186 ZYGOPHYLLE^. (ZYGOPHTLLUM FAMILY.) 



2. T, terre§tri§, L. .3 to .5, appressed-pubescent or canes- 

 cent-silky. Petals oblong, somewhat longer than calyx ; stamens 10 ; 

 stigma pyramidal, nearly sessile ; carpels appressed-hairy or canescent, 

 lack more or less keeled and somewhat crested, with 4 prickles, the lower 

 sometimes abortive — Spring and summer — Fields and roadsides; 

 common. 



T. alatus, Del. Jatha. Breisi. Kharshum-en-Naqh. Appressed 

 canescent. Petals obovate-oblong, as long as or longer than calyx ; 

 stamens 10 ; stigma ovate-capitate, as long as style or shorter ; carpels 

 hairy, with warty, more or less keeled back, tordered on loth sides ty a 

 wing cut into triangular spines, and more or less dentate, narrower than 

 the diameter of the carpel — Spring — Et-Tih to Sinai and Egyptian 

 desert. 



2. JVITRARIA, L. Nitraria. Oharqad. 



Calyx small, 5-fid, persistent, valvate in the bud. Disk inconspic- 

 uous. Petals 5, hooded, short-beaked at apex, valvate in the bud, 

 with infolded borders. Stamens 15, inserted at the margin of the disk, 

 naked at base. Ovary silky, oblong-pyramidal, 3-celled, gradually 

 tapeiing into a short style ; stigmas 3, connivent. Ovules 1 in each 

 cell, suspended by their middle. Fruit a conical drupe, the endocarp 

 a bony, wrinkled, 1-celled pyrene, the apex splitting into 6 awl-shaped 

 teeth. Seed ovoid, acuminate — Shrubs growing in salt marshes, the 

 branches usually spinescent, the new shoots appressed-canescent, the 

 leaves fleshy, alternate or clustered, the stipules indurated, the flowers 

 corymbose-paniculate. 



N. tridentata, Desf . 5- CrTidrqad. '' Endb-ed-Dib. Sahanun. 1 tod. 

 Leaves wedge-shaped, entire, retuse, or 3-5-crenate-dentate at tip. 

 Flowers long-pedicelled — Spring — •Around the Dead Sea, and south- 

 ward to Sinai and Egypt. Supposed by some to be the Lotus of the 

 ancients, by others to be the plant thrown into the bitter waters at 

 Marah. (Ex. xv., 25.) 



Sepals 5, valvate in bud. Disk small, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, naked 

 at base. Ovary sessile, 5-angled, 5-celled ; ovules solitary, pendulous. 

 Styles 5, free, deflexed. Capsule ovoid, 5-angled, separable into 5 

 carpels, dehiscent by a ventral suture ; endocarp crustaceous. Seeds 

 oblong, flattened — Perennial herbs, with aspect of Zygophyllum. 



S. Orientalis, Dec. If Hdbein. .3 to. 3, glabrous ; branches 

 herbaceous, slender, prostrate. Leaflets 3, longer than petiole, .004 

 to .008 long, apiculate, the terminal larger, obovate, the lateral oblique ; 

 stipules triangular, membranous, ciliate. Peduncles solitary, longer 

 tlian petiole — Spring — Sinai, and Egyptian desert. 



4. ZYGOPHYL.L.U]?I, L. Zygophyllum. Qilldb/'nidm. 



Sepals 4-5, persistent or deciduous, imbricated. Petals 4-5, clawed, 

 imbricated. Disk fleshy. Stamens 8-10, inserted at base of disk, 

 furnished with a scale at base. Ovary sessile, angular, 4-5-celled, 

 tapering into a style. Ovules 2- many in each cell, placed one above 

 the other. Fruit angular or winged, indehiscent or separating into five 



