152 XX. ELATINE^ (oLIVER). 



many, liypogynous, imbricate. Stamens as m^ny or twice as many as petals, 

 liypogynous, free; anthers 2 -celled, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary supe- 

 rior, with as many cells as sepals ; styles as many. Ovules indefinite, axile. 

 Capsule membranous or crustaceous, dehiscing by the septa into as many 

 valves as cells, which separate from the axile column of the ovary Avith or 

 without portions of the ruptured septa. Seeds straight or curved ; albumen 



or very thin. Embryo with short cotyledons. — Herbs or undershrubs, 

 prostrate diffuse or aquatic. Leaves opposite or verticillate, entire or serrate, 

 stipulate. Flowers small, axillary. 



A small Order of two genera, both widely spread in the warmer parts of the Old and 

 New World, though but one is represented in tropical Africa. 



1. BERGIA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 163. 



Sepals usually 5, with an herbaceous midrib and membranous margins, 

 more or less acute or apiculate. Capsule rather crustaceous ; valves with 

 their margins incurved or plane. — Herbs or shrubs, prostrate or diffuse, 

 hispid pubescent or glabrous. Leaves opposite, serrate or entire. Flowers 

 solitary or fasciculate, axillary. 



A small genus, widely dispersed in warm countries. None of the species are peculiar to 

 intertropical Africa. 



Glabrous herb. Leaves oval. Flowers 1-2 lines. Stamens 10 . . \. B. verticilfata. 

 Annual herb. Leaves oblanceolate or elliptical to linear-oval, thinly 



hispid or glabrate. Flowers 1 line or less, in dense verticillasters. 



Stamens normally 5 2. B. ammanoides. 



Annual herb. Leaves oval-oblong, acute, glabrous. Flowers 2-3 



lines, solitary or geminate, on slender pedicels. Stamens 10 . . Z. B. polyantha. 

 Procumbent or ascending, from a woody stock. licaves linear to 



linear-lanceolate, glabrous. Mowers 1-2 lines. Stamens 10 . . 4. B. decumhens. 

 Shrubby, at least below. Leaves oval to broadly elliptical, rather 



thick, shortly hispid. Flowers about 2 lines long. Stamens 10 . 5. B. sufruticosa. 



1. B. verticillata, Willd. ; DC. Prod. i. 390. Glabrous herb, i-1 ft., 

 usually with procumbent branches rooting at the nodes. Leaves oval, nar- 

 rowed to each end, subacute or rather obtuse, finely or obscurely serrulate, 

 membranous or rather succulent, glabrous ; venation obscure, 1-2 in. long, 

 i-f in. broad ; petiole gradually dilating upwards, 1-3 lines ; stipules lan- 

 ceolate-deltoid, 1-2 lines. Flowers in sessile or subsessile, few- or many- 

 flow^ered axillary clusters. Sepals lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, obliquely 

 mucronulate. Petals oval-oblong, equalling or exceeding the sepals. Sta- 

 mens 10 ; filaments narrow-linear or subulate, subequal. Ovary globose or 

 ovoid-globose ; styles very short. 



Nile Iiand. Kordofan {Schweinf. et Asch. Enum.). 



Also in Egypt and widely dispersed in the tropics of both hemispheres. 



2. B. ammanoides, Both ; DC. Prod. i. 390. An erect or decumbent 

 more or less thinly pilose pubescent or shortly hispid annual, a few inches to 



1 foot in height. Leaves from oblanceolate to linear-oval, narrowed to the 

 base or into the petiole, generally acute, sharply often distantly serru- 

 late or nearly entire, thinly hispid or glabrescent, |-1 in. in length, with 

 lanceolate or subulate stipules. Flowers small, in dense, often many-flowered 



