THE TASMANIAN FLORA. 2t> 



4. CRYPTANDEA. 

 ' Calyx-tube adherent at the base, the free portion persistent above the ovary- 

 and disk, 5-lobed. Petals 5, hood-shaped, enclosing the anthers, and inserted 

 wath the stamens at the top of the calyx-tube. Ovary wholly buried, or slightly 

 pi-ominent in the calyx-tube, 3-oelled. Style entire or minutely 3-toothed. 

 Capsule enclosed in the base of the persistent calyx-tube. 



The genus is purely Australian, and closely allied to neighbouring genera. 

 It difEers from Sjryridium chiefly in the calyx-tube being produced above the 

 disk ; and from Stenanthemum in the structure of the inflorescence, the flowers 

 never being arranged in cymes, or collected into dense heads. 



Habit sub-erect. Flowers usually several together ... ]. C. amara. 

 Habit prostrate. Flowers mostly solitary ... ... 2. C. alpina. 



1. C. AMAEA, Sm. Small, decumbent or sub-erect, much-branched, the 

 branches wiry and often ending in a fine thorn. Leaves linear, 1-.3 lines long, 

 usually smooth, and the margins recurved. Flowers almost sessile, solitary 

 within the bracts, but usually several together, forming short leafy spikes or 

 racemes on the smaller branches. Calyx 2 lines long, campanulate, covered on 

 the outer surface with minute down, the adnate portion of the tube very short,, 

 the lobes rather shorter than the tube. Ovary downy, partially free, but 

 included in the calyx-tube. Disk not distinct. Fruiting-calyx about \ inch 

 long, enclosing the capsule. C. swberi, Hook. 



North Esk River and Swanport. Distributed also in Eastern Australia from 

 Queensland to South Australia. Fl. Dec-Jan. 



2. C. ALPINA, Hook. Small, prostrate, with numerous slender branches. 

 Leaves linear, seldom more than I, line long. Flowers mostly solitary at the ends 

 of the branches, and surrounded by brown imbricate bracts, the inner ones often 

 as long as the calyx-tube. Calyx broadly campanulate, downy outside, 2 lines 

 long, with ovate-lanceolate lobes that are rather shorter than the tube. Disk 

 undulate, downy, scarcely distinct from the summit of the ovary. 



On the summit of the western mountains, about 3800 feet elevation, Grreat 

 Lake, &c. Fl. Dec.-Feb. 



5. DISCARIA. 



Calyx campanulate or tubular above the ovary, shortly 4 or 5 lobed. Petals 

 hood-shaped, inserted with the stamens at the base of the calyx-lobes, or absent. 

 Stamens similar in number to the lobes of the calyx, and included in the petals 

 when they are present. Disk annular in the base of the calyx-tube, the margins 

 shortly free. Ovary more or less buried in the disk, 3-lobed, 3-celled. Style 

 slender, with a shortly 3-lobed stigma. Fruit a drupe or capsule, 3-lobed. 



The genus is chiefly South American. There is one Australian endemic 

 species, and another in New Zealand. 



D. AUSTRALis, Hooh. A small, branched shrub, the branches green and 

 shining, the small ones reduced to spines of 1-1| inch in length. Leaves 

 clustered on short shoots, oblong-cuneate, usually under | inch. Flowers white, 

 usually many together, pendulous, on stalks almost \ inch long, solitary or 

 clustered in the axils of the leaves, which soon fall ofl:, leaving the flowers 

 densely clustered under the spines. Calyx broadly campanulate, spreading to 

 about 2 lines diameter. Petals narrow, hood-shaped. Fruit 2 to 3 lines 

 diameter. Colletia pubescens, Brog. 



South Esk River, Brighton, Kingston, Hamilton, &c. ; also Eastern Australia. 

 PI. Nov. 



Order XXIY. —SAPINBACJEJE. 



Pistil of few, generally 3, blended carpels. The ovarian cavities generally, but 

 not always, distinct. Stamens usually 8, inserted within the disk. Calyx of 4 or 



