246 xviu. CARYOPHYLLEJE. (Edgeworth & Hook, f.) [Polycarpon. 



Branches 6-18 in. high. Leaves obtuse, -| in.; stipules lanceolate. Cymes 

 puberulous, lax, ver; many-flowered. Flowers -fa in. long. 



3. P. spicata, Wight & Am. in Ann. Not. Hist. iii. 91; annual, gla- 

 brous, leaves obovate-spathulate radical rosulate, cymes densely fas- 

 cicled or semiuinbellate, flowers subspicate, sepals lanceolate or ovate- 

 lanceolate acute much exceeding the petals and capsule. P. staticaeformis, 

 ffochst. & Steud. 



WESTERN PENINSULA, at Tuticoreen, Wight; SINDH, Stocks. DISTRIB. Arabia, 

 Egypt, N. Australia. 



A small herb 2-5 in. high; branches strict, filiform, erecto-patent from the root. 

 bearing tufts of leaves and umbelled cymes. Leaves petioled, |-| in., rather (k-vhy, 

 nerveless; stipules scarious, lacerate. Cymes 4 in- diam., tang pednncled. J 

 subsecund, crowded, in. long, bracts and sepals acute, scarious, while, with a highly 

 coloured broad herbaceous midrib. Petal-! very small, oblong, obtuse. Capsule rather 

 more than half the length of the sepals. /Seeds shining. 



ORDER XIX. PORTULACE.ffi. (By W. T. Thiselton Dyer, F.L.S. ) 



Herbs, rarely undershrubs. Leaves opposite or alternate, entire; nodes 

 with scarious or hairy appendages, rarely naked. //;//< various. 



X>-j>tt/x 2, imbricate. J'< to/* 4-.0, Eypogynoufi or perigynoua, free (or united 

 below), fugacious. Stamens 4- oc - f inserted with (rarely upon) the petals, 

 filaments slender; anthers 2-celled. Ovary free, or .l-inierior, l-eel!e<l ; 

 style 2-8-fid, divisions stiginatose ; ovules 2-oo , on basal i'unieles or a cen- 

 tral column, amphitropal. C<ij>xu(c with transverse or 2-3-valvular dehis- 

 cence. Seeds l-oo compressed ; embryo curved round a mealy albumen. 

 DISTRIB. Cosmopolitan, chiefly American; genera 15, species about \-2^. 



Ovary half-adnate ................ 1. POKTULACA. 



Ovary free .................. 2. TALINUM. 



1. FOXlTUXiACA, Linn. 



Dilffuse, usually succulent, annual or perennial herbs. Leaves with scaly 

 or hairy nodal appendages. Flow /* terminal, surrounded by a whorl of 

 leaves, solitary or clustered. /SVy/^/.s connate below, the free part deciduous. 

 J'rtnls 4-6, perigynous or epij)etalous. Ovnry .\-inferior; style 3-.^-lid : 

 ovules oo. 6 T cr/;6-?//e crustaceous, dehiscing transversely. Seeds oo,reniform. 

 DISTRIB. Tropical regions, chiefly American ; one or two are cosmopolitan 

 weeds extending to temperate regions; species 16. 



* Leaves flat. 



1. P. oleracea, Linn. ; nodal appendages scarious minute or 0, leaves 

 cuneate-oblong. Roxb. Fl. Ind.\\. 463; W. & A. Prodr. 356. P. laevis, 

 Ham. in Wall. Cat. 6841. P. suffruticosa, Thw. Enum. 24 (not of Wiy/it). 



Throughout INDIA, ascending to 5000 ft. in the Himalayas. DISTRIB. All warm 

 climates. 



An annual usually prostrate herb, 4-1 ft., snbsucculent and glabrous. Leaves ^-1^ in., 

 rounded-truncate; petiole very short. Inflorescence of few-flowered terminal heads, 

 either solitary, or in dichotomous cymes. Flowers sessile, with a few ovate, pointed, 

 Bcarious scales. Petals 5, about equalling the sepals, yellow. Stamens 8-12. /Style 

 3-8-h'd. Seeds tubercled-punctate. An excellent salad. 



VAR. erccta; erect, leaves ppathulate-linear brighter green; P. oleracea, var. Bylves- 

 tris, Hb. Royle (not ofDC.).N.W. India. 



