448 FLORA OF MADRAS. \JParnassia. 



radical, petioled. Calyx-tuloe free or adnate to the ovary ; lobes 

 5, imbricate. Petals 5, white or pale yellow. Stamens 5, 

 perigynous or nearly hypogynous, opposite the calyx-lobes, 

 alternating with 5 staminodes opposite the petals ; filaments 

 subulate ; anthers ovate. Ovary 1- celled, ovoid ; style short ; 

 stigmas 3-4 ; ovules numerous, on parietal placentas opposite the 

 stigmas. Fruit a capsule, loculicidally 3-4-valved. Seeds 

 numerous, smooth, albumen scarcely any. 



Scapes 6-12 in. high ; leaves broadly ovate, cordate, 1-1-5 in. long- ; 

 petals obovate, conspicuously fimbriate on the margins ; staminodes 



3-5-lobed, the lobes cylindric-clavate 1. Wightiana. 



Scapes 3-6 in. high ; leaves orbicular, cordate, 'o-'To in. long ; petals 

 obovate, not or slightly fimbriate on the margins ; staminodes clavate, 

 entire or more or less 3- or even 5-lobed 2. mysorensis. 



1. PARNASSIA WIGHTIANA, Wall, in W. & A. 35 ; F. B. I. ii. 

 402 ; Wt. 111. t. 21, Ic. t. 945. 



Boggy places on tke Nilgiri plateau at 6,000-8,000 ft 



2. PARNASSIA MYSORENSIS, Heyne in W. & A. 35 ; F. B. I. ii. 

 402; Wt. 111. t. 21. 



W. Ghats, in the Mysore, Malabar, Nilgiri and Pulney 

 Hills, above 5,000 ft., in damp places or among rocks. The 

 Nilgiri specimens have the staminodes more prominently 

 lobed than those from the Pulney s. The two species are 

 closely allied and are more distinguishable by the differ- 

 ence of size than by other characters. 



Family LYIII. CRASSULACEAE. 



Herbs, with often a woody rootstock, or undershrubs, usually 

 succulent. Leaves alternate or opposite, simple or sometimes 

 pinnate ; stipules 0. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or unisexual, 

 usually in cymes. Calyx free, 4-5-, rarely 6-8-lobed. Petals as 

 many as the calyx-lobes and alternate with them, free or connate. 

 Stamens as many or twice as many as the petals, hypogynous or 

 epipetalous. Carpels as many as and opposite to the petals, free 

 or connate below, narrowed into the styles with a hypogynous 

 scale at the base of each; ovules numerous, 2-many- seriate, 

 rarely few. Fruit of usually 4-5, rarely fewer, follicles dehiscing 

 at the ventral suture. Seeds many, rarely few or solitary, 

 albuminous. 



