176 XXVII. ZYGOPHYLLE^. [Zygophi/llum. 



5. %. Billardieri (after J. J. Labillardiere), DC. Prod. i. 705 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Aicstr. i. 293. Herbaceous, prostrate or diffuse and much-branched. Leaves oblong, 

 cuneate or linear, rarely obovate, ^ to lin. long, the petioles not usually winged. 

 Flowers usually 4-merous, the size of those of Z. apiculatwn. Sepals narrow, very 

 acute. Petals about 3 lines long. Filaments subulate or slightly flattened, 

 but not winged. Capsule 3 to 5 lines long, loculicidal, broad and truncate at the 

 top, narrowed to the base, the angles acute or shortly pointed or scarcely rounded 

 at the upper outer corner. Seeds 1 or rarely 2 in each cell. — Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. 

 i. 60 ; F. V. M. PI. Vict. i. 104 ; Bcepera Billardieri, A. Juss. in Mem. Mus. Par. 

 xii. 454 (by inference) ; Z. amriiophilum. F. v. M. in linnsea, xxv. 376, in adnot. 



Hab.: Warrego. 



6. Z. fruticulosum (shrubby), DC. Prod. i. 705 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 294. 

 A low diffuse or divaricately branched shrub. Leaflets obliquely oblong or 

 lanceolate, rarely ovate. Flowers 4-merous, the size of those of Z. apieulatum. 

 Filaments subulate, without wings. Capsule ^in. long, indehiscent, or at length 

 separating septicidally into cocci opening inside, the angles expanded into broad 

 membranous wings, rounded at both ends and not splitting. Seeds solitary in 

 each cell. — F. v. M. PI. Vict. i. 105 ; Fuepera fabagifolia, A. Juss. in Mem. Mus. 

 Par. xii. 525, t. 15 ; Deless. Ic. Sel. iii. t. 42 ; Miq.'in PI. Preiss. i. 164. 



Hab.: Balonne Eiver, F. v. M. 



Var. bilobiim. Leaflets narrow, continuous with the petiole, as in Z. prisirmtotfiecmn. — Rcepera 

 aurantiaca, Lindl. in Mitch. Three Exped. ii. 70 ; Z. aurantiacvm, F. v. M. in Linnsea, xxv. 

 376 (note).. 



Order XXVIII. GERANIACE^. 



Flowers usually hermaphrodite, regular or irregular. Sepals \ 5, or rarely 

 fewer, free, or rarely connate at the base, imbricate or (in genera not Australian) 

 valvate in the bud. Petals as many or rarely wanting, hypogynous or slightly 

 perigynous, variously imbricate in the bud. Torus more or less expanded into a 

 disk, often bearing 5 glands alternate with the petals, and usually protruding 

 into a short axis in the centre of the ovary. Stamens usually twice the number 

 of the petals, 5 of them occasionally without anthers, or rudimentary, or in 

 irregular flowers, 3 or more without anthers or wanting ; filaments either free 

 and filiform, or dilated or connate at the base ; anthers with 2 parallel cells. 

 Ovary usually 3 to 5-lobed, with as many cells, the carpels adnate to the axis up 

 to the insertion of the ovules, and often produced above that into a beak bearing 

 the style or stigmas ; stigmas as many as cells, either raised on the style or sessile 

 on the carpels, radiating from a connate base or rarely entirely connate. Ovules 

 either 1 in each cell or 2 inserted nearly at the same point, 1 ascending, the 

 other pendulous, or several in 1 or 2 rows. Fruit either a lobed capsule, the lobes 

 1-seeded, separating from the axis with the seed, and elastically rolled upwards 

 along the beak, leaving the placentiferous portion attached to the axis, or the 

 lobes several-seeded, remaining attached to the axis, but opening loculicidally, or 

 in genera not Australian the fruit is a berry or separates into indehiscent cocci. 

 Seeds pendulous or ascending ; t^sta thin or rarely crustaceous ; albumen usually 

 scanty or none. Embryo straight or curved, radicle short and straight or long 

 and curved or forked over the cotyledons. — Herbs or shrubs, or rarely, in genera 

 not Australian, trees. Leaves opposite or alternate, toothed, lobed, or divided, 

 very rarely quite entire. Stipules usually 2. Peduncles axillary, 1 or 2-flowered, 

 or bearing an umbel of several flowers, very rarely a cyme or raceme. 



The Order is chiefly dispersed over the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, very 

 abundant in Southern Africa, with a few extratropioal South American and tropical species. 

 Of the four Australian genera, two are common in the northern hemisphere, a third, although 



