5-i TI. CAEYOPHYLLEAE. [Gypsophila. 



* D. barbatus, L., Sp. PI. 409. Stems numerous, thickened at the nodes. 

 Leaves large, lanceolate, glabrous. Eascioles broad, much branched. Bracts exceed- 

 ing the calyx-tube, filiform. Petals toothed. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : Naturalised on the sites of deserted homesteads and waste 

 places. Sweet-william. Nov. to Jan. Central Europe. 



1. GYPSOPHILA, Linn. 

 Calyx campanulate or nearly turbinate, 5-toothed and nerved. Petals 5, 

 with a narrow claw. Disk small. Stamens 10. Styles 2. Capsule globose 

 or ovoid, 4-5-valved to the middle or below. Seeds numerous. Mostly 

 annual, with the flowers solitary in the forks of the stem, or paniculate. 



Species, about 50. With one exception, restricted to the shores of the Mediterranean and 

 temperate parts of Asia. 



Etym. Prom the Greek, signifying gypsum and to love. 



1. G- tubulosa, Boiss., Diagn. PI. Or. i. 11. An erect or spreading 

 annual, dichotomously branched, 2in.— 5in. high or more, excessively glandular, 

 pubescent, often viscid. Branches slender. Leaves linear-subulate, iin.— iin. 

 long. Peduncles in the forks of the branchlets, slender, 1-flowered. Calyx 

 narrow, campanulate, 5-toothed and -ribbed. Petals red or whitish-red, small, 

 retuse. Capsule slightly exceeding the calyx, 5-valved. Seeds transversely 

 rugose, pitted.— Hook., Fl. N.Z. ii. 325, and Handbk. 22; F. Muell., PI. 

 Vict. i. 155. Bichoglottis tubulosa, Joubert and Spach., 111. Fl. Or. i. 14, t. 6. 

 D. australis, Schlecht., Linnaea. xx. 631. Saponaria tubulosa, F. Muell., Nat. 

 PI. Vict. i. 136. 



NORTH Island : East Coast, from Ahuriri to Cape Palliser, Golenso. SOUTH Island : Nelson : 

 Tarndale, 4,000ft., Travers. Canterbury : Rangitata Valley, Sinclair and Haast. Lake Ohau, 

 Haast. Lake Forsyth, sea-level, and Lake Lyndon, &c., 2,800ft., T. K. Ofcago : common 

 in the interior, Hector and Buchanan. Nov. to Jan. The Nelson habitat requires confirmation. 

 Also in South Europe and Asia Minor, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queens- 

 land. 



* SAPONARIA, Linn. 



Calyx tubular, ovoid, 5-toothed, ebracteate. Petals 5, entire or notched. 

 Stamens 10. Styles 2. Capsule oblong or ovoid, 2-4-celled at the base, 4-toothed 

 at the apex. Seeds reniform ; embryo annular. Annual or perennial herbs, with 

 paniculate or fascicled flowers. 



-S. Vaccaria, L., Sp. PL 409. A glabrous erect annual. Eadical leaves 

 spathulate; cauline leaves ovate, lanceolate or acuminate. Flowers in spreading 

 corymbose cymes. Calyx inflated at base, 5-angled, expanded and winged in fruit. 



NORTH Island : Occasionally found in cultivated land, Auckland and Wellington. Dec, 

 Jan. Europe. 



* SILENE, Linn. 



Calyx inflated, 10- or many-nerved, 5-toothed. Petals 5, with a narrow claw. 

 Stamens 10. Disk usually elongated. Ovary 1-3-celled below the middle. Styles 

 3, rarely 2-5. Capsule 6- or rarely 3-valved at the apex. Seeds reniform ; embryo 

 curved round the endosperm. Annual or perennial herbs. 



Calyx inflated. Petals deeply cleft .. ,. .. * S. Cucubalus. 



Calyx with 30 furrows, conical. Petals small, cleft . . . . . . . . * S. conica. 



Calyx tubular in flower. Petals small, entire . . ' . . . . . . .." S. gallica. 



Calyx with 10 furrows, teeth short. Petals 2-fid . . . , , , . , * S. noctiirna. 



