Gunnera. | HALORAGEH (Harv.) 571 
Orprer LXX. HALORAGEA, R. Br. 
(By W. H. Harvey). 
Flowers minute, bisexual or unisexual. Calyx-tube adnate to the 
ovary ; limb 2- 3-4-toothed or entire. Petals 2-3-4 (or more), epigynous. 
with valvate or imbricate estivation, deciduous. Stamens as many or 
twice as many as the petals and inserted with them, rarely fewer. 
Ovary inferior, 1-3-4-celled ; ovules solitary or in fours, pendulous. 
Styles (if any) separate, very short; stigmata villous or feathery. Fruit 
nut-like or fleshy, 1-2-3-4-celled. Seeds pendulous ; embryo in the 
axis of fleshy albumen. 
Herbaceous plants or small shrubs, growing in water or in very wet soil. ‘Leaves 
entire or toothed, or the submerged ones pectinate, opposite, cnet or alternate. 
Flowers inconspicuous, axillary or panicled. Dispersed throughout the temperate 
zones; the shrubby species are chiefly Australian. In Gunnera the stamens are 
opposite the petals ; in the other genera they are alternate to them, when petals are 
present. 
TABLE OE THE SOUTH AFRICAN GENERA. 
I. Gunnera.— Leaves radical, on long petioles, reniform. Flowers in compound spikes, 
on a common, scapelike peduncle. ‘ : : 
Il. Serpicula.— Leaves sessile, alternate or opposite, entire or toothed. Flowers 
axillary. 
Ill. Myriophyllum.— Leaves whorled, _pectinato-partite. Flowers in terminal, 
interrupted spikes. ove 
L GUNNEBA, L. : 2 
Flowers wnisexual or bisexual. Calyx-tube terete or angular ; limb 
2-3-lobed. Petals 2 or none, coriaceous, deciduous. Stamens 1-2, 
opposite the petals ; anthers innate, 2-celled. Ovary uni-locular, uni- 
ovulate ; stigmata 2, elongate, simple, papillose. Fruit succulent, with 
a bony endocarp. Albumen copious ; embryo very minute. Hook. f. 
Fl. Tasm. 1, p. 124. 
Nearly stemless, herbaceous plants, with alternate, petioled, cordate or reniform, 
many-nerved leaves. Flowers in compound spikes or —— on — or oe 
inute, ~ A curious genus of few species, natives of « a7 ‘asmania, 
Sent i tod Sindwich Islands, Peruvian Andes, Chile and 
Fuegia, besides the solitary South African species on W the genus was founded. 
The name is in honor of Bishop Gunner, a Norwegian botanist of the last century, 
author of a “ Flora Ne “i 
1. G. perpensa (Linn Wee stemless, moncecious ; leaves on long 
petioles, proadly-reniform, minutely-toothed, scabrous, pedately many- 
nerved, reticulate ; scapes simple, ending in a long, compound spike 
(or thyrsus), the spikelets of female flowers occupying the lower half 
of the spike. Zhunb.! Fil. Cap. p. 32. Bot. Mag. t. 2376. Pe 
seches throughout the colony. (Herb. T.C.D. &e.) Ma ne eke he 
Leaves radical, on petioles 12-18 inches high, the lamina 6-12 inches broad. Ro Ut Rou 
All the younger pubescent. Scapes at length 2~3 feet high, two-thirds of the 
length occupied = the inflorescence- Flowers of both sexes in numerous slender ork} 
spikes, distributed along 9 common peduncle ; the males in the upper, the females Q 
in the lower spikes, neither bracteolate. Male flower : calyx 2- . Petals 2, 3 : 
spathulate, entire, deciduous. Stamens 2, opposite the petals ; anthers subsessile, . 
2-celled, opening laterally. Female flowers: calyx-tube eased ; limb minutely 
4-toothed. Petals none. Stigmata 2, spreading, papillate. + succulent, minute. 
