134 LXII. FICOIDEiE. 



Leaves whorled, obovatc, lanceolate or linear, with obsolete stipules. 

 Flowers small, sessile or pedicellate, in sessile, axillary umbels.— 7 species, 

 dispersed. 



13. POLPODA, Prcsl. 



Calyx petaloid, 4-parted ; sepals (snow-white) fringed and 

 lacerate, imbricated at base with 3-4 hard-margined, basally- 

 fimbriate bracts. Petals 0. Stamens 4, hypogynous, alter- 

 nate with the sepals ; filaments exserted ; anther-cells linear, 

 divaricate at base. Style 2-parted ; branches filiform, erect, 

 stigmatose. Capsules broadly obcordate, 2-celled, compressed 

 laterally, loculicidally 2-Yalyed ; valves septiferous. Seed so- 

 litary, globose-reniform, granulated, black, opaque. — Fl. Cap. 

 i. p. 149. 



P. Capensis, the only species, is a diffusely-branched undershrub, the 

 branches everywhere densely imbricated with minute, linear, hai'd-margined, 

 channelled leaves, on each side at base bordered with membranous, fringed, 

 stipulary laminse. Flowers minute, axillaiy, sessile, fonning long, cylin- 

 drical, termmal spikes. — Common on hills round Capetown and Kamp's 

 Bay. 



14. GIESEKIA, Linn. 



Calyx 5-parted ; sepals often coloured, with membranous 

 edges. Petals 0. Stamens 5-15, hypogynous, separate, alterna- 

 ting singly or in parcels of 2 or 3 with the sepals ; filaments 

 broad-based, subulate. Carpels 5 (sometimes 3-4), sessile on a 

 small torus, separate ; ovules solitary, erect ; styles 3-5, con- 

 tinuous w^ith the inner angle of the carpel. Pruit lodged 

 in the persistent calyx, of 3-5 1-seeded, warted or crested, dry 

 nuts ; embryo peripheric- — Fl. Cap. i. p. 155. 



Small annuals or perennials, growing in sandy soil. Stems slender, 

 spreading, forked. Leaves opposite or alternate, entire, fleshy, generally 

 paler beneath, and dotted with hard, immersed points. Flowers minute, 

 greenish, in simple or compound cymes. — 2 Cape species, dispersed. 



15. SEMONVILLEA, Gay. 



Calyx 5-parted; sepals separate, herbaceous, with mem- 

 branous edges. Petals 5 or 0, clawed. Stamens 5-7, hypo- 

 gynous, the broad-based filaments slightly connate at base. 

 Ovary compressed, of 2 plano-convex carpels, united by their 

 flat sides ; styles 2, filiform ; stigmas subcapitate. Pruit orbi- 

 cular, dry, formed of 2 separable, 1-seeded, indehiscent, plano- 

 convex carpels, winged round the margin. — Fl. Cap. i. p. 152. 



Slender, branching, glabrous annuals, found in North and South Africa. 

 — S.fenestrata, Fenzl, the Cape species, grows on the Northern frontier. 

 It is 12-18 inches high, much -branched, with very long narrow-linear 

 leaves, and minute cymose flowers. 



