THE TASMANIAN FLORA. ('3 



surface, dark red-brown on the lower. Capsule oblong, imperfectly 2-celled. 

 Seeds compressed, almost winged. 



Yery common in sfiline marshes. It occurs also in Victoria, Sonth Australia, 

 and New South Wales. Fl. spring and summer. 



4. SCCBVOLA. 



Galyx-tube connate with the wall of the ovary, limb small and sometimes not 

 lobed. Corolla-tube slit to the base above, the lobes nearly equal, digitately 

 spreading. Stamens free. Ovary 2-celled, with 1 erect ovule in each, some- 

 times the dissepiment abortive, and then occasionally only 1 ovule developed. 

 Fruit a succulent indehiscent capsule, with a hard rugose endocarp, or some- 

 times the exocarp thin. 



A rather large genus, principally Australian and South Pacific, but two species 

 are widely distributed throughout the world. 



Plant creeping. Plowers solitary, white ... ... 1. S. hookeri. 



Plant decumbent to erect. Flowers blue. 



Style with conspicuous tufts of hairs below indusium 2. 8. amula. 



Corolla-lobes fringed towards the base ... ... 3. S. microcarpa. 



1. S. HOOKEBi, F. V. M. A creeping much-spreading perennial, rooting at the 

 nodes, hairy in the typical plant. Leaves oblong to spathulate, usually with 

 few bold dentations, stalked, and usually from ^-1 inch long. Flowers stalked, 

 solitary, axillary. Bracts oblong, close to the flower. Calyx-lobes not usually 

 apparent. Corolla white above, deep red-brown below, about 4 lines long, the 

 lobes slightly winged. Ovary 2-celled. Fruit ovoid, slightly rugose, 1-| line 

 long. 



Alpine, but also tolerably common on damp heaths, especially near salt 

 marshes. Often overlooked from its resemblance, when in flower, to Selliera 

 radicans. It occurs also in New South Wales and Victoria. . Fl. Dec-Mar. 



2. S. MMVLA., M. JBr. Spreading or sub-erect, usually 1-1^ foot high. Lower 

 leaves stalked, obovate, coarsely toothed, often about 2 inches long, the upper 

 ones narrower, smaller, and sessile. Flowers in an elongating, interrupted spike, 

 each one subtended by a leaf-like bract. Calyx-lobes short, triangular. Corolla 

 very oblique, digitate, f-1 inch long, the lobes blue, the throat yellow. Ovary 

 2-celled. Style slender, with a tuft of rigid hairs developed close at the base of 

 the indusium. 



Swanport. Almost throughout extra-tropical Australia. Fl. Nov. -Dec. 



3. S. MlCROCAEPA, Cav. A plant of very similar habit and appearance to the 

 last, but less robust. Lower leaves stalked, more or less obovate, toothed, 1-1-| 

 inch long ; the stem-leaves simpler. Spike similar. Bracts linear. Calyx-lobes 

 small, ovate. Corolla blue and white, very oblique, the lobes fringed towards the 

 base. Ovary 1-celled, with 2 ovules. Style hairy, but without the characteristic 

 tuft of the last species. Fruit small, usaally 1-seeded. 



Islands of Bass Straits. Throughout South-Eastern Australia. Fl. Nov.-Jan. 



5. DAMPIERA. 



Calyx-tube connate with the wall of the ovary, lobes short or obsolete. 

 Corolla-tube deeply slit on the upper side, but not to the base, the entire 

 portion of the tube persistent after flowering the lobes winged, the two upper 

 ones erect, and developing each an auricular appendage that overarches the style. 

 Anthers cohering in a tube round the style- Ovary usually 1-celled, with 1 erect 

 ovule. Fruit small and indehiscent. 



A purely Australian genus, containing about 35 species, only one of which is. 

 found in Tasmania. 



