150 



XXX. LYTHRACEiE. 



2. PEFI.IS Linn, Water-Purslane. 



iPeplk^ 



Cat companulate, with 6 large and 6 alternating small teeth 

 Tet. 6, often wanting. Stam. 6, Style very short. 



celled. 



K, J Caps 9 



ISTamed from TrtirXiov, anciently applied to the o-en,,« 

 Portulaca, now to one somewhat similar in habit. * 



1. P. Portula L. (common W.) ; flowers axillary solitirv 

 leaves obovate. ^. ^. t. 1211. ^ ^^^' 



Watery places, not unfrequent. 0. 7, 8 Plant 



5 — 6 inches long, creeping, little branched, 

 brous, tapering at the base. 



prostrate, 

 Leaves opposite, sh. 



Ord. XXXI. TAMARICACE^ Desv. 



Calyx 4— 5-partite, persistent, free, with an imbricative asti- 

 vation. Petals 4—5, from the base of the calyx, marcescent 

 Stamens inserted into the margin of a scutelliform disk, equal 

 in number to the petals, or twice as many. Ovary superior 

 1 -celled. Styles about 3, or none. Stigmas 3, or united. Cap. 

 sule 3-gonal, 3-valved, 1 -celled, with many comose seeds on 

 three placentas, at the base of the cell along the middle of 

 the valves. Albumen 0. — Shrubs, with twiggy branches and 

 small scale-like leaves. Tama?nx Gallica and Africana yield 

 sulphate of soda : the former, or a variety of it, also affords 

 according to Ehrenberg, the Manna of Mount Sinai. ' 



1. Tamakix Linn. Tamarisk. 



Stam. equal, distinct. Stigmas distinct, sessile, feathery. 

 Caps. 1 -celled, 3-valved, many-seeded. Seeds without a beak, 

 pappose.— [N'amed from the Tamarici, a people who inhabited 

 the banks of the Tamaris, .now Tambra, in Spain, where the 

 Tamarisk abounds. 



1. T. 



* 



{English 



somewhat narrowed at the base, flower-buds ovate, angles of 

 the disk 5 acute tapering into the five filaments and then ovate 

 apiculate, capsule rounded at the base abruptly narrowed up- 

 wards. T. Gallica Z.; E. B. t. 1318. 



Rocks, cliffs, and sandy shores by the sea, about the Lizard and St. 

 Michael's, Cornwall; Hurst Castle and Hastings. Near Landguard 

 Fort; but evidently planted. "Planted no doubt everywhere." 

 Mr. Borrer, f^ • 7, — Leaves vcnmxiQ^ amplexicaul, appressed, acute. 

 Spikes lateral, somewhat panicled, slender, much lo.nger than broad. 



r 



Orb. XXXIL CUCURBITACEiE^ Juss. 



Frequently monoscious or dioecious. Calyx 54oothed, the 

 tube adnate with the ovary. Corolla 5-cleft, often scarcely 



1 From the corolla being gamopetalous, this is artificially near CapHfoliacc^ i 



