300 XL. LEGUMINOS-^; 



89. NEPTUNIA, Loiir. 



Calyx 5-tootlied. Petals 5, valvate in the bud, cohering or free. Sta- 

 mens in the perfect flowers 10 or (in the Australian species) 5, free; 

 anthers ovate, tipped with a deciduous gland, very rarely wanting; pollen 

 granular. Ovary stipitate, with 2 or several ovules ; style filiform, with a 

 tmncate or concaVe sti'guaa. Lower flower^" of the head male or more fre- 

 quently neuter, with long linear staminodia. Pod short and broad, flat, 

 turned downwards, 2-valved, without pulp inside. Seeds transverse, flat- 

 tened, ovate or orbicular, the funicle not cdlatecf.— B-ocumbent or floating 

 perennials or undershni^s. Leaves abruptly bipinnate,wilh small leaflets, either 

 without glands or with a depressed gland below the pinnae. Stipules membra- 

 nous, obliquely cordate. Peduncles axillary, usually with 2 distant stipule- 

 like deciduous bracfeoles, and bearing a single globular or ovoid floAver-head. 

 Flowers small, sessile, mostly hermaplirodite, but a few of the lower ones either 

 like the others but male by the abortion of the ovary, or neuter with a smaUer 

 calyx and corolla, and long linear almost petal-like staminodia. 



A small genus, widely diffused over the tropical regions of the New and ^^^ Old Wor!^ 

 extending also into N. America. The two Australian species are endemic, and ditter trom 

 all others in their stamens always 5 only instead of lO. 



Peduncles slender, I lb 3"in. lon^. Ovules several. Pod oWong,wIth 



several seeds . ...-.: . I. H. gracilis. 



Peduncles very short. Ovules 2. Pod orbicular, l-seeded . . - . 2. i\r. monospema. 



1. W. gracilis^' 5e«fA. in Hook, Jvnrn, BoL iv. 355. Stock perennial, 

 often woody, with procumbent or ascending stems of about 1 ft. or rare y 

 twice as long, glabrous or slightly pubescent, Tinnse usually 1 or 2 pairs; 

 leaflets 6 to 20 pairs, oblong-linear, Mcate, 2 to 3 or rarely 4 li^^^ ^°"|^ 

 glands none in the ordinary form, but" small setaceous stipella3 under _i 

 pinniE. Stipules leafy, obliquely cordate, acuminate. Peduncles 1 to • 

 long, with 2 brO'ad cordate b'racteoles, one abotit the middle, the other luuc 

 lower down, both very deciduous. Flower-head small, globular, ^^'p.^^^^ 

 iew of the male or neuter flowers at the base and sometimes none at all. 

 maphrodite flowers smaller than in the extra-Australian species, always \^^ ^^ 



5 stamens only and fe\V or sometimes none of tlie neuter ones at the n ^ 

 the head. Gland of the anfbers small, sometimes perhaps quite ^^j^'^ ^^ 

 Ovules 6 to 8. Pod, when perfect, | in. long, about 4 Knes wide, witu 



6 seeds. 



N, AnstraliSi. Llands of the N. coast, h. Brown. ■ p stiK^rti 



Queensland, Shoalwater Bay and Broad Sound, R. Brown ; ^oreton Bny, ^- ^^ 



near Warwick, ^^cX-Zd-r ; in the interior, on the Marauoa, etc., Mitchell, Leicnnar > 



others. 



N. S. "Wales. Between the Darling and Cooper's Crefck, Heilson. ^^^ j^^ggt 



Var. major. Larger and more erect. Leaves with a depressed gland ^^'*|* p—Bay*^^ 



pair of pinnee, but less conspicuous than in N.monosperma. Flowers ^*^*^^l!^^f;l 



Inlets, Banks and Solander ; Rockhampton and Burdckin river, Herb. F. me ^loffefr 

 Var. villosula. More or less pubescent. Pinnre 3 or 4 pairs, without ?^^j"**^' ^ . also 



heads rather large.— Sturt's Creek, P. Mueller; Gulf of Carpentaria, Landsboro j 



Neihon^s N. S. Wales speciuieus. 



2. N. monosperma, 7. MuelL Ihrh. Stems apparently ^^J^JJ^^^^^ 

 but stouter and taller tliau iu N. gradlU (except perhaps iu the va . 



