Portulaca.] portulace^e. 127 



1. PORTULACA, Linn. 



Sepals 2. Petals 5, united at the base. Stamens indefinite. Style short, 

 with 4 or 5 stigmas. Capsule opening transversely. — Herbs, with alternate 

 leaves. Flowers terminal, usually surrounded by an involucre of 4 or more 

 leafy bracts. 



A considerable tropical or subtropical genus, chiefly American, with a very few species from 

 the Old World, or from more temperate regions. 



1. P. oleracea, Linn.; DC. Prod. iii. 353. A low prostrate or spread- 

 ing annual, seldom attaining above 6 inches, somewhat succulent and quite 

 glabrous, without the long hairs at the nodes of several other species. Leaves 

 small, cuneate-oblong. Mowers small, yellow, sessile above the last leaves or 

 bracts ; the petals exceedingly fugacious and scarcely exceeding the calyx. 



On roadsides and in waste places, Ranee, Wright. Common in similar localities and in 

 sandy wastes in almost all warm countries. 



Order XLYIII. CRASSULACE^. 



Sepals 3 or more, usually 5, but sometimes up to 20, free from the ovary, 

 but occasionally united in a lobed calyx. Petals as many, sometimes united 

 in a lobed corolla. Stamens as many or twice as many, inserted with the 

 petals at the base of the calyx. Ovary superior, the carpels as many as the 

 petals, distinct, usually with a small flat scale at the base of each, with several 

 ovules in each. Styles simple, distinct. Ripe carpels capsular. Seeds several, 

 with a thin fleshy albumen and straight embryo. — Herbs or shrubs. Leaves 

 succulent, all or only the upper ones alternate or rarely opposite. Stipules 

 none. Flowers in terminal racemes, cymes, or panicles. 



A rather numerous Order, extending over the greater part of the globe, but particularly 

 abounding in South Africa and in the rocky districts of Europe and central Asia. 



1. BRYOPHYLLUM, SaHsb. 



Sepals united in an inflated 4 -lobed calyx. Petals united in a cylindrical 

 4 -lobed corolla. Stamens 8, attached to the base of the corolla. Scales 

 gland-like. Carpels 4. Styles filiform. 



The genus is limited to a single species. 



1. P. calychmm, Salisb. ; DC. Prod. iii. 396 ; Bot. Mag. t. 1409. A 

 glabrous erect succulent perennial, 2 to 5 ft. high. Leaves opposite, flat, but 

 succulent, ovate or oval-oblong, 3 to 5 in. long, either crenate or pinnately 

 divided into 5 or 7 entire or crenate segments. Flowers green, tinged with 

 reddish-yellow, nodding, in loose terminal panicles, the inflated calyx 1 to 1^ 

 in. long, the corolla rather longer. 



In waste places, Champion and others. Widely spread over tropical Asia, Africa, and 

 America, but in many places introduced. 



Order XLIX. SAXIFRAGACE^J. 



Sepals 4 to 5, free or united in a calyx, with the tube wholly or partially 

 adherent, and 4 or 5 lobes or teeth. Petals either as many, perigynous, 



