FLORA VITIENSIS. _ 9 
leviter concava, ad sepalorum basin (tori marginem?) inserta. Stamina 8-oo, ad basin petalorum 
+ cum iis perigyna. Ovarium semi-inferum (toro semi-immersum ?), oc-ovulatum; stylus profunde 
8-8-fidus. Capsula. membranacea, semi.infera, parte libera circumscissim dehiscente. Semina a 
latere compressa, reniformia, nitida, sepe granulata; embryo periphericus.—Herbe diffuse v. adscen- 
dentes, carnosz ; foliis alternis v. suboppositis, planis v. teretibus, ad axillas szepe fasciculato-setosis, 
summis sspe flores involucrantibus ; stipulis scariosis v. ad setarum fasciculos reductis, in P, oleracea 
minutis; floribus terminalibus, sessilibus v. pedicellatis, flavis purpureis v. roseis. 
1. P. oleracea, Linn. Spec. 638, excl. var. 8; Koch, Synops. Fl. Germ. Edit. iii. p. 217; 
caule ramisque prostratis; axillis geniculisque setosis, setis minutis strictis; foliis oblongo-cuneatis ; 
floribus (flavis) solitariis geminis ternisve sessilibus, laciniis calycis obtuse carinatis, staminibus 
10-12.—Schkuhr, Handb. t. 130. P. oleracea a. sylvestris, DC. Prodr. vol. iii. p. 353. Nomen 
vernac. Vitiense, ** Taukuku ni vuaka."—Common on roadsides and in waste places throughout the 
Viti group (Seemann! n. 13). I have also seen specimens from the Sandwich Islands (Macrae !), 
Ceylon, the East Indies, Madeira, and Brazil. 
A. Gray refers P. lutea, Sol., as a synonym to this species, but that is evidently a very different plant, 
of which no specimens exist; but at the British Museum there is a full description of it by Solander, and a 
highly-finished coloured drawing by Parkinson, both made on the spot. It is larger than any other species 
of the genus, and being thick and fleshy, as well as a seaside plant, has probably proved difficult to preserve. 
De Candolle calls it “P. flava, Forst. Plant. Escul. 72," but that is evidently a slip of the pen; it should 
be * P. lutea, Sol. in Forst. Plant. Esculent: p. 72.” The name and authority are repeated in Forst. Prodr. 
n.920.* Itis not unlikely that a species from Oahu, alluded to by Chamisso (Linnæa, vol. vi. p. 556) as 
* Portulaca altera erecta, fruticosa, foliis euneato-obovatis subemarginatis planis pollicaribus, axillis nudis, 
floribus flavis," may prove identical with P. lutea. 
Amongst the white settlers in Viti, P. oleracea is occasionally eaten as a potherb. I used it repeatedly 
during my stay at Somosomo. 
2. P. quadrifida, Linn. Mant. 78; caule ramisque prostratis; axillis geniculisque pilosis, pilis 
longissimis crispis; foliis elliptico-oblongis carnosis planis; floribus (flavis) solitariis sessilibus, 
staminibus 8, rarissime pluris.—Jacq. Coll. vol. ii. p. 356. t. 17. fig. 2. P. linifolia, Forsk. Descrip. 
92.  lilecebrum verticillatum, Burm. Fl. Ind. p. 66. Nomen vernac. Vitiense, **Taukuku ni 
vuaka."— Common on roadsides and waste places throughout the group (Seemann! n. 14; Storck! 
n. 868); also gathered in the Tongan (Barclay!) and Samoan islands (U. S. Expl. Exped.). 
Diffused over the East Indies, Java, Ceylon, Egypt, and Arabia. 
II. Talinum, Adans. ex Juss. Gen. 312; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. p. 157. Sepala 2, herbacea, 
ovata, decidua v. rarius subpersistentia. Petala 5, hypogyna. Stamina indefinite 5-oo, ima basi 
* 
* * PORTULACA LUTEA, Sol. Fl. Ins. Pacif. Ined. p. 261, et in Parkins. Drawings of Tahitian Plants, 
t. 52 (ined.); ‘Aturi’ incolarum. Hab. in littoribus marinis Tahiti, Huahine, Raiatea, et Tahaa. Caules 
herbacei, pedales et bipedales, succulenti ramosissimi, diffusi, inferne purpurei et sæpe toti rubicundi. Folia 
alterna, petiolata, oblongo-ovata, subcuneiformia, obtusissima, integerrima, carnosa, plana, marginibus ple- 
rumque purpurascentibus, vix unciam longa, terminalia quaterna [subtus subglauca]. Obs. Folia per 
paria sepe approximata, illa autem intervallis remota. Petioli breves, longitudine unius lines. Flores 
terminales in sinu foliorum quaternorum, sepius bini, interdum solitarii sessiles. Calyx ante explicationem 
anceps, diphyllus; foliola e lata basi ovata, acuta, carinata, margine membranacea. Petala 5, lutea, ovato- 
oblonga, basi attenuata, obtusa profunde emarginata, calyce plus duplo longiora, longitudine unguis digiti 
intermedii, expansa corollam campanulatam formantia. Filamenta co, capillaria, longitudine calycis. An- 
there subrotundæ, parvæ. Germen subglobosum. Stylus filiformis, erectus, staminibus longior. Stigmata 
4, 5 vel 6, filiformia, villosa (sæpius 5). Capsula globosa, circumscissa, unilocularis, oo-sperma.—A ffinis 
P. oleracee, Linn. Spec. Pl. 638, 1, qua differt flore magno luteo. In multis etiam convenit P. quadrifida, 
Linn. Mant. p. 73, præcipue primo intuitu, manifeste autem differt geniculis nudis, flore absque ullis pilis 
subjectis sed eorum loco membranis tribus vel quatuor ovalibus, filamentis viginti pluribus. Capsula glo- 
bosa, ut petala 5 preter eam profunde emarginata. Oss. Calycis foliola pro basi agnoscunt Cyathum, qui 
persistens inferiorem partem capsule cingit ore integerrimo.” [^ Cocta ab incolis oleris loco comeditur, 
et apud Tahitenses nomine * Aturi’ distinguitur." — Forst. Plant. Escul. n. 43.] 
c 
