664 LXIX. FICOIDEJ;. (C. B. Clarke.) [Mollugo. 



6. HI. nudicaulis, Lamk. Diet. iv. 234 ; glabrous, stems many leafless 

 rising from a tuft of radical leaves. DC. Prodr. i. 391 ; Wall. Cat. 648 ; W. 

 $ A. Prodr. 43. M. bellidifolia, Seringe in DC. Prodr. i. 391. Pharnaceum 

 spathulatum, Spreng. St/st. i. 948. Alsine, Burnt. Fl. Zeyl t. 8. 



From the PUNJAB to CEYLON in the hotter drier parts of India ; not in Bengal. 

 DISTRIB. New Caledonia, Tropical Africa, Cuba. 



Leaves 1-2 in., elliptic, tapering to the base. Scapes 3-8 in., wiry, repeatedly 

 dichotomous. Sepals ^ in., oblong. Stamens 5-3 (Oliver). Stigmas 3, very 

 small. Capsule as long as the sepals, somewhat ellipsoid, many-seeded. Seeds black, 

 a microscopic scale appendaged to the hilum, obscurely ridged on the back, shining, 

 closely densely reticulated, very obscurely rough not tuberculated ; embryo curved 

 through half a semicircle New Caledonian examples have the seeds rougher, and a 

 very short linear spur added to the appendage. Cuban examples resemble generally 

 the Indian, but one of them has the stem very woody thick branched densely packed 

 with leaves. 



6. GISEKLIA, Linn. 



Diffuse branched herbs. Leaves opposite or falsely whorled, fleshy, spa- 

 thulate, abounding in raphides ; stipules 0. Flowers sessile and pedicelled, 

 hermaphrodite or polygamous, small, greenish or purplish, in axillary cymes. 

 Sepals 5, nearly free, ovate, herbaceous with membranous margins. Petals 0. 

 Stamens (in the Indian species) 5, hypogynous* Carpels 5-3, distinct; each 

 ending in a short simple style and containing one basal ovule. Fruit of 5, free, 

 membranous, papillose, indehiscent, carpels. Seeds vertical, subreniform ; em- 

 bryo curved. DISTRIB. Species 5, in India, Arabia, and Africa. 



1. Cr. pharnaceoides, Linn. Mant. 562 ; cymes dense, carpels covered 

 with papillse. Roxb. Cor. PL t. 183 (not good} ; Wight Ic. t. 1167 ; A. DC. 

 Prodr. xiii. pt. ii. 27; Kurz in Journ. Linn. Soc. 1877, pt. ii. 111. G, mol- 

 luginoides, Wight Ic. t. 1168. G. linearifolia, Schum. ; A. DC. Prodr. I. c. 

 Pharnaceum occultum, Forsk. FL ^Ey. Arab. 58. 



The PUNJAB, SCINDE, SOUTH DECCAN PENINSULA and CEYLON. DISTRIB. Afgha- 

 nistan, Africa, Ava (WatticK). 



Glabrous. Stems 8-18 in. Leaves f-l in., oblong or elliptic, entire, narrowed 

 at the base ; petiole 0-J in. Sepals f^ i n - Filaments dilated below. Carpels usually 

 5, in fruit as long as the sepals. Seeds blackish, smooth, minutely glandular-punc- 

 tate; embryo curved less than a semicircle. 



7. X.IIKEUIVX, Linn. 



Branched, mostly prostrate herbs ; glandular or glabrous. Leaves alternate 

 or subopposite ; stipules 0. Flowei's bracteate, cymed, hermaphrodite or unisex- 

 ual, small, green. Sepals 5, nearly free, ovate, herbaceous with membranous mar- 

 gins. Petals (in the Indian species) 3-5, small. Stamens 5-10, hypogynous ; 

 filaments dilated downwards and somewhat connate at the base. Ovary globose, 

 2-celled; stigmas 2, short; ovule 1 in each cell, basal. Fruit separating 

 vertically into two coriaceous hemispherical cocci, which at length dehisce 

 ventrally. Seeds vertical, reniform; embryo annular. DISTRIB. Species 10, 

 African, one reaching- the west of India. 



1. Zi. indie um. Stocks ms. ex T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. v. SuppL 

 30 ; leaves spathulate round, capsule smooth. Oliv. FL Trop. Afr. ii. 596. 



