68 IX. HTPEBICINBAE. {^Hypericum. 



oblong or ovate-oblong, obtuse, sessile, flat, sometimes glaucous. Flowers 

 smaller, sometimes solitary or forming few-flowered cymes near the tips of the 

 branches. Pedicels short, very slender. Sepals ovate-oblong or oblong, obtuse 

 or subacute. Petals scarcely exceeding the sepals. Stamens free. — DC, 

 Prod. i. 548; Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 37, Fl. Tasm. i. 53, and Handbk. 29; Benth., 

 Fl. Austr. i. 182. Ascyron humifusum, Labill, PI. Nov. Holl. ii. 33, t. 175. 

 Brathys humifusum, Spach. in Ann. Sc. Nat. (ser. ii.) v. 367. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : North Cape to Dunedin. Ascends to 4,000ft. Often local. 



* H. humifusum, L., Sp. PL 785. Stems procumbent, much branched from 

 the base ; tips ascending, very slender, 3in.-10in. long, wiry. Leaves ovate-oblong, 

 obtuse, without pellucid glands. Flowers in few-flowered terminal cymes or solitary. 

 Sepals connate at the base, unequal, 3 oblong, obtuse, 2 lanceolate and mucronate. 

 Stamens adhering at the base into 3 bundles. Capsules 3-celled. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : naturalised in many localities. Dec, Jan. Europe ; Azores 

 and Canary Islands. 



"^^ H. perforatum, L., Sp. PL 785. Stems slender, erect, giving off numerous 

 runners from the base, much branched above, Ift.-ljft. high, 2-edged. Leaves 

 linear-oblong or oblong, with pellucid dots. Flowers in open leafy cymes. Sepals 

 lanceolate, acute. Petals much longer than the erect sepals. Stamens cohering at 

 the base into 3 bundles. Capsule 3-celled ; valves transversely wrinkled. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands: naturalised in many districts. St. John's wort. Dec, Jan- 

 Europe. 



=■= H. Androsaemum, L., Sp. PL 784. Erect, sparingly branched, 2ft.-4ft. 

 high, woody at the base. Leaves broadly' subcordate, sessile. Flowers in trichoto- 

 mous terminal cymes, few-flowered. Sepals broad, anequal, persistent, and spreading 

 in fruit. Petals as long as the sepals. Stamens cohering at the base into 5 bundles, 

 exceeding the styles. Fruit a globose berry, imperfectly 3-celled, black. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands: plentiful in many localities. Tutsan, Central and .South 

 Europe. 



Oedee x.-MALVACEAE. 



Sepals 5, rarely fewer, more or less coherent, usually valvate. Petals 5, 

 hypogynous, imbricate, more or less united at the base, and adnate to the base 

 of the staminal column, rarely 0. Stamens oo, hypogynous, usually united into 

 a column or tube divided into filaments at the top. Anthers often reniform, 

 1-celled. Torus sometimes intruded into the centre of the ovary. Ovary 

 2— oo-celled, rarely reduced to a single carpel, the carpels verticillate round the 

 torus. Style divided into as many or twice as many stigmas as there are cells 

 in the ovary, rarely entire. Ovules 1 or more in each cell. Fruit usually of 

 1 or more indehiscent or 2-valved cooci or a capsule. Seeds with little endo- 

 sperm. Cotyledons usually folded ; radicle straight or curved. Herbs, shrubs, 

 or trees with alternate stipulate leaves and hermaphrodite regular flowers. 

 Bracteoles 3 or more, forming an involucre, free or adnate to the calyx or 0. 



Tribe I. MALVEAB. — Staminal tube hearing filaments to the apex. Style-branches as many as 

 the ovary-cells. Ripe carpels separating from the axis. 



Herbs. 



* Lavateka. Bracteoles 3-6, united at the base. Stigma linear. Carpels 1-seeded, 



* MaIiVA. Bracteoles 3, free. Stigma linear. Carpels 1-seeded, 



