THE TASMANIAN FLORA. 51 



Oedeb XXXI. MFETACE^. 



Pistils of few, 1-10, blended carpels. Ovarian cavities distinct, sunk in, 

 and connate with the floral tube. Sepals usually 5. Petals the same, sometimes 

 much modified. Stamens usually very numerous. Trees or shrubs with gland- 

 dotted leaves. 



An order of both Hemispheres. 



i. Stamens 5 or 10 ... ... ... ... ... ii. 



Stamens numerous 

 ii. Flowers 1 line diameter 



Flowers 2-4 lines diameter ... 

 iii Flowers sessile, in spikes. Capsules persistent on 

 the branches 

 Flowers otherwise disposed . . 

 . iv. Stamens all free from one another ... 

 Stamens united in 6 bundles... 

 V. Petals united in a hard deciduous operculum 



Petals normal ... 

 vi. Sepals ending in long- hair-like points 



Sepals normal... 

 vii. Stamens not exceeding the petals ... 

 Stamens twice as long as the petals 



1. CALYTHRIX. 



Ovary 1-celled. Sepals 5, united by a membranous expansion at the base, the 

 aipex prolonged and filiform. Petals 5. Stamens indefinite. Fruit 1-seeded, 

 not much changed after flowering. 



A rather large, purely Australian genus, developed chiefly in Western 

 Australia. 



C. TETEAGONA, Loh. Ereot, branched shrub, 2-4 feet. Leaves numerous, 

 filiform, 3-angled, \ inch long. Flowers numerous or few, stalked in the upper 

 -axils, pink or white. Calyx bristles J inch long. Petals \ inch long. 



Common in damp heaths ; also throughoat extra-tropical Australia. Fl. 

 Oct.-Dec. 



2. THRYPTOMENE. 



Ovary 1-oelled. Sepals 5, united at the base. Petals 5, persistent. Stamens 

 5 or 10. Fruit not much changed from the flowering state. 

 Limited to Australia, and chiefly West Australia. 



T. MiCEANTHA, S. Small sub-erect shrub. Leaves oblong, blunt, \ inch long. 

 Flowers solitary or few in the axils, nearly sessile, about 1 line long. Petals 

 minute. Stamens 5. 



North-East Coast from Schouten Island, Bass Straits, Macquarie Harbour (?). 

 'Confined to Tasmania. Fl. Nov. 



3. BJ3CKIA. 



Ovary 2-3-celled. Sepals 6. Petals 5. Stamens 5 or 10. Fruit capsular, 

 with 1 or 2 seeds in each cell. 



Chiefly Australian, but also distributed from New Caledonia through Eastern 

 Archipelago to Southern China. 



Flower-stalks longer than leaves ... ... ... 1- B. diffusa. 



Erect. Leaves pungent 2. B. leptocaulis. 



Decumbent. Leaves blunt ... ... ... ... S. B. gunniana. 



1. B. DIFFUSA, Sieh. Small, wiry, prostrate, ascending. Leaves opposite, 

 narrow or broadly oblong, concave, blunt or nearly so, 2-3 lines long, nearly 



