puberulous. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, 

 ac "te, narrowed to the base, sharply serrate, glabrous or with few minute 

 setae > 1 in. long more or less, T \~} in. broad. Stipules subulate or linear, 

 denticulate. Flowers in few- or many-flowered verticillasters, much shorter 

 *«m the leaves ; pedicels exceeding or equalling the flowers. Sepals oblong- 

 la »ceoIate membranous-margined, with a firm, subulate, at length spreading 

 ilc umen, equalling the oblaneeolate petals. Stamens twice as many as petals, 

 nearly equal ; filaments alternately dilated below. Ovary 5-sulcate, narrowed 

 wove into the styles.— Harv. Thes. Cap. t. 24. 



JWoaamb. Distr. Zambesi, Dr. Kirk ! 

 Also south of the tropic. 



5 - B. suffruticosa, Fenzlin Denkschr. Bat. Gesell. iii. 183. Shrubby 

 decumbent or spreading, usually with very numerous opposite branchlets, at 



rst shortly hispid; the 'bark at length somewhat glabrate and deciduous in 

 Papery cinnamon- or rust-coloured flakes. Leaves rather thick, varying from 



)1- oadly elliptical, in the more rigid small-leaved forms, to oval, obtuse or 

 subacute, crenate-serrulate, the margin often revolute, shortly hispid on both 

 th k 8nd 0ften S'andular, often fascicled in the axils, sessile or narrowed to 



»e b a9e and subpetiolate, 1-4 lines long. Flowers solitary or in fascicles 

 ft • u 6 ° r 8; P ecliceIs shorter than or but slightly exceeding the ovate, 

 JJ'ckened above and pointed or apiculate sepals. Petals obovate-oblong. 

 stamens 10, alternately shorter or nearly equal ; filaments opposed to the 

 Se Pals slightly dilated below. Ovary ovoid, 5-sulcate, narrowed into the 



