r , 



Gunniance, . N, O. Sclerantheae 



TAB. CCLXXXIII. 



Mniarum f^sciculatum. Br. 



Caule multiplice procumbente ramoso, ramis tenuissime pubes- 



centibus, foliis per totam longitudinem denticulatis. Br. 

 Mniarum fasciculatum. Br. in De Cand. Prodr. 3, />. 378. 

 Hab. Van Dieman's Land. Brown. Gathered near Ross 

 ' and at Circular Head in that country by Eonald Gunn^ Esq. 

 {n. 97.) It forms dense patches on the ground, stones, &c- 

 A genus very closely allied to Scleranthus^ and scarcely differ- 

 ing but in the 4 (not 5) divisions of the calyx and 1 stamen 

 (not 5 or 2 stamens). Of this plant there are two varieties in 

 the collection ; that here figured with crowded flowers, and a 

 smaller state with the flowers more scattered. Neither agrees 

 with the original M. hiflorum of Forst, which however only 

 seems to differ from M. fasciculatum in the minute (for it is very 

 minute) denticulation being confined to the base of the foliage. 

 The Order Scleranthece is separated by Linck from ParonychiecB^ 

 in consequence of the absence of petals and stipules. Professor 

 Lindley considers them more nearly related to ChenopodecBy 

 ** from which they chiefly differ in the indurated tube of the 

 calyx, from the orifice of which the stamens proceed, and in the 

 number of the latter often (not in Mniarum) exceeding that of 

 the divisions of the calyx/* 



Fig. 1 . Flower. / 2. The same laid open. /. 3. Pistil : 

 magnified. 



