246 XVIII. CARYOPHYLLEiE. (Edg*eworth & Hook, f.) [Polycarjm 



Cymes 



i 



Branches 6-18 in. high. Leaves obtuse, {i in. ; stipules laiiceolate. 

 puberulous, lax, verj many-flowered. Flowers -^^ in. long. 



3. P. splcata, Wight & Am. in Ann, Nat. Hist. iii. 91; annual, gla 

 brous, leaves obovate-spathulate radical rosulate, cymes densely fas- 

 cicled or semiumbellate, flowers subspicate, sepals lanceolate or ovat^, 

 lanceolate acute much exceeding the petals and capsule. P. staticseformis, 

 Ilocfist dc Stevd. 



m 



Western Peninsula, at Tuticoreen, Wight; Sindh, /SEocJ*.— Distrib. Aralia, 

 Egypt, N. Australia. v * 



A small herb 2-5 in. high; branches strict, filiform, erecto-patent from *^^ ^?*^'' 

 bearing tufts of leaves and umbelled cymes. Leaves petioled, ^-4 in., rather tiesny, 

 nerveless; stipules scarious, lacerate. Cymes 4 in. diam., long ped uncled. ^If.^ri* 

 subsecund, crowded, J in. long, bracts and sepals acute, scarious, white, with a highly 

 coloured broad herbaceous midrib. PeiaU very small, oblong, obtuse. Capsule ratner 

 more than half the length of the sepals. Seeds shining. 



\^ 



Ordek XiX. PORTULACEJE. (By W. T. Thiselton Dyer, F.L.S.) 



)pendages, rarely naked. Inflorescence various. 

 's 4-5, hypogynous or perigynous, free (or unitea 

 W5 4-O0, inserted with (rarely upon) the petals. 



Herbs, rarely undershrubs. Leaves opposite or alternate, entire ; nodes 

 with scarious or hairy appendages, rarely naked. Inflorescence various. 

 Sepals 2, imbricate. Petals 



below), fugacious. Stamens-^ — ^ xl^^x^lv^xjl ttx^x^ v*"*-*.? ^^«-/ - * , 

 filaments slender; anthers 2-ceUed. Ovary free, or ^-inferior, 1-cellea 

 style 2-8-fid, divisions stigmatose ; ovules 2-qo , on basal funicles or a cen- 

 tral column, amphitropal. Capsule with transverse or 2-3-valvular deuis- 

 cence. Seeds 1-qo compressed ; embryo curved round a rnealy albumen. 



. Cosmopolitan, chiefly American ; genera 15, species about 125.- 



Ovary Lalf-adnate ...,...,' ....... I. PortulacA. 



Ovary free 2. Taunum. 



DlSTBIB 



1. POBTUZiACA, Lin 



X V 



^ -^ 



Diffuse, usually succulent, annual or perennial herbs. Leaves with scal^^ 

 or hairy nodal appendages. Flowers terminal, surrounded by ^/'^rj^^.^g 

 leaves, solitary or clustered. Sepals connate below, the free P^^t deoduo ^. 



or epipetalous. Ovary i-inferior ; style ^S-d" ' 



perigynous 



iform 



weeds extending to temperate regions ; species 16. 



4 



* Leaves flat. 



cuneate 



Ind 



vartfl 



, Leaves H ^1' 



Ham. in Wall. Cat. 6841. P, suffruticosa, Thw. Enum. 24 {not of 



I'hrougliout India, ascending to 5000 ft. in the Himalayas, 

 climates. 



An annual usually prostrate herb, J-l ft., subsucculent and glabrous, ucu^^-- # .^^^^ 

 rounded-truncate; fetiole very short. Inflorescence of few-flowered ^^^"'^^^ -^juted, 

 either solitary, or m dichotomous cymes. Flowers sessile, with a few ovate, p«.^ 

 scarious scales. Petals 5, about e<iuaUing the sepals, yellow. Stamens ^r-l ^ - 



3-8-fid. /Ss€& tubercled-pmctate.— An excellent salad. ' ''* ' gvlve'- 



Var, erecta; erect, leaves spathulate-h'near brighter Rreen: P. oleracea, ^^^^; / 

 tri8,J36.i?oyfe(rk>«o/i)a).— N.W.lpdia.: . : i. .. v 



ij '■.:■ 



;. f- '.. 



I 



^- 



4 r + 



\'- 



