380 xyridace^e. [Philydrum. 



broader and more petal-like, usually without anthers. Placentas parietal, but 

 projecting to the centre of the cavity and 2-lobed. 

 A genus now limited to a single species. 



1. P. lanuginosum, Banks; Kunth, Enum. iii. 380; Guillem. Ic. PL 

 Austral, t. 5 ; Bot. Mag. t. 783. Stems leafy, about 2 ft. high, with more 

 or less of a loose white wool, wearing away with age. Lower leaves nearly 1 

 ft. long, equitant at the base, upper ones passing into short lanceolate sheath- 

 ing bracts. Flowers yellow, sessile, and solitary or in pairs in the sheaths 

 of distant bracts. Perianth-segments hairy, about -§ in. long. Capsule about 

 as long. 



In marshes at Saywan, Champion, Hance, Wright. Also in Australia. 



Order CXX. JUNCACE^]. 



Perianth regular, dry and calyx-like, of 6 free segments. Stamens 6 or 

 rarely 3 only, inserted at their base. Ovary 3-celled, with 1 or more ovules 

 in each cell, or 1 -celled, with 3 or more ovules. Styles usually 3. Capsule 

 3-valved. Seeds albuminous, with a very small embryo. — Herbs usually stiff, 

 with narrow sometimes cylindrical and stem-like leaves, and small herbaceous 

 flowers in terminal or apparently lateral clusters or panicles. 



A small family, abundantly spread over all parts of the globe. 



1. JUNCUS, Linn. 



Ovary 3-celled, with numerous ovules. Leaves usually cylindrical, at least 

 in the upper portion ; the other characters and geographical range those of 

 the Order. 



1. J. Leschenaultii, /. Gay; Kunth, Enum. Hi. 336. A tufted annual, 

 from 2 or 3 in. to near 1 ft. high. Leaves sheathing below, cylindrical up- 

 wards, 1 to 3 in. long, slightly divided inside by cross partitions of pith, giv- 

 ing them a jointed appearance. Flowers in little clusters of fiom 3 or 4 to 8 

 or 10, in a more or less compound terminal panicle with a small leaf-like bract 

 at its base. Perianth -segments 1^ to 2 lines long, narrow, very acute. Stamens 

 usually 3. Capsule narrow, pointed, full 2 lines long. — /. sineiisis, J. Gay ; 

 Kunth, Enum. iii. 336. 



Hongkong, Wright ; in a ditch in the Happy Valley, Wilford. Common in India. It 

 is chiefly distinguished from the European /. articulatus by the much longer perianth-seg- 

 ments and capsules. The smaller specimens have almost the habit of J. bufonius, a cosmo- 

 politan species, which I have reason to believe may also be found in Hongkong. It is a 

 small annual, readily known by the leaves not jointed and its flowers mostly solitary or rarely 

 2 together. 



Order CXXI. RESTIACEJE. 



Flowers unisexual. Perianth dry and glume-like or very thin and trans- 

 parent, of 6 or rarely 4 segments in 2 series, the inner ones sometimes united 

 at the base. Male flowers : Stamens 6, 4, 3, or 2, usually inserted on the 

 perianth-segments or at the summit of the tube. Female flowers : Ovary 1- 



