Calandrinia .'l XA^ii. portulace.e, 175 



witli petiolate liaear-obloiig or lineor-spatlmlate radical leaves. Stems branch- 

 ing, prostrate or ascending, from 1 or 2 to 7 or 8 in. long. Leaves few, 

 smaller than the radical ones, varyino^ from linear to almost obovate. Flowers 

 very small, in a loose flexuose raceme, the pedicels 2 to 6 lines long/reflexed 

 after flowering. Bracts very small, the upper ones often scarious. Sepals 

 acute, about 1 line long in flower, nearly \\ when in fruit. Petals about as 

 long, often persistent a long time after flowering, withered into a small 

 calyptra on the top of the young fruit. Stamens about 5, with slender, free 

 filaments ; anthers ovate. Style very short, with 3 very short, oblong, stig- 

 matic branches. Capsule rather longer than the calyx, 3-valved. Seeds 

 numerous, small, very smooth and shining. — ITook.f. Fl. Tasm. i. 143 j Clai/- 

 touia cahjplrata, F. Muell. Fragm. iii. 89. 



N. S. VTales. Port Jackson, U, Brown, 

 ■ Victoria, In the Wciulu Valley, Robertson. 



Tasmania. Poi't Dalrymple, R, Brown ; on basaltic rocks, near Launceston, Gunn, 



S. Australia. Holdfast Bay, Mount Parker, Bugle and Barossa ranges, F. Mueller. 



W". Australia. King George's Sound, R. Brown, Baxter ; S. coast?, Oldjield. 



Var. ^) pmnila, F. MupII. A small, tufted plant, with a thick, succulent root. Leaves 

 i^dical or nearly so, oblong or almost ovate, 3 to 4 lines long, but narrowed into a petiole 

 twice that length. Flowering branches or racemes loose, 1 to li in. long. Bracts small, 

 scarious. Flowers about the size of the C. calyptrata, but the sepals very obtuse. Capsule 



ovoid-globular, the valves cohering at the summit. Seeds numerous, small, smooth, and 



shinin 



or 



Queensland. Balonnc river, Boianan. 



N. S. "Wales. From Nangawera to Yellowinchi, Victorian Expedition, I am iu- 

 cliued to think that further specimens will prove this to be a distinct species {Herb. F. 

 Mueller). ^ 



C. caulescens, H. B. and Iv. Nov. Gen. et Sp. vi. 78, t. 52fi, a common Peruvian weed, 

 has established itself in waste places about Adelaide and other parts of S. Australia. Al- 

 though technically the characters are nearly those of C. calyptrata, it is readily known };^y 

 its much more leafy stems, the bracts all leaf-like, and the flowers more than twice the size, 

 tbe sepals ovate, acuminate, 3 or 4 lines long. C. compressa, Schrad. {C. pjilosiuscufa, DC), 



inguishcd by 



A small ilifFuse annual, 

 Radical leaves linear. 



an equally common Chilian weed, is also very nearly allied, but is readily disti 

 the verj' broadly hastate sepals, as well as some differences in the foliage. 



12. C. composita, Nees {under C. polypetala). 

 '^'cry densely branched, seldom exceeding 2 or 3 in. 

 nttainiu^ \ in., the stem-leaves mostly 1 to 2 lines, passing into minute 

 bvacts. Flowers very small and numerous, in short racemes on pedicels rarely 

 exceeding 1 line, and nsiudly much shorter when in flower. Sepals i line iu 

 flower, 1 line long when in fniit, obtuse and rather thick. Petals 5 or 6, 

 scarcely exceeding the calvx, withering into a calyptra as in C. cahjptrata. 

 Stamens 3 to 5 ; anthers small. Style divided to Ue base into 3 linear stig- 

 inatic branches. Ovules about 6 to 8. Capsule ovoid-oblong, longer than 

 the calyx, opening in 3 valves. Seeds 3 to 6, smooth and shining.— CXi?o?y- 

 Pdala, var. composita, Nees, in PI. Preiss. i. 247. 



*^- Australia. Swan River, Bnimmond, Preiss, n. 1951, 



13. C, corrigioloides, F. MrndL HefL An annual, with narrow- 

 Imear radical leaves contracted into a long petiole. Stems numerous, pro- 

 stvate or slightly ascending, not mucli exceeding \ ft- Steju-lenres few, li- 

 ^^^''i^ petiolate. Racemes numerous, short, axillary and terniinal, branehmg 



