to6 FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



PEPLIS L. 



P. erecta Reg. Annual. Leaves opposite, sessile obovate. Flowers 

 reddish, solitary, axillary, small ; petals quickly falling. Capsule ovoid, shorter 

 than tube of calyx. Calyx ovoid cylindric, with 10-12 teeth. 



Places flooded in winter, rare. June-August. 



P. Portula L. (a creeping annual with opposite oblong or obovate leaves, 

 and minute sessile reddish flowers in the leaf axils) is found in the Var at Frejus, 

 Le Luc and les Pesquiers near Hyeres, rare. May-September. 



CUCURBITACE^;. 



Fruit globular, smooth ; plant with tendrils BRYONIA. 



Fruit oblong, muricate ; plant without tendrils , ECBALIUM. 



BRYONIA L. 



B. dioica Jacq. White Bryony. An ornamental hispid climber. Leaves 

 palmately 5-lobed, petioled, suborbicular, cordate lobes sinuate. Flowers 

 dioecious. Corolla in. in diameter, hairy, greenish-yellow. Berry red. Root 

 very large, tuberous. It climbs by means of spiral tendrils. 



Hedges, but more common in the mountain region. May-August. 



ECBALIUM Rich. 



E. Elaterium Rich. Wild Cucumber (Plate XVI). Plant hispid with stiff 

 hairs ; stems spreading, succulent and thick. Leaves thick triangular-cordate, 

 sinuate-dentate, greyish-green beneath. Flowers yellow, veined, monoecious, 

 in axillary clusters ; the females often solitary and shorter. Fruit large, greenish, 

 oblong, hispid, opening with elasticity and squirting out the seeds with force 

 when ripe. 



Rubbish heaps, old walls and not stony places on the littoral. April- 

 September. 



CRASSULACEjE. 

 Leaves opposite. Petals 3-5, free, minute, like the plants. Stamens 



3-4 TlLLJEA. 



Leaves alternate. Corolla s-lobed. Stamens 10 COTYLEDON. 



Sepals and petals 4-5. Stamens 8-10 SEDUM. 



Sepals and petals 6-20. Stamens 12-40 SEMPERVIVUM 



TILL/EA L. 



T. muscosa L. Mossy Tilla?a. Annual, very small in all its parts, often 

 only J in. high, but usually about an inch. Stems often reddish. Leaves ovate, 

 acute or lanceolate, green or reddish, succulent. Flower sessile, axillary, white, 

 very small, 3-merous. 



Sandy places on the littoral, not common. April-May. 



T. Vaillantii Willd. Annual, glabrous, very small, delicate, often reddish. 

 Stems erect, slender, forming little loose tufts. Leaves linear-oblong subobtuse 

 nearly flat, in distant pairs. Flowers pinkish, very small, on pedicels longer 

 than the leaves, and forming irregular cymes. 



Damp, sandy places flooded in winter, in the Var. April- June. Rather 

 rare. 



COTYLEDON L. 



C. umbilicus L. = Umbilicus pendulinus DC. Pennywort or Navel- 

 wort. Stem erect, composed of fleshy joints much compressed. Leaves 

 peltate, orbicular, crenate (more or less) very fleshy. Flowers greenish-white, 

 in long spiked racemes. Radical leaves petioled, depressed in the centre. Root- 

 stock tuberous. 



Rocks, walls, etc., common. April-June. 



