586 LXVII. FICOIDEE (OLIVER). [ Sesuvium. 
usually 3-celled. Seeds black, shining, nearly smooth.—S. brevifolium, 
Schum. et Thonn. Pl. Guin. 233. 
Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Sieber and others ! ; 
Lower Guinea. hice, Congo, Mossamedes, and Loanda, Dr. Welwitsch ! 
Var., with large sessile flowers and narrow linear leaves, 2-3 in. long (S. mesembryan- 
themoides, Welw. in Apont. Phyto-geogr. 557, Wawra et Peyritsch, Sert. Beng. 24). 
Loanda, Dr. Welwitsch ! 
Mozamb. Distr. Mouth of Zambesi and Luabo, Dr. Kirk! 
Gathered as an esculent. Common on Tropical shores of both hemispheres. ; 
Sesuvium crithmoides, Welw. in Apont. Phyto-geogr. 586, Dr. Welwitsch believes to 
be a form of his S. mesembryanthemoides ; his specimens were accidentally lost. 
2. S. congense, Welw. mss. Shrubby, prostrate or diffuse, much 
branched from the base; branches tortuous, terete, minutely scabrid- 
papillose. Leaves fleshy, often tufted in the axils, linear, revolute, }-1 
in. long. Flowers small, subsessile, rose-coloured, solitary in the axils 
or forks, overtopped by the leaves. Calyx-lobes ovate-lanceolate, 
shortly apiculate under the apex, inner broader, membrane-margined. 
Stamens all or nearly all monstrous in the specimens examined (de- 
veloping as free panels). indefinite or about 20. Ovary 8-celled, styles 
asmany. Operculum of capsule conical. 
Lower Guinea. Ambriz, Congo, Dr. Welwitsch! 
3. S. erystallinum, Wel. mss. Diffuse or prostrate herb, some- 
times forming large tufted masses, vesicular-papillose throughout as m@ 
the Ice-plant (Mesembryanthemum erystallinum); branches alternately 
forked. Leaves terete, furrowed above, obtuse, 3-2 in. long, }-a aL 
diameter when dry, base dilated, sheathing. Flowers rose-coloured, 
solitary in each fork or somewhat glomerate at the extremities from ne 
contracted internodes, sessile, }-2 in. long. Calyx-lobes ovate-deltoid, 
inner membrane-margined ; tube hemispherical dilated below the lobes, 
and more or less obtusely cornute outside alternate with the lobes. 
Stamens o; filaments hyaline, free. Ovary globose, glabrous, 4-celled ; 
styles 4, as long as ovary. Seeds black, shining, minutely punctate. 
Lower Guinea. Mossamedes, Benguela, sea-shore, Dr. Welwitsch ! 
4. S. digynum, Welw. mss. A diffuse dichotomously and pee ae! 
eately branched annual or biennial herb occasionally subscanden 
amongst surrounding shrubs, glabrous or papillose-puberulous. ii 
from oval to linear, narrowed above and below, more or less acut®, 
plane or margins revolute, 4—1 in. long, from +}, in. in the narrow ~ 
volute-leaved forms to $ in. broad. Flowers rose or purple, age 
sessile in each fork, 4-4 in. long. Calyx-tube turbinate, lobes pio a 
conspicuous subapical terete apiculus terminating in a minute “ glan i 
Stamens o. Ovary 2-celled; styles 2, filiform. Ovules , distinctly 
funiculate.—Diplochonium sesuvicides, Wawr. et Peyr. Sert. Beng. “” 
and probably of Fenzl in Monogr. Mollug. (Extr.) 292 (adnot.). 
Lower Guinea. Mossamedes, (and narrow revolute-leaved var.) Benguela, spi 
Welwitsch! Dr. Wawra. 
