556 SURIANACE^. Suriana. 



Sterile but moist situations on the Missouri, the Platte &c., from the 

 Mandans to the mountains, Nuttall, Dr. James. — A very peculiar species. 



Order (LXIII.) MESEMBRYANTHEMACE^. Lindl. 



Ficoideae, Juss., DC. partly. 



Two or more species of Mesembryanthemum are said to be naturalized in Call- 

 fornia, and one Mr. Nuttall suspects to be native; but there is no account of the 

 species in his notes ; and we have seen no specimens. 



Order LXIV. SURIANACE^. Am. 



Sepals 5, persistent : aestivation twisted, imbricated. Petals 5, 

 alternate with the sepals, distinct, inserted into the bottom of the 

 calyx. Stamens 5, alternate with the petals, sometimes with 5 al- 

 ternating ones that are occasionally abortive, all inserted with the 

 petals : filaments persistent, distinct, subulate from a broad base, 

 hairy below : anthers 2-celIed, bursting longitudinally. Torus 

 fleshy, filling up the bottom of the calyx, supporting the ovaries on 

 its middle and the petals and stamens on its margin. Ovaries 5, 

 opposite to the petals, distinct, each with a long style arising from 

 the inner angle near the base : ovules in pairs, collateral, erect, 

 straight, with the foramen at the opposite extremity from the hilum 

 [id est, orthotropous]. Fruit of 5 coriaceous pyriform indehiscent 

 carpels. Seeds solitary, uncinate, attached to the base of the car- 

 pels : albumen none. Embryo of the same shape as the seed : radi- 

 cle as long as the cotyledons, at the opposite end from the hilum ; 

 cotyledons oblong, fleshy, incumbent. — Sea-side shrubs. Leaves 

 simple, oblong-spatulate, thickish, pubescent, crowded at the apices 

 of the branches, exstipulate. Flowers yellow, bracteate, somewhat 

 terminal. Am. 



1. SURIANA. Plumier, gen. 37 ; Linn. ; Lam. ill. t. 389. 



Character the same as of the Order. 



jS. maritima (Linn.) — Plum. Amer. ed Burm. t. 249 ; PluTc. aim. t. 241. 

 /. 5; DCinodr. 2. p. 91 ; W. S; Am. prodr. fi. Ind. Or. 1. p. 361. 



Key West, Mr. Bennett! Southern Florida, Dr. Hasler .'—This plant is 

 found on the sea-shores of almost every quarter of the globe, within the 

 tropics. 



Order LXV. CRASSULACEiE. Juss. 



Sepals 4-5, or rarely 3-20, imbricated in aestivation, more or less 

 united at the base, persistent. Petals as many as the sepals and al- 



