Polycarpo'.a] XVI. CARYOPHYLLE^. 91 



1. P. longiflora (long-flowered), 7-<". r. M. in Rep. Bahb. K.t'pcd. 8 ; Bnith. Fl. 

 Austr. i. 164. Pubescent, erect and rigid, 1 to 2£t. high, divided at the base into 

 several erect branches. Leaves narrow-linear, acute or ending in a hair-like 

 point, rigid, silky-hairy, often above ^in. long, with smaller ones clustered in 

 their axils ; the upper ones small and distant. Flowers large, brown red or 

 purple, shortly pedicellate in dense terminal corymbose cymes or heads. Sepals 

 fully 3 lines long, scarious, with a prominent midrib, the inner ones narrower, 

 more acute and more deeply coloured than the outer. Petals hypogynous, uniteii 

 with the stamens in a campanulate tube not 1 line long, their free parts con- 

 siderably longer and shortly bifid at the point. Filaments about as long as the 

 petals. Ovary almost sessile. Style long and subulate. Capsule short ovoid, 

 obtuse. 



Hab.: North-western parts of the colony. 



Var. leucantha. Leaves larger, broader, and less rigid. Sepals completely scarious and 

 white, without any prominent midrib. 



2. P. Burtoni (after R. C. Burton), Bail. Proc. Roij. Soc. Ql. Stems 

 several, 9 to 12in. high, erect from a hard woody base, slightly pubescent. 

 Leaves, those at base of stem linear-spathulate, about lin. long, those of the stem 

 almost filiform, about i|^in. long, with bristle-like points. Flowers in terminal 

 dense corymbs. Sepals narrow-lanceolate, 3 to 5 lines long, scarious, pinkish, 

 with a midrib of a deep purple. Petals united with the stamens in a tube about 

 2|- lines long, purple, the free parts about the same length, and more or less 

 lobed ; filaments very slender, and with the free parts of the petals reflexed after 

 flowering. Style shortly lobed at the end. Capsule fusiform. Seeds numerous. 



Hab.: Northern parts, inland. 



B. P. spirostyles (twisted styles), F. v. M. in Rep. Babb. Kxp. 8 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. i. 166. Glabrous and often very glaucous, woody at the base, with 

 numerous rigid opposite or diehotomous branches, our specimens not exceeding 

 6in. Leaves very narrow-linear, the margins revolute so as to be almost terete 

 and filiform, rarely exceeding Jin., often clustered. Stipules small, with subulate 

 points. Flowers large, on very short pedicels, either few in the upper forks or 

 forming at length a broad corymbose cyme. Sepals 3 to 4 lines long, acute, 

 white and scarious with a prominent midrib, the outer ones shorter and broader 

 than the inner. Petals and stamens perigynous, united in a tube of fully 2 lines, 

 with the slender filaments projecting considerably beyond the free oblong tops of 

 the petals. Ovary shortly stipitate, tapering into a long spirally twisted deciduous 

 style. Capsule stipitate, oblong, tapering at the top, nearly as long as the sepals. 

 Seeds numerous, very small. 



Hab.: Gilbert Eiver, Herberton, Northcote. 



Mr. S. B. J. Skertchly states that at Herberton this plant is intimately associated with 

 copper deposits, and Mr. J. Brownlie Henderson, Government Analyst, found distinct traces of 

 copper in plants brought from that district (Report on Mines of Watsonville, cl:c., Geol. Surv. Q. 

 1897). Mr. Skertchly informs me that the plant is a sure indication of copper deposits and is 

 now frequently used by practical miners as a guide to that mineral. 



4. P. synandra (anthers cohering), F. v. M. in Rep. Babb. Exp. 8 ; Benth. 

 Fl. Austr. i. 165. A glabrous annual, with a rosette of petiolate spathulate or 

 oblong radical leaves. Stems several, erect or decumbent, not above 6in. high, 

 with diehotomous or clustered branches. Leaves narrow-linear, with recurved or 

 revolute margins, the longer ones above -Jin., but mostly shorter, and not much 

 clustered. Stipules small, with fine points. Flowers rather larger than in P. 

 corymbosa, in small rather loose corymbose cymes, all more or less pedicellate, 

 the floral leaves all reduced to scarious bracts. Sepals about 2 lines or nearly 3 

 lines long in the capitate variety, white and scarious with a prominent midrib 



