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1. AIZOON, I.inii. 



ITiM'bs or uudtn'sliriibs. Leaves altcriiiiic^ (I'arcl}' opposite), se.s.sile ur 

 p(Miolatt' ; stipules 0. Flowers axilhuy, solitary, or iu spikes or cymes. 

 Calyx-tube short, turbinate or lieinispherie ; lobes 4-5, spreading,', 

 valvate or imbricate, ol'ten colored witliiii. JVtals 0. Stamens many 

 (usually about 20), inserted in the throat of the calyx, united into tufts 

 alternating with the calyx-lobes ; filaments filiform ; anthers oblon.s;. 

 Ovary free, nearly included within the calyx-tube, 4-o-gonous, 4-"!- 

 celled; ovules 2-X) in each cell; styles 4-5, free, papillose. Capsule 

 subwoody, surrounded by the persistent calyx, 4-5-celled, loculicidally 

 (rarely septicidally) 5-valved at the apex, the valves gaping, the cells 

 2-30 -seeded. Seeds small, pendulous, subreniforni ; embryo curved, 

 cyliudric. — DiSTRin. Southern Europe, ISTorth and South Africa, Arabia, 

 Canary Islands, India, Australia; species 8. 



1, Aizoon canariense, Linn. Sp. PL (1753) p. 48S. A woody 

 much-branched procumbent densely hairy annual or subpereunial, 

 3-12 in. Leaves g-l^ in. long, alternate, obovate-spathulate, cuneate 

 at the base and running down into the petiole, papillose and densely 

 hairy with often inedifixed hairs ; petioles ]— | in. long. Flowers solitary, 

 sessile, in almost every axil. Calyx g-^ in. long, hairy ; tube sub- 

 hemispheric : lobes broadly triangular-ovate, yV-tV i"' long, yellowish 

 within. Capsules sessile, woody, pentagonal when looked down upon, 

 much depi'essod, i-;| in. long, the valves inflexed. Seeds smooth, black, 

 shining, with a few ridges on the back. Fl. B. I. v. 2, p. 659 ; Oliver, Fl. 

 Trop. Afr. v. 2, p. 584; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1898) 

 p. 642.— Flowers : Sept.-Nov. 



In the Bombay Presidency confined to Siud. Sind : Vlcary I, Stoclcs, 472 I ; Jemadar 

 ka Landa, near Karachi, Stockii\\ banks of the Hub river near Karachi, Cookel, 

 Woodvow 1 — DisTRiB. Africa, Canary Islands, Arabia, Beluchistan, Afghanistan. 



2. SESUVIUM, Linn. 



Herbs or undershrubs, erect or prostrate, branched, succulent. Leaves 

 opposite, subfleshy ; stipules 0, but the petioles are sometimes connate 

 bv a stipuliform membrane. Flowers axillary, sessile or peduucled, 

 solitary or clustei'ed (rarely subcymose), often 'flesh-colored or purple, 

 bracteate or not. Calyx-tube turbinate ; lobes 5, oblong or triangular, 

 colored within. Petals 0. Stamens many or 5, inserted round the top 

 of the calyx-tube; filaments filiform, sometimes coimate at the base; 

 anthers didymous. Ovary free, 3-5-celled ; ovules numerous ; styles 

 3-5, longitudinally papillose on the inside. Capsule ellipsoid or ovoid, 

 membranous, 3-5-celled, circumscissilely dehiscent. Se^ds very many 

 in each cell, reniform ; embryo annular. — Distrib. Throughout the 

 Tropics of the world near sea-shores ; species 4. 



1. Sesuvium Portulacastrum, Linn. S)jst. ed. 10 (1759) p. 1058. 

 Herbaceous; stems prostrate, creeping and rooting at the nodes, often 

 buried in the sand, stout, succulent, much branched, red, glabrous. 

 Leaves opposite, 1-1 1 by ^-^ in., linear or spathulate-oblong, sometimes 

 subcylindric, fleshy, obtuse, glabrous, tapering much towards the base : 

 petioles short, much dilated and amplexicaul at the base, with broad 

 scarious margins. Flowers axillary, solitary ; pedicels about equalling 



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