108 



33. GENTIAXACE.^. 



purplish below; segments of corona s]i<:;litlv compressed, 

 the outer edge higlier than tlie inner ; follicles ovoid- 

 acuminate, downy, with a few soft spines. 



Roadsides and gullies. Mount Lofty Range.— Apl. -Aug. 

 — South Africa. 



2. G. fruticosus, R. Br. Undershmb with slender 

 erect stems, branching above, young parts white-downy ; 

 leaves long, linear-lanceolate, tapering at both ends; umbels 

 loose, of .3-10 flowers ; corolla-lobes white, ciliate ; segments 

 of corona compressed, the outer edge lower than the inner, 

 which has 2 incurved teeth ; follicles shaped as in the pre- 

 ceding species, but glabrous and bearing many soft spines. 



Roadsides and gullies. Mount Lofty Range. — Nov. -Feb. 

 — South Africa and Mediterranean region. Mentioned b.v 

 Allan Cunningham in 1817 as having been introduced into 

 New South Wales several years before. Both species are 

 popularly called Cotton Bush in South Australia, on account 

 of the tufted seeds. 



Family 33.- GENTIANACE/E. 



1. Erythr.ea, Borckhausen. 

 (Greek rrythros, red; colour of the flowers.) 



1. Erythrsea. Centaur- 



ium, Pers. Common Centattry. 

 Small glabrous annual ; stem 

 erect, quadrangular, branching 

 above ; radical leaves, broad- 

 oval, withering early, stem-leaves 

 opposite, broad to narrow-oblong, 

 3-5 nerved ; flowers usually 

 numerous, subsessilc. in dense 

 or loose dichotonous corymbose 

 cymes; cal.yx divided nearly to 

 the base into 5 linear-lanceolate 

 segments ; corolla with -5 oval 

 spreading lobes shorter than the 

 tube; stamens 5; style 1, decidu- 

 ous, shortly bifid at summit ; 

 cap.sule c.ylindrical, opening in 2 

 valves, as long as, or longer than, 

 the calyx; seeds numerous, small, 

 wrinkled. Some dwarf forms 

 have the inflorescence reduced to 

 a single flower. 



Adelaide plains and Mount 

 Lofty Range. — Nov. - Feb. — 

 Europe ; western Asia. 



Erythrsea Centaurium. 



