XVI. CARYOPHYLLK^. 23 



Stamens 5 or fewer, subliypogynouB. Ovary many-ovuled. 

 Style filiform, 3-fid above. Capsules membranous, 3-valved, 

 many-seeded. — FL Cap. i. p. 135. 



D. cordata, W., a common South American plant, was found at the 

 HangUp by Mundt. It has cordate or roundish leaves, bristle-like stipules, 

 and small white flowers in forked, much-branched cymes. 



9. POLYCARPiEA, Linn. 



Calyx 5-parted ; sepals more or less membranous, concave, 

 nerveless, not keeled, entire, pointless. Petals 5, subhypogy- 

 nous, entire or 2-dentate. Stamens 5, hypogynous. Ovary 

 many-ovuled ; style 3-fid. Capsules 3-valved, many-seeded. — 

 FL Cap. i. p. 133. 



Small, much-branched herbs, common to the tropical and subtropical 

 regions of both hemispheres. Leaves opposite or pseudo-verticillate, linear, 

 oval, or spathulate. Stipules shining, silvery, copious. Flowers in tufts 

 or corymbose cymes. — P. corymhosa, Lam., a widely-dispersed species, 

 occurs at Port Natal. 



10. POLYCARPON, LceC 



Calyx 5-parted ; sepals herbaceous, membrane-edged, com- 

 pressed, strongly keeled and mucronate. Petals 5, entire or 

 emarginate. Stamens 3-5. Ovary many-ovuled. Style 3-fid. 

 Capsules 3-valved, many-seeded. — FL Cap. i. p. 133. 



Small herbs. P. tetrapTiyllum, a decumbent, forked, much-branched 

 annual, with obovate, opposite or 4-nate leaves, panicled flowers, short 

 emarginate white petals, and silvery stipules, is a common weed by road- 

 sides and in waste places throughout the colony. 



Oeder XVII. PORTULACE^. 



Elowers regular, perfect. Sepals fewer than the petals, 

 commonly 2, rarely 5, free or adnate to the ovary, strongly 

 imbricate. Petals 4-5, rarely many, hypogynous or rarely pe- 

 rigynous, free or connate, imbricate, withering early. Stamens 

 inserted with the petals, mostly definite. Ovary free or half- 

 inferior, 1-celled ; style 2 -3-fid ; ovules 2 or many, on long, 

 slender cords rising from the base, and either free or united 

 in a central column. Capsules membranous or crustaceoiis, 

 splitting into as many valves as the style branches. Seed as in 

 Caryophyllece. — Herbs or shrubs, mostly succulent and gla- 

 brous. Leaves alternate or opposite, entire, often fleshy. 



Capsules half-inferior, opening transversely, many- 

 seeded 1. PORTULACA. 



Capsules 3-valved, splitting longitudinally. 



Seeds winged, numerous 2. Anacampseros. 



Seeds wingless, numerous 3. TalinUxM. 



Fruit 3-winged, indehiscent, 1-seeded 4. Portulacaria. 



