106 SPICILEGIA GORGONEA, 
distinct forms ; but our indefatigable friend, M. J. Gay, who 
is preparing with his well-known accuracy a most interesting 
monograph of the group, informs us, that after a laborious 
and minute examination of the flowers, which occupied eight 
days, he has been led to reduce them to simple variaties 
of a common species, which, though intimately allied to 
Polycarpia nivea, nob., differs essentially from that plant. © 
21. Paronychia illecebroides, Webb; caule prostrato ramo- 
sissimo, ramis filiformibus pubescentibus, stipulis foliis 
lineari-lanceolatis vel linearibus acutis puberulis dimidio 
brevioribus, bracteis flore brevioribus, calycibus brevis- 
sime mucronulatis, mucrone recto vel inflexo.—Herniaria 
illecebroides, Chr. Smith, in Tuck. voy. p. 260! ex herb. ` 
Mus. Brit. (J. D. Hooker, in litt.) —Ic. (Tas. VIL) 
Hook. Je. Plant. t. 756. 
Has. Communis est in insulis Gorgoneis. In sinu Tarrafal 
sive Tamaricumins. S. Antonii (Forbes, n. 24. die 2 Aprilis 
1822, spec. florida). In ins. S. Jacobi, vulgaris (J. Dalton 
Hooker, n. 112. November, 1839, spec. flor. et fruct.) In 
ins. S. Vincentii ab alt. 500 ped. usque ad cacumen Montis 
Verede (Th. Vogel, n. 25. Junio, 1841, spec. deusta.) a 
Radix lignosa ; ramis filiformibus prostratis ; stipulis hyalinis, 
oblongis, ciliatis, apice setaceis, folio duplo triplove bre- 
vioribus. Folia oblongo-linearia vel lineari-lanceolate, 
angusta, brevissime petiolata, acuta, pubescentia. ores 
omnes axillares ; bracteis hyalinis, ovatis, calyce breviori 
bus. Calyz cylindraceus, hirsutus, foliolis oblongis angustis 
costato-trinerviis brevissime mucronulatis, mucrone cras- 
siusculo inflexo, margine vix scariosis. Ovarium globu- 
losum, hirtum. Capsula exigua, ovato-rotundata. Semen 
glabrum, Embryo vermicularis, hemicyclica. - s 
Affinis est hec species P. polygonifolia, DC., a qua plurimis 
notis differt, stipularum scilicet et bractearum quoad foli? 
et flgres longitudine, calycis forma et mucrone. | 
P. argentea, Lamck. cui flores ut plurimum capitati longius 
quoque recedit. 
Tas. VIL Fig. l. flower, included within the bracte®i — 
