Victorian Plants. 153 



ERODIUIK. 



742. Petals blue. 



Leaves mostly trisected or the lower trifid, the segments or 

 lobes blunt, somewhat rhomboid, upwards unequally 

 indented and not seldom simply incised also ; flowers few 

 in each umbel or sometimes only two together or even 

 solitary ; sepals short-pointed. E. cygnorum, 



1VE ALVACE A.3B. 

 PLAQIANTHUS. 



743. Petals white. 



Arborescent, often riparian ; leaves large, mostly cordate- 

 ovate, much narrowed toward the upper end, crenate, 

 lobeless or some short-lobed; flowers in paniculate racemes; 

 petals of the staminate flowers exserted, of the pistillate 

 flowers almost enclosed ; fruitlets normally five, outward 

 beset with hairlets, somewhat exserted. 



P. pulchellus. 



Petals pale-yellowish or somewhat purplish ... ... 744 



744. Herbaceous. 



Usually erect plant, restricted to subsaline localities ; leaves 

 carnulent, from lanceolar- to orbicular-ovate and often 

 also cuneate ; floral leaves connate with their stipules ; 

 flowers in leafy spikes ; calyx angular ; petals short- 

 exserted ; fruitlets five, glabrous, enclosed. 



F. spicatus. 



Dwarf-shrubby. 



Rigid plant, restricted to somewhat saline ground, beset 

 with often shining scalelets ; branchlets sometimes spines- 

 cent ; leaves very small, from linear- to obovate- cuneate, 

 entire or at the summit indented, mostly fascicled ; flowers 

 minute, axillary, almost or quite sessile, solitary or two 

 or few together ; fruitlets outside membranous, often only 

 one developed. P. microphyllus. 



SIDA. 



745. Depressed, semi-herbaceous. 



Imperfectly beset with starry hairlets ; leaves rather small, 

 from linear-elliptical to orbicular-cordate, crenate or 

 denticulated ; stipules linear-filiform ; flowers on capillary 

 stalklets, often solitary ; fruitlets six to ten, dorsally 

 wrinkled. S. corrugata. 



Dwarf-shrubby. 



Much branched ; largely beset with grey starry hairlets ; 

 leaves very small, ovate-orbicular, somewhat denticulated 



