']'^. PORTULACACEAE — 74. BASELLACEAE — 75. CARYOPHYLLACEAE I9I 



3. Ovule I. Stamens 4 — 7. Petals reddish. Fruit indehiscent. Shrubs. — 



Species 3. South Africa. Used as ornamental or fodder-plants. 



Portiilacaria Jacq. 



Ovules 3 or more. Stamens 3 or 8 — 30. Fruit 3-valved. Herbs or under- 



shrubs 4 



4. Ovules 3. Stamens 3. Corolla 5-clefi;, slightly irregular, white. Calyx 



persistent. — Species i. North Africa and subantarctic islands. Used 



as a vegetable Montia L. 



Ovules numerous. Stamens 8 — 30. Corolla of 5 free or almost free 

 petals, regular. Calyx deciduous 5 



5. Stipules present, but sometimes reduced to a tuft of hairs. Embryo 



slightly curved. — Species 15. South Africa. Some arc used as 



ornamental plants Anacampseros L. 



Stipules absent. Embryo ring-shaped. Funicle of the seed with an 

 appendage. — Species 4. Central and South Africa. Used as vege- 

 tables. (Plate 44.) Talinum Adans. 



FAMILY 74. BASELLACEAE 



Glabrous, twining herbs. Leaves alternate, broad, entire. Flowers in 

 spikes racemes or panicles, regular, hermaphrodite. Sepals 2, adnate to the 

 corolla at the base. Corolla 5 -cleft or 5 -parted, imbricate in the bud, per- 

 sistent. Stamens 5, opposite the corolla-lobes and affixed to them at the base. 

 Filaments straight or bent outwards in the bud. Anthers 2-celled, turned 

 outwards. Ovary superior, i-celled. Ovule i, basal, curved ; micropyle 

 inferior. Style 3-partite. Fruit indehiscent. Seed albuminous ; embryo 

 curved or spirally twisted. — Genera 2, species 4, Tropics. (Under CHEN- 

 OPODIACEAE or PORTULACACEAE.) 



Flowers sessile, in spikes or panicles. Filaments broadened below. Stigmas 

 entire. Pericarp membranous. Seed subglobose. Embryo spiral. — 

 Species 3, two spontaneous in East Africa and Madagascar, the third 

 cultivated in various tropical countries. The\^ are used as vegetables, 



in medicine, and as dye-plants Basella L. 



Flov/ers short-stalked, in racemes. Filaments thread-shaped. Stigmas 

 forked. Pericarp somewhat fleshy. Seed sublenticular. Embryo semi- 

 circular. ■ — Species i. Cultivated in various regions and naturahzed in 

 the Mascarene Islands. Used as a vegetable or an ornamental plant. 



Boussaingaultia H. B. & K. 



SUBORDER CARYOPHYLLINEAE 



FAMILY 75. CARYOPHYLLACEAE 



Herbs or undershrubs, rarely shrubs. Leaves undivided. Perianth usually 

 separated into calyx and corolla. Stamens i — 10. Ovary i-celled or incom- 

 pletely 2 — 5-celled, superior, rarely (Sclerocephalus) half-inferior. Ovules on 



