N. Australia. Himtcr'a Eiver, N.W. coast, J. Cminingham. 



m his 

 s 



R. Brown's specimens belong to the paniculate form, which is included by Nees in hi 



^anese specimens which appear to me quite different. Nees 



E. faxijlora P, with some Jav 



. . ^ ■ ' ^ <.u..v..iov o^jfuiiucEis viiiiLu appear 10 me qiiue uiiiereui. j.-.^..-^- 



typical U. laxiflora has a remarkably dense inflorcsceuce and loug subulate-acuminate in- 

 Toiucral bracts, and agrees much better with the Javanese plants determined by him to be 

 Ji. rosea, Ucne., bat not agreeing with Decaisne's character. Why he suppressed Decaisae's 

 M. ro^ea to substitute a H. rosea of his own (p. 503) does not appear. 



11. EEANTHEMUM, Linn. 



Calyx deeply divided into 5 lobes or segments. Corolla-tube long and 

 slender; limb spreading, 5-lobed, the lobes nearly equal, imbricate but not 

 contor ed m the bud. Stamens 2, inserted hi-h up in the tube ; autbers 

 partially exsertcd, with 2 parallel and equal cells ; staminodia 3, usually very 

 small. Ovules usually 2 in each cell. Capsule oblong-clavate or linear, 

 muelx contracted and seedless at the base. Seeds flat ; retinacula curved. 

 Herbs undershrubs or shrubs. Flowers solltaiy or in little cymes of 3 to 5, 

 sessile or ^ery shortly pedunculate in the upper axils or more frequently 

 tormmg terminal interrupted spikes with the floral leaves reduced to small 

 oracts. iJracteoles very small or none. 



«en r tf nS'i/',","'' Sf""''"^ **^''" ^"^^ *'^°I"'=^ «nd subtropical regions of the New as 

 well as the Old World. The two Australian species appear to be both endemic. 



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554 LXXXViiT. ACANTHACEiE. \_Ihj])oedes. 



volucre tubular, concrete, 2 to 4 lines long, 4-lobed to about the middle, the 

 lobes acute, the 2 inner ones rather smaller. Flowers solitary in the invo- 

 lucre or rarely 2 or 3 together, but the accessary ones mostly rudimentary. 

 Calyx very thin, divided to about the middle, much shorter than the involu- 

 cre. Corolla slender, about | in. long or rather larger, the lips as long as 

 the tube, the upper one linear and entire, the lower one much broader, very 

 .shortly 3-lobed. Stamens nearly as long as the lips. Capsule rather narrow, 

 5 to 6 lines long.— Endl. Iconogr. t. 105 ; H, laxiflora and H. Jloribunda 

 (partly), Nees in DC. Prod, xi, 508, 509, 



The following forms of this very variable plant might he distributed according to the in- 

 florcsceuce into three principal varieties or perhaps species: — 



'1. Bensiflora, Involucres mostly 2 to 3 lines long iu short deuse spikes or clusters 

 chiefly axillary. 



PI, Australia.' Lagrange Bay, N.W. coast, Marten. 



Queensland. Moreton Bay, A. Cunningham^ F. Mueller ; Rockhampton, Thozet ; 

 -Mgecombe and Rockingham Bays, Dallachy ; Nerkool Creek. Bowman; Port Denison 

 ±itzalan. (All nearly glabrous.) 



Var. canescem. Branches inflorescence and under side of the leaves hoary with a very f 



.minate pubescence.— Cape York, Baem^L 



Var. pubescens. Rather densely clothed with a scabrous or a soft pubescence.— "^'ide 

 B^^^Bidwiil ; Burdekin river, Leickhardt ; N. coast of Arahcm's Land, Kinleij. 

 w. S. Wales, Clarence river, Beckler. 



2, Paniculata. Involucres usually 3 to 4 lines long, in elongated interrupted spikes, 

 usually numerous in the upper axils, forming rather large terminal panicles. 



N. Australia- South Goulburn Island, ^ . Cimninoham : Cape Upstart, Bmoe ; Port 

 Essmgton, Armstrong, ^ ^ i r 



Queensland. Shoalwater Bay, R, Brown, 



^ Var. angnstifolia. Leaves uarrow-laaceolatc or almost linear.— Victoria and Fitzmaurice 

 nvers, F, Mueller. 



3. Bistans. Stems long and decambeut. luvolucre few and very distant along the 

 branches of a very loose terminal panicle. 



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