88 XVI. CARYOI'HYLLE^. [Stetlaria. 



or terminal, slender but rigid, longer than the leaves. Sepals very aei^te, 

 3-nerved, about 3 lines long when in flower. Petals about as long, or rather 

 longer, deeply cleft. Capsule ovate, much shorter than the calyx, which usually 

 lengthens after flowering.— Eeiehb. Ic. Fl. Germ. v. t. 228 ; Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. 

 i. 44 ; F. V. M. PI. Vict. i. 210 ; S. angvstifolia, Hook. Journ. Bot. i. 250. 



Hab.: Many localities in the southern parts of the colony. 



3. S. flaccida (flaccid). Hook. Comp. Bot. Mag. i. 275 ; Be7ith. Fl. Austr. i. 

 158. Apparently perennial, with weak and decumbent very intricate branches, 

 often extending to several feet, glabrous and shining, or with loose spreading 

 scattered hairs, especially about the nodes. Leaves ovg,te.to lanceolate, very acute, 

 thin and flaccid, often undulate on the margin, narrowed and ciliate at the base, 

 rarely exceeding ^in. without the petiole, which is long in the lower leaves, short 

 or none in the upper ones. Pedicels all axillary, and usually 1 to l^in. long. 

 Sepals 2 to 21 lines long, broadly lanceolate, acute, with a scarious border, 

 usually 3-nerved, but the latera,! nerves often, very faint, often, ciliate. Petals 

 rather longer, deeply cleft. Capsule ovoid, usually exceeding the calyx.— 

 S. media, var.. Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. i. 43; F. v. M. PI. Vict. i. 211. 



Hab.: Southern parts of the colony. 



*4. S. media (mediate), Linn. DC. Prod. i. 396 ; Benth. Fl. Atistr. i. 159. A 

 weak, much-branched annual, glabrous with the exception of a pubescent hne 

 down one side of each internode, and a few long hairs on the petioles, and, some- 

 times on the sepals. Leaves ovate, shortly pointed, the lowest on long petioles, 

 short and broad, and sometimes cordate, the upper ones on shorter petioles or 

 quite sessile, | to fin. long, thin and flaccid. Pedicels slender, often drooping, 

 in the forks of the branches, the upper ones usually forming a rather dense leafy 

 cyme, very rarely one of the lowest axillary from the abortion of one fork. 

 Sepals about 2 lines long, oJDtuse or rarely rather acute, thin but green, with 

 scarcely prominent nerves, and usually pubescent. Petals about as long, deeply 

 cleft. Capsule scarcely longer than the calyx. — Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. v. t. 222. 



Originating, probably, in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere in the Old World, 

 ttis pltot is now a common weed in cultivated places, especially gardens, as well as in waste 

 places almost all over the globe, and as such is found in all of the Australian colonies. — Benth. 



*7. SPERGULA, Linn. 



(Because it scatters its seed.) 



Sepals 5. Petals 5, entire. Stamens 10, rarely 5. Ovary 1-celled ; ovules 

 many. Styles 5. Capsule 5-valved, valves entire and laterally compressed, 

 margins acute or winged.-^-Herbs, with dichotomous or fasciculate branches and 

 small scarious stipules. Flowers pedicellate, 



1. S. arvensis (field), Linn.; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 161. A slender annual, 

 branching at the base into several erect or ascending stems, 6 to' 12in. high, 

 glabrous or slightly pubescent. Leaves nearly subulate, 1 to 2in. loiig, in 

 opposite clusters and spreading so as to appear verticillate. Stipules scarious, 

 very minute, sometimes very difficult to see. Floweirs small, white, on long 

 pedicels, in terminal forked cymes. Sepals 5. Petals 5, undivided, generally 

 rather shorter than the calyx. Stamens 10, or occasionally 6 or fewer. Styles 

 5, alternate with the sepals. Capsule deeply 5-valved. Seeds slightly flattened, 

 with or without a scarious border. 



Hab.: This common weed of Europe and ' temperate Asia has-been met with in several 

 localities in the southern parts of the colony. 



