372 Lxxviii. gentianej:. [Erytlirm. 



less elongated branches of llie once-forked or dichotomons cyme, with a leafy 



bract under each flower, thus forming one-sided interrupted leafy spiKcs 

 Calyx narrow, 3 to 4 lines long, witli 4 rarely 5 angles and acute teeth or 

 lobes. Corolla-tube usually exceediug the calyx, but sometimes shorter; 

 lobes ovate or oblong, much shorter than the tube. Capsule oblong, shorter 

 than the calyx. Seeds small, reticulate-striate. — Griseb. in DC. Prod. ix. 60 ; 



Hook. f. FL Tasm. i. 271. 



N.Australia. Islarirls of the Gulf of Carpentaria, R. Brown-, Victoria river, f. 

 Mueller ; Nicliol Bay, N.W. coast, Ridley^s Expedition. 



Queensland. Common on the coast, U. Brown; Eockinghara Bay, DaUachy ; 

 Rockhainpton, Tkozet ; on the Maranoa, MitchelL 



ISi, S. Wales. Port Jackson or Blue Mountains, Sieber, n, 493, Backhouse, Woolk 

 aud others; noitliward to Hastings, Macleay, and Richmond rivers, Beckler aud othei^; 

 New England, C. Stnart ; southward to lllawarra, A. Cunningham ; in the interior on the 

 Darling, Victorian Expedition* 



Victoria. \\'t\\i[ix\ii\&, Robertson ; Sk\^iox\,' Whan ; Yarra and Macalister rivers, f. 

 Mueller, 



Tasmania. Wet saline marshes on the banks of the Tamar, Gunn. 



S. Australia. South coast, R. Brown ; round St. Vincent's Gulf and Torrcus river, 

 F, Mueller ; Spencer's Gulf, Warhurion. , 



"W. Australia. King George's Sound, U. Brown, and thence round to Swan and 

 Murehison rivers, Drummond, n.'lQ2, Preiss, n, 195D, Oldjeld, and others, and eostwara 

 towards the Great Bin-ht, Maxwell. 



The species is also in New Caledonia and in the Looclioo Islands. As far as I can 

 ascertain, it only differs from B. spicafa (a species common in the Mediterranean region, ana 

 eastward at least as far as Affghanistan) in the flowers, usually hut not constantly ;J„«^^^°"f* 

 I find, however, occasionally 5-merous flowers in Australian specimens {e. g- iu >l>.t^^^^ 

 and in some of Gunn's), and, on the other hand, 4-merous flowers have heen ohservcd lasome 

 East Mediterranean specimens. Indeed, E. bahjlonica, Griseb., distinguished by ^»^* '^^^" 

 racter, is probably a variety only of E. spicata, to which E. australis may be eventuall) re- 

 ferred . 



3. CANSCORA, Lam, 



(Orthostemon, R. Br.) 



Calyx narrow, shortly 4-toothed. Corolla-tube cyliiulrical ; lobes 4, 

 slig-htly unequal, imbricate in the bnd. Stamens inserted in the tube, usuaU) 

 unequal ; antliers opening iu longitudinal slits. Ovary 1-cellcd, with 3 Pa- 

 rietal placentas ; style deciduous ; stigmatlc lobes broad. Capsule 3-val^e ' 

 the margins of the valves involute and bearing the placentas. Seeds w^^' 

 rous,^ small.— Annuals. Leaves opposite. Flowers pink, on filiform peoic?' , 

 terminal or in the upper parts of the branches. 



The genus consists of very few tropical Asiatic species, the comtnonest of which is t ^ 

 same as the Australian one. 



1. C. diffusa, R, Br, ; GrUei, in DC, Prod. ix. 64. A glabrous, erect, 

 dichotomous annual of 6 in. to 1 ft., with very numerous divaricate aluiost nu 

 form brituches, slightly 4-angled. Leaves ovate, acute, S-nerved, the io^ e 

 ones sometimes contracted into a petiole and i to 1 in. long, the m^.^'t 

 sessile with a broad base and under \ in. Flowers small, pink, on tili *)^ 

 pedicels, terminal or iu the upper forks. Calyx 2 to nearly 3 Imes lou.^ 

 rorolla-tube shorter than the calyx; lobes small, tlie 2 inner ones rata 

 smaller and less deeply separated than the outer ones, with the filament 



