‘Mesembryanthemum. | ' FICOIDE. 191 
with 5 or more cells, rarely 4-célled ; styles as many as the cells, 
free or connate at the base, stigmatic on the inner side ; ovules very 
‘numerous. Capsule enclosed in the persistent calyx, depressed at 
the apex and loculicidally dehiscent, the valves opening in a star- 
like manner. Seeds numerous, minute; testa crustaceous. 
An enormous South African genus, containing fully 300 species; rare else- 
where, although a few species are widely scattered along the shores of many 
parts of the world. 
Leaves less than lin. long. Flowers #-lin. diam. ; 
peduncles usually short : 8 56 .. Ll. WM. australe. 
Leaves more than lin. long. Flowers 14in. diam., on 
long peduncles sts Cd aye ae .. 2. M, equilaterale, 
1. M. australe, Sol. ex Forst. Prodr. n. 523.—Stems: 1-4 ft. 
long, prostrate and rooting at the nodes, woody, terete. Leaves 
Opposite or in opposite fascicles, connate at the base, 4-1} in. long, 
‘linear or linear-oblong, triquetrous, flat above, convex and keeled 
beneath, acute or obtuse, thick and fleshy, often glaucous. Flowers 
-8-Jin. diam., white or pink; peduncles usually shorter than the 
leaves, but sometimes nearly twice their length. Calyx-tube fleshy, 
obconic ; lobes 5, 2 of them much longer than the others. Petals 
very numerous, spreading. Styles 5-8. Capsule 5-8-celled.—4d. 
aan Precur. n. 522; Raoul, Choix, 48; Hook. I ie Nov. -Zel. 
76; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 83; Benth. FI. ’ Austral. . 824; Kirk, 
Students’ Fl. 184. 
KERMADEC IsLANDS, NorrtH AND SourH ISLANDS, CHATHAM ISLANDS : 
Common everywhere on the coasts. Horokaka. October—March. Also: 
abundant in Australia and Tasmania, Norfolk Island, and Lord Howe Island. 
2. M. equilaterale, Haw. Misc. Nat. 77.—Stems robust, woody 
at the base, prostrate or ascending, sometimes several feet in length; 
flowering branches short, suberect. Leaves opposite, stem-clasp- 
ing, 1-3in. long, very fleshy, linear, acutely triquetrous, smootn, 
equal-sided or laterally compressed. Flowers 14in. diam.; pe- 
duncles 1-3in. long, thickened upwards, winged. Calyx-tube 
turbinate, $in. long or more; lobes unequal, the 2 larger ones 
often as long as the tube. Petals SprERa nS Styles 6-10. Cap- 
sule 6-10-celled.— Benth. Fl. Austral. iii. 324; Kirk, Students’ F'l. 
184. 
NortH Isnanp: Coast near Napier; Castle Point, Kirk ! December— 
February. A common plant in Australia and Tasmania, also found in Cali- 
fornia and Chili. 
2, TETRAGONIA, Linn. 
Herbs or undershrubs. Stems trailing or erect. Leaves alter- 
“nate, petiolate, flat but more or less succulent. Flowers axillary, 
solitary or few together. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary and 
often produced above it, terete or angled; lobes 3-5. Petals 
-wanting. Stamens inserted on the calyx-tube, variable in number, 
solitary orfewormany. Ovary inferior, 2-8-celled; styles as many 
