CARYOPIIYLLEJl. 57 



10. T. patens, W. Suffruticose, erect ; leaves mostly opposite, oval, abruptly tapering 

 towards the petioliform base ; panicle terminal, elongated, leafless, bearing dicltotomous 

 cymes : pedicels filiform ; flowers carmine ; stigmas divergent. — Jacq. Amer. Pict. t. 136. — 

 Portulaca, Jacq. P. paniculata, Jacq. Tal. fruticosum, Macf. (non W.). — Stem almost 

 simple, l'-2' high, leafy to the middle, where the panicle begins ; sepals deciduous, roundish, 

 apiculate ; petals small, obovate (3'" long); stamens about 15-20; seeds very minutely gra- 

 nulose. — Hab. Jamaica!, Disl., March, on seaside rocks; [Cuba! and Mexico! to Buenos 

 Ayres !, along the coast] . 



9. PORTULACA, T. 



Calyx 2-partite : tube adnate ; limb deciduous. Petals 4-6, hemiepigynous, delicate. 

 Stamens 8-20, hemiepigynous. Style 3-8-partite. Capsule unilocular, circumscissile, many- 

 seeded. — Uppermost leaves usually rosulate around the terminal flowers. 



11. P. oleracea, L. Annual ; leaves spathulate, rounded at the top, usually opposite: 

 axils glabrous ; flowers sessile, clustered or solitary ; calyx-divisions keeled ; petals yellow, 

 emarginate; stamens 12-7; style 5-partite; seeds minutely granulose. — Gray, Gen. Bor. 

 Amer. 1. t. 99. — The common form grows together in Jamaica with: — 



3- parviftora, Haw. Leaves minute (2"'-4'" long) : axils often shortly pilose.— This form, 

 however, is not peculiar to the West Indies. 1 have observed the same in several localities 

 in southern Europe, and I possess it also from Central America. 



Hab. Jamaica (Macf.) ; Barbadoes (3fayc.) ; [all tropical continents, and both temperate 

 zones of the globe]. 



12. P. pilosa, L. Annual, snffrutescent ; branches undivided; leaves sub cylindrical, 

 acuminate, alternate : axils woolly ; flower-clusters encircled by wool ; calyx-divisions linear- 

 oblong, not keeled ; petals purple, emarginate ; stamens indefinite ; style 5-6-partite ; seeds 

 minutely granulose. — Bot. Beg. t. 792. — Hab. Jamaica, {Macf); S. Vincent!, Guild., 

 in sandy, waste situations ; [Texas ! and New Mexico 1 to Peru ! and Brazil !]. 



13. P. halimoides, L. Annual, suifrutescent, diffuse; branches numerous, fasligiate; 

 leaves short, subcylindricat, acuminate, alternate : axils hairy ; flower-clusters encircled by 

 a dense tuft of wool, and involucred ; calyx-divisions ovate-lanceolate, not keeled ; petals 

 yellow, emarginate; stamens about 20; style 3-5-partite; seeds grauulose. — SI. t. 129./. 3. 

 — This approaches the preceding, but is easily distinguished by its peculiar ramification, and 

 by the shorter leaves (2"'-3'" long).— Hab. Jamaica, (Macf); [Desirade !, Guadeloupe!]. 



Tribk VI. FICOIJJBJE. — Ovary syncarpous (or reduced to a single carpel by abortion). 

 Stamens perigynous or epiyynous. — Leaves as in Portulacece. 



10. SESUVIUM, L. 



Calyx 5-partite, coloured inside, persistent. Petals 0. Stamens indefinite (-5), perigy- 

 nous. Styles 3-5 (-6). Capsule 3-5-locular, circumscissile, many-seeded. — Leaves oppo- 

 site, succulent ; flowers axillary and terminal. 



14. S. portulacastrum, Z. Perennial ; leaves lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong, flat, 

 tajjering towards the sheathing base ; flowers pedicellate ; styles 3-4. — Jacq. Amer. Pict. 

 t. 142. — My diagnosis is taken from the Caribbean plant, which agrees with Jacquin's 

 figure : in it the calyx is white inside, while, according to Sloane and Macfadyen, in the Ja- 

 maica plant the flowers are purple. There are three species in Richard's ' Flora Cuben- 

 sis,' distinguished from each other chiefly by the shape of the leaves, the flowers beiDg sessile 

 or pedicellate, and the number of styles : Wight and Arnott, however, reduce all supposed 

 speeies of the genus to the variable S. portulacastrum of Linnaeus. — Hab. Jamaica (Macf), 

 aud Caribbean Islands !, common on the sandy seashore ; [New Mexico! and Florida! to 

 Patagonia ! ; all tropical continents]. > 



11. TRIANTHEMA, l. 



Calyx 5-partite, coloured inside : divisions mucronate below the top. Petals 0. Stamens 

 10-5 (-20), perigyuous. Styles 2-1. Capsule bilocular, with a spurious, placentary dis- 

 sepiment, or unilocular (if monocarpellary), circumscissile near the base and below the upper 

 seeds: the persistent base membranaceous; the lid hardened and closed incompletely at 



