Gisekia.'] FlCoidecE. 273 



Annual, slender, 1. all radical, crowded, about 1^ in., oblong- 

 spathulate, rounded at apex, much tapering into ill-defined 

 petiole, glabrous, entire ; fl. -stems several, erect, 4-6 in., 

 slender, glabrous, leafless, trichotomously branched above, fl. 

 on stiff, glabrous ped., arranged in lax trichotomous cymes ; 

 sep. oval, very obtuse, with membranous margins, capsule 

 nearly globose ; seeds minute, reticulate, dull black. 



Low country ; rare : probably overlooked. Colombo (Thwaites). 

 Fl. Dec; white. 



Also in dry parts of India, Trop. Africa, New Caledonia, Cuba. 



4. GISEKIA,* Z. 



Annual, 1. opp., without stip., fl. small, in axillary clusters ; 

 sep. 5, slightly connate at base, persistent ; pet. o ; stam. 5, 

 hypogynous, fil. dilated below; carp. 5, distinct, ovule solitary 

 in each carp., basal ; ripe carp, enclosed in persistent sep., 

 membranous, seed ovoid, slightly compressed, filling the carp., 

 embryo curved into a ring. — Sp. 5 or 6 ; 1 in Fl. B. Ind. 



G. pharnaceoid.es, L. Mant. 562 (1771). BZanali, T. 

 Moon Cat. 23. Thw. Enum. 250. C. P. 1093. 

 Fl. B. Ind. ii. 664. Wight, Ic. t. 1167. 



A rather succulent herb, branches prostrate or ascending, 

 elongated, glabrous ; 1. opp., |-f in., oblong-spathulate, taper- 

 ing at base to short petiole, obtuse or rounded and apiculate 

 at apex, glabrous, rather thick, glaucous ; fl. very small, 

 numerous on slender ped., in dense, nearly sessile axillary 

 umbels; sep. oblong-oval, obtuse, with membranous borders; 

 ripe carp, membranous, surrounded by sep., seed solitary, 

 rounded on back, black, with scattered short white promi- 

 nences 'glands ?). 



Low country in damp sandy places ; rather common. Jaffna ; Trin- 

 comalie; seashore, Mt. Lavinia; Mannar. Fl. Feb. 



Drier parts of India, Affghanistan, Africa. 



There are specimens of this in Hermann's Herb. (i. fol. 19) ; and in 

 his Mus. (p. 4) he says it is eaten in salads, as is still the case. Linnaeus 

 seems to have included it under Fl. Zeyl. n. 52 (Mollugo oppositifolid), 

 Hermann having given the same S. name for it. 



'6 6 



The leaves and other parts abound in large raphides. 



* Commemorates P. D.Ciseke, M.D. of Hamburg, Editor of Linnaaus's 

 Prcelectiones on the Natural Orders, published in 1792. 



PART II. 



