106 



Order XLYIIT. HALORAGEiE. 



Elo^Ycrs minute, iiiii- or bisexual. Calyx-tube aduate ; limb 

 2-3-4-toothed or entire. Petals 2-3-i (or 0), epigynous, 

 with valvate or imbricate aestivation, deciduous. Stamens as 

 many or twice as many as the petals, and inserted with them, 

 rarely fewer. Ovary inferior, 1-3-4-celled ; ovules solitary or 

 in fours, pendulous ; style, if any, separate, very short ; stig- 

 mas villous or feathery. Eruit nut-like or fleshy, 1— i-celled. 

 Seeds pendulous ; embryo in the axis of Heshy albumen. 



Leaves on long petioles, all radical. Peduncles 

 scape-like, bearing a compound spike of minvite 

 flowers 1. GUNNERA. 



Leaves sessile, entire or toothed. Flowers axillary. 



— A creeping or prostrate herb 2. Seepicula. 



Leaves whorled, pectinate-parted. Flowers in ter- 

 minal spikes.— Water plants 3. Myeiophyllum. 



1. GUNNERA, Linn. 



Flowers unisexual or bisexual. Calyx-tube terete or an- 

 gular ; limb 2-3-lobed. Petals 2 or 0, coriaceous, deciduous. 

 Stamens 1-2, opposite the petals ; anthers 2-celled. Ovary 

 1-celled, 1-ovuled ; stigmas 2, long, simple, papillose. Fruit 

 succulent, with a bony endocarp. Albumen copious ; embryo 

 very minute. — Fl. Cap. ii. 'p. 571. 



jS'early stemless herbs, with long-petioled, reniform, many-nerved, sub- 

 radical leaves. Scapes tall, ending m a compound spike or thyrsus of 

 many minute flowers ; the female spikelets occupying the lower half of the 

 spike. — G. perpensa, our only species, grows hi wet ditches throughout the 

 colony. 



2. SERPICULA, Linn. 



Flowers unisexual. — Male : Calyx minute, 4-toothed. Pe- 

 tals 4, oblong, concave. Stamens 4 or 8. — Female : Calyx- 

 tube 4-angled, 8-ribbed ; limb 4-toothed. Petals and stamens 

 0. Ovary 1-celled ; ovules 4, pendulous ; stigmas 4, long and 

 feathery. Fruit 8-ribbed, fleshy, with a bony endocarp, 1- 

 seeded.— -FZ. Cap. \\.p. 572. 



S. repens, Linn., our only species, grows in moist places throughout the 

 colony. Stems decumbent, creeping. Leaves alternate or the lower oppo- 

 site, sessile, lanceolate or oval, entire or toothed, often reddish. Stamens 4. 



3. MYRIOPHYLLUM, Linn. 



Flowers unisexual, rarely bisexual. — Male : Calyx 4-parted. 

 Petals 4, ovate, caducous. Stamens 4-6-8.— Female : Calyx- 

 limb 4-parted. Petals or very minute. Stamens abortive 

 or 0. Ovary 4-celled ; stigmas 4, long, compressed, papulose 



