Victorian Plants. 359 



1580. Styles permanently united at and near the summit. 



Annual, erect, often very small, almost or quite glabrous ; 

 stem and branches wiry ; leaves very small, from linear - 

 to elliptic-lanceolar, sometimes hardly any developed at 

 the base of the stem ; flowers in terminal umbels or only 

 three or two together or singly terminal ; their stalklets 

 much elongated, thread-like but rigid ; lobes of the calyx 

 usually shorter than its tube, often deltoid ; corolla 

 glabrous, hardly emerging, its tube much longer than its 

 lobes ; stamens low-inserted ; fruit dry, enclosed, some- 

 what roundish, dehiscent between the styles. 



M. paradoxa.' 



Styles quite separated from each other. 



Annual, always very small, mostly erect, glabrous, branchless 

 or scantily branched ; leaves from elliptic- to narrow- 

 linear ; flowers minute, often singly terminal or some 

 axillary or occasionally two or three together, their stalk - 

 lets thread-like, rather elongated ; lobes of the calyx 

 always shorter than its tube, from hardly deltoid to nearly 

 truncate ; corolla glabrous, almost enclosed ; styles from 

 beginning of growth disconnected ; fruit dry, somewhat 

 square, dehiscent between the styles. ME. distylis. 



XiOQANIA. 



1581. Leaves very diminutive. 



A desert-plant, almost herbaceous, occasionally somewhat 

 twisted, partly beset with minute hairlets ; leaves from 

 deltoid to semilaiiceolar ; flowers small, in almost sessile 

 clusters or some solitary ; lobes of the calyx acute ; corolla 

 inside partly beset with subtile hairlets ; fruit almost 

 ovate -ellipsoid, towards its summit dehiscent; seeds 

 black, narrow -ellipsoid, channelled beneath. Figure 97. 

 (Euosma nuda.) L. nuda. 



Leaves well developed ... ... ... ... 1582 



1582. Leaves recurved at the margin. 



A riparian plant, tall-shrubby ; leaves firm, elongated, from 

 narrow-lanceolar to broad-linear, occasionally almost flat, 

 always pale underneath ; flowers small, mostly in axillary 

 cymous panicles, only some fruit-bearing ; lobes of the 

 calyx obtuse ; stamens enclosed ; fruit rather small, dehis- 

 cent towards its summit ; seeds black, oval. 



(Euosma albiflora.) L. floribunda. 



Leaves flat 1583 



