Catyop/ij/Iiece.] 
Nat. Ord. XII. CARYOPHYLLB B, Ju* 
Of this extensive Natural Family (including Paronychiea, Alsinea, Silenea, and Scleran'- 
few Australian species, not more than fifteen in all. The species and genera which abound in the north tem- 
perate zone are comparatively scarce, and to a great extent unknown in the southern. Several of Hm 
species are cosmopolitan, and others so speedily follow civilization, that they have become denise&a of every 
temperate latitude. Colobanthus is a peculiar southern form of the Order, though closely allied to the 
northern Sagina. The occurrence of Gyptophila tubulota in South-eastern and South-western Australia 
and in New Zealand, is one of the greatest anomalies I know of in geographical distribution i it is the oul\ 
Australian representative of the great Suborder or Tribe Silene<c, and had previously been only found in the 
immediate vicinity of the plain of Troy (in Asia Minor). Whether really a native of the Souther.. Hemi- 
sphere, or only introduced, the fact is sufficiently curious. The following are the characters of theTasmanian 
Suborders. 
Suborder 111. ii rrr Ltaem txatipolate 
Gen. 111. Stellaria, Gen. IV. Colobanthua. 
Besides the above, the Pefyempom tdrapk 
troduced into Tasmania (Gun,/, B88) : end the ' 
Gen. I. SPERGULAR1A, Pert. 
Sepala 5. Petala 5, breviter unguiculata. Stamina 3-10, annulo perigyno inserta. Styli 3-5. Cap- 
sula 3-5-valvis. Semina saepe alata. — Herbre tape maritima; foliia sfipulatis. 
Most of the species of this genus are European, and extremely variable in habit and characters. The only 
Australian one is the following, which is abundant in many parts of the world.— Sepals five. Petals five, with short 
claws. Stamens three to ten, placed on a perigynous ring ; when five, alternate with the petals. Styles three to 
five. Capsule three- to five-valved. Seed* often surrounded with a membranous wing. (Named from its simi- 
larity to Spergula.) 
1. Spergularia rubra (A. St. Hil. Fl. Bras. ii. p. 178) ; caulibus glabris pubescentibusvc decuni- 
bentibus ramosis, foliis linearibus acutis subcamosis, stipulis ovatis fissis, sepalis lanceolatis marginibus 
membranaceis, petalis roseis, seminibus compressis marginibus interdum alatis. — Torrey el Gray, Fl. N. 
Am. i. 175. S. rupestris, Cambess. in St. Hil. 1. c. I. 110. 
Var. ft. elongata, Fend. Plant. Hugel. 9. — Arenaria rubra, var. media, et A. marina, Linn. A. Cana- 
densis, Pert. Synops. A. marginata, DC. Nor. Franc, iv. 793, Prodr. i. 401. A. media, />., Ft. X. /■ 
i. 26 ; Fl. Ant. ii. 250. A. marina, Engl. Bot. I. 938; Nob. in Loud. Journ. Bot. ii. 412. [Gunn, 65£.) 
Hab. Var. /S. Sea-coast, Circular Head, Launceston, and D'Entrecastraux Channel, etc.; abundant.— 
(Fl.Dec.) (v.v.) 
Distrib. Europe (temperate), North and South America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, etc. 
I have followed Torrey and Gray in considering the S. marina a var itisfied that the 
opinion of two such admirable botanists, who have specially studied these species in all their forms, should not be 
put aside without such grounds as I cannot advance in favour of an opposite opinion. I have repeatedly examined 
