586 lxvii. FicoiDEiE (oliver). [Sesuvium. 



usually 3-celled. Seeds black, shining', nearly smooth. — S. brevifolium, 

 Schum. et Thonn. PI. Guin. 233. 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Sieber and others 1 



Lower Guinea. Ambriz, Congo, Mossamedes, and Loanda, Dr. Welwitsch! 

 Var., with large sessile flowers and narrow linear leaves, 2-3 in. long [S. mesembryan- 

 themoides, Welw. in Apont. Phyto-geogr. 557, Wawra et Peyritsch, Sert. Beng. 24). 

 Loanda, Dr. Welwitsch! 



Mbzaxnb. Distr . Mouth of Zambesi and Luabo, Dr. Kirk ! 



Gathered as an esculent. Common on Tropical shores of both hemispheres. 



Sesuvium crithmoides, Welw. in Apont. Phyto-geogr. 586, Dr. Welwitsch believes to 

 be a form of his $. mesembryanthemoides ; his specimens were accidentally lost. 



2. S. congense, Welw. mss. Shrubby, prostrate or diffuse, much 

 branched from the base ; branches tortuous, terete, minutely scabrid- 

 papillose. Leaves fleshy, often tufted in the axils, linear, revolute, J-l 

 in. long. Flowers small, subsessile, rose-coloured, solitary in the axils 

 or forks, overtopped by the leaves. Calyx-lobes ovate-lanceolate, 

 shortly apiculate under the apex, inner broader, membrane-margined. 

 Stamens all or nearly all monstrous in the specimens examined (de- 

 veloping as free carpels), indefinite or about 20. Ovary 3-celled, styles 

 as many. Operculum of capsule conical. 



Lower Guinea. Ambriz, Congo, Dr. Welwitsch! 



3. S. crystallinum, Welw. mss. Diffuse or prostrate herb, some- 

 times forming large tufted masses, vesicular-papillose throughout as in 

 the Ice-plant (Mesembryanthemum erystallinuiii) ; branches alternately 

 forked. Leaves terete, furrowed above, obtuse, f-2 in. long, \-% in. 

 diameter when dry, base dilated, sheathing. Flowers rose-coloured, 

 solitary in each fork or somewhat glomerate at the extremities from the 

 contracted internodes, sessile^J-f in. long. Calyx-lobes ovate- deltoid, 

 inner membrane-margined ; tube hemispherical dilated below the lobes, 

 and more or less obtusely cornute outside alternate with the lobes. 

 Stamens oo ; filaments hyaline, free. Ovary globose, glabrous, 4-celled ; 

 styles 4, as long as ovary. Seeds black, shining, minutely punctate. 



Lower Guinea. Mossamedes, Benguela, sea-shore, Dr. Welwitsch I 



4. S. digynum, Welw. mss. A diffuse dichotomously and divari- 

 cately branched annual or biennial herb occasionally subscandent 

 amongst surrounding shrubs, glabrous or papillose-puberulous. Leaves 

 from oval to linear, narrowed above and below, more or less acute, 

 plane or margins revolute, ^—1 in. long, from -^ in. in the narrow re- 

 volute-leaved forms to J in. broad. Flowers rose or purple, solitary, 

 sessile in each fork, J-J in. long. Calyx-tube turbinate, lobes with a 

 conspicuous subapical terete apiculus terminating in a minute " gland." 

 Stamens oo. Ovary 2-celled ; styles 2, filiform. Ovules oo, distinctly 

 funiculate. — Diplochonium sesuvioides, Wawr. et Peyr. Sert. Beng. 24, 

 and probably of Fenzl in Monogr. Mollug. (Extr.) 292 (adnot.). 



Lower Guinea. Mossamedes, (and narrow revolute-leaved var.) Benguela, Dr. 

 Welwitsch I Dr. Wawra. 



