268 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



or patulous. Petals short, entire emarginate or 2-fid, orbiculate 

 obovate or oblong. Stamens 6, 4-dynamous, free, all edentulous or 

 variably callous or appendiculate. Siliqua short, very polymorphous, 

 ovate-oblong obovate or elliptical, strongly compressed or tumid, some- 

 times conchoidal ; style more or less elongated ; apex simple stigma- 

 tose ; valves flat, concave or more often convex, sometimes flat at 

 margin and swelling at back ; septum membranous, entire or fenes- 

 trate. Seeds few (1, 2) or <x, campylotropous ; embryo rather 

 fleshy ; cotyledons usually accumbent ; funicles free or more or less 

 adnate to septum. — Small shrubs or herbs, branching usually hoary 

 with stellate down ; branches thin or rigid ; leaves scattered or 

 radical crowded, usually entire, most frequently linear ; flowers 1 ebract- 

 eate, 2 sometimes in short racemes (Temperate and Southern Europe, 

 the East, Siberia, Northern Africa, Australia*). 



102 ? Alyssopsis Boiss. 4 — Flowers nearly of Alyssum ; petals sub- 

 obovate. Stamens exappendiculate toothless. Siliqua oblong ; valves 

 convex ribbed ; septum thin membranous ; apex of style short capitate 



1 Small, often inconspicuous; white or yellow. 



2 The genus, from the characters of its corolla 

 stamens and fruit, is divided by the recent authors 

 into 8 sections, thus : 1. Fualyssum " (Alyssum 

 L.). Petals small. All or some of the stamens 

 membranous appendiculate. Siliqua suborbi- 

 culate, convexo-concave or flat at margin ; disk 

 tumid ; cells 2-seeded ; seeds opposite. — 2. Odont- 

 arrhena (C A. Mey., in Ledeb. Fl. Alt., iii. 

 58 ; Ic. Fl. Boss., t. 143-257). Petals obovate. 

 Stamens all membranous appendiculate. Siliqua 

 rather flat subelliptical ; cells 1-seeded. Flowers 

 often subcorymbose (Walp., Rep., i. 145. — 

 Aurinia Desvx. (Journ. Hot., iii. 162) is re- 

 ferred to this by De Candolle). — 3. Plilo- 

 trichum (C A. Mey., loc. cit.). Petals orbi- 

 culate. All the stamens simple. Siliqua rather 

 flat subelliptical ; cells 1-seeded. (Walp., Rep., 

 i. 145 ; Ann., i. 33.) — 4. Psilonema (C A. Mey., 

 loc. cit., iii. 50 ; — Ledeb., Ic. Fl. Ross., t. 202). 

 Petals cuneate. Stamens all simple. Siliqua 

 rotundate ; valves turgid at middle ; style 

 slender; cells 2-seeded. (Walp., Rep., i. 142.) — 

 5. Schiwereckia (Andr., ex DC, Syst., ii. 3tJ0). 

 Petals obovate-oblong. Longer stamens dilated, 

 with a tooth. Siliqua small ovate; valves 

 depressed at middle ; style slender ; seeds very 

 numerous. Leaves rosulate (Deless., Ic. Sel., 

 ii. t. 36. — Walp., Rep., i. 142).— 6. Lobularia 



(Desvx., Journ. Rot., iii. 172 ; — Kceniga R. Be., 

 in Clappert. Voy. App., 214; — Glyce Lindl., 

 Syn. Brit. Fl., 26). Petals obovate. Stamens 

 toothless, rarely dilated. Siliqua ovate; valves 

 convex ; septum 1-ribbed venose ; cells 2—6- 

 seeded ; seeds often marginate ; funicles adnate 

 to septum at base. — Herbs ; pubes appressed 

 bipartite. (Reichb., Ic. Fl. Germ., ii. t. 18 

 (Kceniga). — Walp., Rep., i. 142; Ann., i. 32; ii. 

 40.) — 7. Meniocus (Desyx., loc. cit., iii. 173.) 

 Petals small. Stamens all with an internal squa- 

 mule. Siliqua elliptical very much compressed; 

 seeds very numerous immarginate; funicles seba- 

 ceous free. (Deless., Ic. Sel., ii. 42. — Walp., 

 Rep., ii. 757; v. 46; Ann. i. 31.) — 8. Berteroa 

 (DC, Syst. Veg., ii. 290 ; Prodr., i. 158). Petals 

 2-fid. Stamens raised at base on an internal callus. 

 Siliqua very much compressed ; style slender ; 

 seeds few or very numerous, marginate or alate. 

 (Deless., Ic. Sel., ii. 37.— Walp., i. 140.)" — 

 (B. H., Gen., 74.) 



3 Spec. 80-90. Reichb., Ic. Fl. Germ., ii. t. 

 18-21. — Tchihatch., As. Min., Bot., i. 296. — 

 Boiss., Fl. Or., i. 263, 289 (Kceniga), 290 

 (Berteroa), 291 (Schiwereckia). — Benth., Fl. 

 Austral., i. 71. — Gben. & Gode., Ft. de Fr., i. 

 114. — Walp., Rep., i. 142 ; ii. 757 ; v. 36 ; Ann., 

 i. 32; ii. 40; iv. 197; vii. 113. 



4 Diagn. Or., vi. 14.— B. H., Gen., 74, n. 35. 



