THE TASMANIA.N FLOBA. 229 



C. ANTARCTICA, Endl. Rootstock creeping, sending ofE erect leafy stems at 

 intervals. Stems hard, branched, about 6-12 inches high, marked with the scars 

 of fallen leaves. Leaves 1-3 inches long, 3-4 lines broad, truncate at the end, 

 and sheathing at the base, the junction of the lamina with the sheath marked 

 with a transverse line. Flowers hidden in the leaf -axils. C. zosterifulia, F. v. M. 



In shallow water near George Town and North-West Coast ; also in Victoria, 

 West Australia, and South Australia. Fl. summer. 



7. LEPIL^NA. 



Flowers unisexual, each enclosed in a pair of bracts. Male flowers with a very 

 short 3-lobed perianth, containing 2 or .3 sessile 2-celled anthers. Female flowers" 

 with a 3-lobed or segmented perianth and 3 distinct 1-ovuled carpels, tapering 

 into a slender style with a flat stigma. Fruit a small nut. 



The genus is confined to Australia. 



L. PEEissil, F. V. M. Stem very slender. Leaves very slender, but flat, 1-2 

 inches long, with narrow sheathing bases, except the floral leaves, which have 

 broad sheaths and often short laminae. In the male plant the floral leaves are in 

 fascicles, bearing 2 or 3 flowers between them ; in the females the floral leaves 

 are in pairs, and the flowers shortly stalked. Fruit cylindrical, aboat 1 line 

 long. L. cylindrocavpa, Benth. (included) ; Zannichellia preissii, Lehm Z. 

 palustris, Hook. " Fl. Tas." (referring to a rather robust form in an imperfect 

 condition, that may be L. australit, J. Drumm.). 



In many parts. Campbell Town, &c., in fresh water, but overlooked; also in 

 Victoria, South Australia, and West Australia. Fl. Dec-Jan. 



8. HALOPHILA. 



Flowers unisexual, solitary, in a pair of bracts ; male with a 3-segmented 

 perianth, and 3 sessile 2-celled anthers ; female without a perianth, and an 

 entire, 1-celled, many-ovuled ovary, tapering into a slender style, with an entire 

 or 3-5-lobed stigma. Fruit a capsule. 



A genus found chiefly in tropical and sub-tropical shores. 



H. OVALTS, Hook. Stems creeping. Leaves in pairs, at intervals, their base 

 enclosed in 2 scarious bracts. Laminae ^-2 inches long, oblong, thin, on a slender 

 stalk. Flowers contained in the leaf-axils, the males stalked, the females 

 sessile. 



Bass Straits, Barnes Bay, Bruni Island. Throughoat Australia, on the 

 coast, and common to the tropical and sub-tropical coasts of the Indian and 

 Pacific Oceans. Fl. Dec. 



Ordee LXXXV.—ALISMACE^. 



Perianth of 6 segments, all similar or in 2 dissimiliar whorls. Stamens 6 to 

 many. Ovary of 3 to many distinct, or nearly distinct, carpels, with 1 to many 

 ovules in each. Fruit capsular. 



An order of mud-loving weeds, distributed throughout the world. 



DAMASOJSriUM. 



Perianth of 3 outer herbaceous and 3 inner petaloid segments. Stamens 6. 

 Carpels few, usually 2-seeded and coherent by the base to the central axis of the 

 flower. 



A small genus, closely allied to Aliima, appearing throughout Europe, in 

 California, and a solitary species in Australia. 



D. AUSTEALE, Sal. A Small tufted annual. Leaves radical, ovate-lanceolate, 

 long-stalked, 1-2 inches. Stem 6 inches to 1 foot high, vaguely branched, each 



