124 



Drummond's type. At the same time I must admit that the 

 specific description of Drummond's plant well agrees with the 

 South Australian examples of the " Geococcus-state " of B. 

 cardiminoides. 



Examples of so-called Geococcus 2>'^sillus have been studied by 

 me from the following South Australian localities : — Ardrossan, 

 J. G. 0. Tepper ; Mount Remarkable, C. F. Johncock ; Craddock, 

 Central Agricult. Bureau. They all agree in general characters 

 with Bentham's diagnosis — in radical pinnatifid leaves, stemless, 

 the fruits born singly on radical axillary reflected peduncles, 

 burying the capsules in the ground. The flowers I have not 

 seen. The capsule is cylindrical, at its longest about 7 mm., not 

 exceeding 9 mm., and from four to five times as long as wide, 

 the pedicels about 10 mm. long, broad and flat ; but the fruits 

 are often deformed, some reduced to an ovoid outline of 3 by 

 2-5 mm., or even slightly less, this deformity may arise from the 

 resistance to penetration ofiered by hard ground. Each fruit- 

 valve flatly convex from a median keel, reticulately streaked on 

 the sides and sparsely stellately-hairy, apex obtusely pointed. 



Though the foliage is that of Blennodia cardaminoides, yet the 

 other structures are not in agreement therewith. Thus the 

 stigma is sessile, the pod is not curved (though this character is 

 not constant in B. cardaniinoides), and is not attenuated at the 

 base, whilst its conspicuous midrib and the reticulate veining on 

 the side are additional distinctions. These marked differences 

 must be related to the habit of dimorphism ; inasmuch as I 

 possess a plant of B. cardamiiioides from Cooper Creek, which 

 has four single-flowered short stalks (about 7 mm. long), some 

 erect others horizontal, among the radical leaves ; otherwise it is 

 normal, the single flowers are not yet advanced enough to show 

 no more than a slight passage towards a fully developed 

 "geococcus-state." However, a little has been gained in the 

 direction of correlating the two very dissimilar states of Blen- 

 nodia cardaminoidesj which have in common virtually only leaf- 

 form. 



