152 XV. FKANKEKiACE.lL. [Frankenia, 



has always mucli smaller and finer leaves, and especially very mach smaller flowers, and the 

 general aspect is so different, tliat it is not to be expected that the proposed union should be 

 generally admitted. Possibly also the two following Australian varieties oi F. paiicifora 

 may prove sufficiently constant to be admitted as species. 



Var. serj^jlUfoVia. Pubescent or hirsute. Leaves, especially the lower ones short, from 

 oblong to broadly ovate, the margins often much less recnrved than in the typical F, panel- 

 flora,~'F. serpiJllifoUa, Lindl. in iMitch. Trop. Austr. 305.— Nive river, Milchell ; Js\\\\'- 

 chison river, Brummoud. Allied to this variety is the plant from Port Jackson, which De 

 Candolle, Prod. i. 349, referred with doubt to the F. piilveruleuta, Linn. The specimens 

 in the herbarium of the Paris Museum have much the aspect of the latter species (very 

 prostrate, with small broad flat leaves, more pctiolate than is usual in F. paumfiord) , yet I 

 think they may prove to be only oue of its numerous varieties, very near to the serpf/Ih- 

 folia. 



Var. thymoides. More woody, erect, and much branched, with the habit of Thymus 

 vulgaris^ hoary all over, with a minute scaly indumentum. Leaves oblong, very obtuse, 

 much rcvolute, 1 to nearly 2 lines long. Plowers rather small, the appendage of the petal- 

 claws very prominent. Ovules 4 to 6 to each placenta. — Mount Goniugbear, Victorian ex- 

 pedition,—F,frtdicuIosaj DC. Prod, i. 850, appears to connect this variety with the more 

 common forms. 



4. F. parvTila, Turcz. in Bull Mosc, 1854, ii. 3G8. Stems shortly' 

 creeping, with nvimerous ascending brandies of 1 to 1^ in., glabrous or nearly 

 so. Leaves crowded, oblong, obtuse, not above 1 line long, tbick, but the 

 margins closely revolute, concealing the under surface and showing only a 

 dorsal fnrrow, distinctly petiolate on the margin of a broad, strongly ciliate 

 sheath often nearly as long as the leaf, with 3 or 4 smaller leaves clustered 

 within the sheath. Flowers terminal, solitary or in little leafy heads of 2 or 

 3. Calyx thickly ribbed, almost ovoid, a little more than 1 line long, strongly 

 ciliate at the top. Petals obovate. Style 3-clcft. Ovules apparently few, 

 but not seen in a good state. 



"W 



5. P. Drummondiij Benth. 

 with numerous short, erect branches 



Stems prostrate and rooting at the nones, 



vj -.v.^M ».»..v.^i^o, quite glabrous in our specimens. Leaves 



crowded, opposite or the floral ones in fours, linear-terete, about 2 lines long, 

 distinctly petiolate, with a very short sheath, very red as well as the calyces 

 in our specimens. Flowers small and solitary. Calyx slender, not 2 lines 

 long. Petals all free, with a rather broad claw and a very prominent ovate- 

 oblong scale, the lamina small and obovate. Stamens free, the filaments 

 dilated at the base into an oval-oblong scale, filiform above. Style 3-clef*t. 



Ovules 1 or 2 to each placenta. 



IV 



6. F. tetrapetala, LabilL Fl. Nov. IIolL i. 88, L 114. Shrubby and 

 prostrate at the base, rooting at the joints, with niunerous branches, short 

 atid ascending or erect and much branched, often attaining 4 to Gin., gh'- 

 brous or minutely pubescent. Leaves crowded, but all opposite, linear-terete, 

 acute or obtuse, 1 to 2 or rarely 3 lines long, not pctiolate, but connate at 

 the base into a short sheath, the dorsal furrow extending below their union, 

 but without the appendage of F. punctata. Flow^ers small, like those of 

 F. punctata, 5-merous in the specimens I hnve examined, but very likely to 

 be occasionally 4-merous, as described by Labillardicre. 



^CTT. Australia. King George's Sound and other points of the S. coast, i?. Brown^ 



