Cleome. tetradynamia siliquosa. 127 



the size very various. Petioles channelled, from three to four 

 inches long, frequently armed whh small, inoffensive prickles. 

 Racemes terminal, long, corymbifurm, particularly while 

 young. Bractes short-petioled, teniate. numerous, surround- 

 ing at regular distances every pari of the raceme, those on the 

 lower part sterile, above one-ffowered ; leaflets of the bractes 

 hairy, like those of the leaves, but much smaller. Flowers 

 small, white, long-pedicelled, spreading. Calyx; leaflets 

 lanceolate, hairy and glutinous. Petals erect, affixed be- 

 tween the leaflets of the calyx by tive long claws. Nectary 

 no other than a swelling at the insertions of the petals. Sta- 

 mens six, ascending, inserted into the pedicel a little above the 

 middle. Pi«<j7, pedicel long, ascending, filiform. GermUne- 

 ar. Stigma sessile, large, glandular, navelled, perforated. 

 Siliqne long, slender, a little scabrous, diverging. Seeds nu- 

 merous, kidney-formed, black, scabrous. 



The taste of the plant is simply herbaceous; its leaves are 

 eaten as an esculent vegetable by the natives in their curries. 



2. C. chelidonii, Willd. iii. 567. 



Annual. JL^aies digitate. Calyx and coroZ regular, polyan- 

 drous, with the top of the filaments, clavate. Siliques sessile. 



Teling. Kax, bitter, Woominta. 



One of the most common, annual plants all over the Cir- 

 carsjit delights in rice lands, and appears in the greatest ])len- 

 ty immediately after the first rains, during' which time the 

 fields are entirely covered with this gaudy elegant plant. 



Stem annual, straight, ramous, round ; from one to three 

 feet high. Leaves alternate, petioled, digitate. Leaflets 

 from five to nine, wedged, lanceolate, waved, scabrous. Pe- 

 /io/es longer than the leaflets. /Racemes terminal. Plowers 

 long-pedicelled, large, rose-coloured, remote. Bractes sin- 

 gle, those of the lower flowers, leaf-like, as the raceme leng- 

 thens, becouiing more simple. Ca/ya; four-leaved ; coro/four- 

 . petioled, nearly orbicular, concave, spreading. Filaments 

 numerous (about one hundred) with enlarged apices. An- 



