Lythrariea.~] FLORA OF TASMANIA. 125 
petioled leaves, and simple or branching flower-stems. WUm t n wdwPwl or hermaphrodite. Chfrftabeof the 
female flower usually compressed ; limb two- or threc-lobed, in the male scmirt imos wanting, or reduced to a few 
scales. Petals two or absent. Stamens one or two, opposite the pi tab ii hi n tin- latter are present Omr$ on* 
celled, with one pendulous Ovule, and two subulate sti-maia. I'nnt a small drape S 
pressed, generally tilling the rarity of the fruit, to which its membranous testa often adheres. I 
fleshy; embryo very minute, broadly obovate, the radicle close to the hilum, the cotyledonary end n ■ 
in honour of John Ernest (limner, a learned Swedish Bishop and Botanist.) 
1. Gunnera cordifolia (Hook, fil.); dioica v. monoica, acaulis, foliis patentibus late OTSJto- v. 
cordato-rotundatis obtusis obscure crenatis superne glabris, fl. <$ spicatis, staininibus \-l, iilanunto bre- 
vissimo, fl. ? capitatis apetalis, ovario compresso, calycis lobis ineequalibiu pilosis, stdgmatibua elongatis 
erectis, drupa subtrigona. — Milligania cordifolia, Nob. in Loud. Jonm. Bot. t. . 
Hab. Abundant in springs and marshes in alpine situations, elev. 3-6000 bet, covering large tracts 
of ground, Gunn. — (Fl. Jan.) (v. v.) 
I much regret having to reduce the genu- Mitl/)/a,na* (.which 1 had main years ago t lie pleasure of naming 
after one of the most zealous Tasmanian botanists), to one already well known; at the time 1 established it, the 
species of Gunnera were not well described, and having gathered ami examined several since then. I am convinced 
culent fleshy herb, growing ipiite appressed to the ground, and throwing out strong rooting stolons, lj-nrcs 
2-3 inches long (including the stout petiole), crowded ami spread out in a stellate manner, broadly ovate or orbi- 
cular, sometimes cordate at the base, more or less pilose on the petiole, ribs, and back, rnnate at the edges, some- 
tunes obscurely lobed. Male Jloirers consisting of one or two, bibraeteate, almost sessile anthers, spiked on hairy 
peduncles, 2-3 inches long. Jnt/n-r broadly oblong, opening by lateral - : : ate, on short, 
stout peduncles (sometimes a few are found at the base of the male -pike), compressed. CWyj-limb of two un- 
equal lobes (with sometimes one or two minute intermediate lobes; : lobes anticous and posticous, short, oblong, 
blunt, ciliated, the anterior sometimes twice as long as the other. .V v /.,,/v slender or stout, subulate, much longer 
than the ovary. Fruits aggregated in a head, as large as a raspberry, bright red, trigonous, turgid.— The flowers 
are apt to become monstrous, especially the females, which have then three or four stigmas, more or less irregularly 
combined in pairs, but never more than one cell in the ovarium, or one ovule. Tin- calyx-lobes are often \«ry 
irregularly disposed. 
Nat. Ord. XXX. LYTHRARIEJB. 
Gen. I. LTTHEUM, I. 
Calyx cylindrical striatus, apice dentatus. Pefuf.i 4-6, apice tubi orta. A 
calycis orta. Ovarium 2-loculare; 01 
capitato. Capsula calyce inclusa, polysperma.— : • lWibu> 
axillaribus, solitarils vertkUlathre. 
The Tasmania)! species of L>/thn<m are both Australian, and the only representative* of the gen 
the majority of their congeners are American.— Herbs, or rarely under-limbs, with usually opposite or whorhd 
leaves, and whorled axillary flowers, arranged in an elongated spike. Galfs-tobt long, cylindrical, generally many- 
* This name is now transferred to a Tasmanian Liliaceous plant, figured in the ' Kew Journal of Botany' 
