180 XVTTI. ELATINE^:. [BtO^r/ia. 



stems quite glabrous 2. B^j)Psi/Ia. 



Plowers solitary, pedicellate. Stamens twice the number of the 

 sepals and petals. 

 Erect annual. Pedicels elongated. Filamcuts all equal. Styles 



short , ; 3. j5. jpedicellaris. 



Stem woody, prostrate and tortuous. Pedicels short. Outer iila- 



meiits much broader. Styles fdiform 4. B. j^^reniiis. 



1. B. ammannioides, Uoth, Nov. PL Sp. 219. A rigid, much-liranclied 

 annual, erect or decumbent, pubescent or hirsute, with spreading hairs, usually 

 6 in. to 1 ft. high. Leaves from oval-elliptical to oblong or lanceolate, the 

 larger ones |- to 1 in., but mostly smaller, more or less sen'ate Avith mucro- 

 nate or glandular teeth, nan-owed at tlie base. Stipules lanceolate, serrate. 

 Flowers very small, in dense axillary clusters, on very short filiform pedicels, 

 usually 5-raeroiis, but sometimes 4-merous or 3-nierous. Sepals very narrow, 

 acute, ciliatc, about J line long. Petals narrow, very thin, about as long as 

 the sepals. Stamens of the same number as the sepals and petals. Cnpsule 

 rather shorter, the boat-shaped valves separating septicidally so as to leave 

 the axis almost wholly without any remains of the dissepiments. Seeds very 

 small, ovoid, nearly straight, — Elatine aminannioidefi, Wight, in Hook, Bot. 

 Misc. iii. 93, t. 5 ; Wight, 111. t. 25^ ; F. MueU. Fragra. ii. 147. 



N, Australia. Gravelly bed and bauks of Victoria river, Sturt's Creek, and their 

 affluents, F, Mueller. 



Victoria, Junctions of the Darling and Murray rivers, F. Mueller. 

 The species is common in East India and the warmer regions of Africa. 



Var. irimera. Usually more procumbent and smaller. Flowers small, 3-merous or 4- 

 merous. — B. tnmera. Link, in Liunaia, x. 74; B, (or Elatine) tripetahi, F. MtieU. Th ^i^t. 

 i. 196, t. 9. The small Victorian specimens from Dr. Mueller in Sonder's herbarium agree 

 precisely with some Indian cues, very properly included by AVight in the B, ammavnioides. 



2. B, pusilla^ BentJi, This may be a variety only of B. awmannioides, 

 but it has a different aspect from any of the forms assumed by tliat species la 

 India and Africa. It is perfectly glabrous, with numerous slender stems, 1 

 to 2 in. high, thickened at the base, with a few obovate leaves, the uppet 

 leaves oblong-lanceolate and serrate. Flowers small, axillary, and clustered, 

 as in B, ammannioides^ but usually more sessile and 4-mcrous, rarely o- 

 merous ; sepals more acuminate. Capsular valves apparently less folded, 

 leavuig a thicker central axis. — Fdatine verfmUart's, F. IMuell. Fragm. ii. 148. 



^ W- Australia. Eoper river in AruLem's Laud, F. Mueller. The East luiliaa B. v«^' 

 ticilluia, ^Viild., is a very differciit species. 



3. B. pedicellaris, F, MuelL Herb. A more or less glandular-pubes- 

 cent annual, about \ ft. high, erect or with decumbent side-branches. Leaves 

 elliptical or lanceolate, mostly acute, minutely serrate, naiTowed at the base, 

 the larger ones above 1 in., but mostly under \ in, long. Stipules narrow. 

 Pedicels solitary, slender, longer than \he leaves. Flowers 5-merous, much 

 larger than in the preceding species. Sepals keeled, 1 to 1| Hues Ion 

 Petals ovate-lanceolate, persistent, about as long as the sepals, Stametis 

 usually 10, the fdaments very thin, sliglitly dilated and closely pressed round 

 the ovary up to the middle. Styles short. Capsule depressed-globula^r, 3- 

 valved, leaving very little of the dissepiments attached to the axis. Seeds 





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