Trianthema.\ lxvii. ficoide^ (oliver). 587 



6. TEIANTHEMA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 855. 



Calyx 5-fid, lobes with a dorsal subapical cusp. Petals 0. Stamens 

 3-5-10 or oo, perigynous, when definite alternating with the calyx- 

 lobes. Ovary free, usually obtuse, truncate or umbilicate at apex, 1—2- 

 celled ; styles 2 orl; ovules solitary or oo, from a ' basilar placenta.' 

 Capsule membranous or coriaceous, 1-2-celled, 1-2- oo-seeded, circum- 

 sciss. Seeds rotundate-reniform, compressed, often plicate-rugose, 

 black ; embryo annulate. — Herbs or undershrubs, glabrous or papillose. 

 Leaves opposite, unequal, entire, linear to rotundate, often fleshy; 

 petiole dilated with membranous stipuliform margins. Flowers axillary, 

 solitary or fascicled in Trop. African species. 

 A small Old World genus, widely spread in warm regions. 



Style 1. 



Flowers solitary. 



Stamens 10 or more. Leaves obovate or rotundate . . » 1. 71 monugyna. 

 Flowers in glomerules. 



Calyces free (not consolidated). 



Leaves oblanceolate to rotundate 2. T. crystalline/,. 



Leaves linear 3. T. sedifolia. 



Calyces consolidated below. Leaves linear 4. T. salsoloides. 



Styles 2. 



Flowers solitary 5. T. polyspermum. 



Flowers in glomerules 6. T. pentandra. 



1. T. monogyna, L. Want. 69. Diffuse prostrate or seedlings as- 

 cending, branches flexuose, alternate, distichous, more or less ancipi- 

 tous; wholly glabrous. Leaves rather fleshy, obovate or obovate- 

 rotundate, entire or emarginate, sometimes mucronate, usually J-l in. 

 long ; petiole distinct, £- J in., one leaf of each pair alternately much 

 smaller. Flowers solitary, sessile, sheathed by the stipuliform mem- 

 branous base of the petioles. Perianth-lobes obtuse, with a dorsal 

 subapical awn or apiculus. Stamens 10-12 (or more). Ovary truncate 

 above ; style 1. Seeds few, plicate-rugose. — DC. Prod. iii. 352 ; T. 

 obcordata, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 445 ■ T.Jleanwsa, S. et T. PI. Guin. 221. 



Upper Guinea. Cape Coast, T. Vogell Christiansburg, Thonning. 

 Also in Tropical America and Asia. 



2. T. crystallina, V. ; DC. Prod. iii. 352. Ascending or diffuse 

 with spreading or prostrate branches, repeatedly 2-3-chotomous from 

 the base, annual or biennial ; branches, at least towards the extremities, 

 and leaves cellular-papillose. Leaves fleshy, oblanceolate obovate or 

 rotundate, obtuse, usually cuneately narrowed into the petiole, much 

 reduced and often roundish and subcordate on profusely flowering 

 branches j J-f in. long, petiole usually distinct, short, sheathing. 

 Flowers in axillary few- or many-flowered often dense fascicles. Calyx 

 5-fid, lobes equalling tube, ovate or deltoid with a lanceolate or short 

 and obtuse dorsal apiculus. Stamens 5. Ovary truncate, 1-celled ; 

 style 1, equalling ovary. Seeds 2, plicate -rugose. 



Nile Land. Widely spread in different provinces. 



