356 PORTULACE. 'TALINUM. 
1107. (1) P. oleracea (Linn. :) annual, diffuse : leaves cuneiform, their ax- 
ils and the joints naked: flowers sessile: petals 5: stamens 10-12: style 5- 
partite —DC. prod. 3. p. 353; Spr. syst. 2. p. 459 ; Roxb. fl. Ind. 2. p. 463; 
Wall.! L. n. 6841 ; Wight! cat. n. 1161. 
1108. (2) P. quadrifida (Linn.:) annual, diffuse, creeping, the joints and 
.axils hairy: leaves oblong, flat: flowers terminal, nearly sessile, surrounded 
by four leaves: petals 4: stamens 8-12: style filiform, 4-cleft at the apex.— 
Wall.! L. n. 6843.—z ; larger ; stamens 10-12.—DC. prod. 3. p. 354; Wight! 
cat. n. 1162.—P. quadrifida, Linn. mant. p.78 ; Spr. syst. 2. p. 459; Roxb. fl. 
Ind. 2. p. 464.—P. repens, Roxb. in E. I. C. mus. tab. 653.—5; smaller ; sta- 
mens 6-8.—DC. l. c.; Wight! cat. n. 1163.—P. meridiana, Linn. suppl. 
p. 248 ; Spr. l. c. ; Roxb. fl. Ind. 2. p. 463 ; in E. I. C. mus. tab. 652.—Illece- 
trum verticillatum, Burm. Ind. p. 66.—Rheed. Mal. 10. t. 31. ae 
We can perceive no difference of any consequence between these varieties. 
Roxburgh, however, mentions that P. quadrifida is reckoned unwholesome 
and apt to produce stupefaction, and that the flowers expand about noon 
and continue open till sunset ; but that P. meridiana is much used as a pot- 
herb, and that its flowers open at noon and shut at two. 
1109. (3) P. tuberosa (Roxb. :) root tuberous: stems diffuse, the joints and 
axils of the leaves very slightly hairy: leaves linear-lanceolate : flowers ter- 
minal, sessile, surrounded by 6-8 leaves: petals 5: stamens about 20: style 
filiform, 5-cleft at the apex.—Rowb. hort. Bengh. p. 91; fl. Ind. 2. p. 464; 
Wight! cat. n. 1164.—P. cristata, Wall. L. n. 6844. Circars. Wallajabad. 
1110. (4) P. suffruticosa (Wight :) annual? ; root woody, branched: stems 
erect ?, somewhat woody at the base, branched : leaves linear, their axils and 
the joints very slightly hairy: flowers terminal, sessile, surrounded by 
leaves : stamens about 16: style cleft to the middle into about five segments. 
—MWight ! in Wall. L. n. 6842 ; cat. n. 1165. 
1111. (5) P. Wightiana (Wall.:) annual?, diffuse, sometimes creeping: 
stems and branches naked at the base ; joints approximated on the branchlets 
and with the axils clothed with numerous lanceolate scarious processes: 
leaves oblong, flat, with the margin recurved : flowers terminal, sessile among 
scarious processes, surrounded by a few leaves: petals 5%: stamens ^ y 
style thicker upwards, 5-6-cleft at the apex.— Wall. L. n. 6846 ; Wight ! cat. 
n. 1166. arthamala. Wallajabad. Sadras. ; 
One of the most remarkable and distinct of the genus, ee lane 
membranes (like the stipules of Paronychya) in place of the e 
found in most of the other species. The number of petals, stamens, &n 
ies of the style, will require to be better determined from the living 
III. TALINUM. Juss.; Sims.; DC. 
Calyx of two deciduous opposite ovate sepals. Petals 4-5, hypogynous a 
inserted on the base of the calyx, free or slightly cohering at the base. Sta- 
mens 10-20, inserted with the petals and often slightly attached to them. 
Style 3- (or occasionally but rarely 4-) cleft at the apex. Capsule 3-valve 
l-celled. Seeds numerous, attached to a central placenta.—Herbaceous 0" 
suffrutescent glabrous fleshy plants. Leaves alternate, quite entire. 
cymose, racemose, or panicled, fugacious. NN NU. 
1112. (1) T. Indicum (Wight:) shrubby, erect: leaves Hat, cunei — 
obovate, obtuse, upper ones mucronate: panicle terminal, elongate» iac- 
branched ; branches all dichotomous, and the branchlets and uncles — 
teated at their base: petals 4 (always?) : ovary nearly globose : iip 
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