Mollugo FICOIDEACE.^ 16 



o 



Species 15, natives of the tropics of the Old World ; a few 

 also in tropical and north temperate America. 



Leaves whorled 1. M. verticillata. 



Leaves all radical 2. M. midicaiUis. 



1. M. verticillata L. Sp. PL 89 (1753) (excl. (3); stems 

 ditfuse-erect or lying along the ground ; leaves whorled, spathu- 

 late-lanceolate, lanceolate-linear or linear ; inflorescence con- 

 tracted into sessile umbellules at the nodes ; seeds kidney- 

 shaped, with ridges along the back. Mac/. Jam. i. 51 ; Gr'iseh. 

 FL Brit. W. Lid. d6 ; Bohrh. in FI. Bras. 'xiv. pt. 2, 240, t. 55, 

 /. II. ; Urh. Symh. Ant. h. 230. Type in Herb. Linn. (Fig. 60.) 



Houstoun in Herb. Sloane iv. 7a ! Broughtori ! Masson ! Macfadycn \ 

 near Kingston, McNah ! Cuba, Hispauiola, Porto Rico, Buck Island near 

 St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew, St. Vincent, continental America. 



Stems to 40 cm. 1. Leaves 4-5 (-10) at a node, -7-2 -5 cm. 1. Perianth 

 about 2*5 mm. 1., green or purplish. Stamens generally 3, sometimes 4 

 or 5. Seeds 6 mm. 1. 



2. M. nudieaulis Lam. Encijc. iv. 234 (1797) ; leaves only 

 radical, in an erect-spreading tuft on the ground from which 

 the stalked paniculate cymes arise ; seeds globulose-kidney- 

 shaped, granulate, black. Griseh. loc. cit. ; Bohrh. torn. cit. 244 ; 

 Urh. loc. cit. M. bellidifolia Ser. in DC. Prodr. i. 391 ; Mac/. 

 Jam. i. 52. Alsini affinis, foliis bellidis minoris, caule nudo 

 Sloane Cat. 87 A: Hist. i. 203, t. 129, /. 2. Alsine auricuhe 

 ursi foliis Plum. PI. Amer. (Biirm.) t. 21, /. 1. Pharnaceum 

 spathulatum Sw. Fl. Lid. Occ. 568 (1797). 



" Sandy places of the Town Savanna towards Two Mile Wood," 

 Sloane Herb. iv. 9 ! 2Iasson ! Cuba, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, Buck Island, 

 St., Cruz, St. Lucia, Guiana, tropical Africa, India, New Caledonia. 



Plant to 9 in. high. Leaves broadly spathulate or obovate narrowed 

 into a long petiole, to 4 cm. 1. PeriantJi about 2 mm. 1., greenish outside, 

 white inside. Stamens 5. 



3. SESUVIUM L. 



Herbs, perennial, sometimes somewhat shrubby, branching, 

 succulent. Leaves opposite, fleshy, linear or oblong. Flowers 

 axillary. Perianth persistent, united below into a cup, 5-lobed, 

 lobes mucronate near apex, coloured inside. Stamens numerous 

 (in the W. Indian species) ; filaments inserted at the top of the 

 perianth-cup. (Jvary free, 3-5-celled ; styles 3-5, papillose on 

 the inside ; ovules numerous in the cells. Capsule oblong, 3-5- 

 celled, circumsciss, cells with numerous seeds. Seeds stalked : 

 embryo annular. 



Species 7, on sea-shores of the tropics and subtropics. 



