200 A FLORA OF MANILA 



2. P. oleracea L. Golasiman (Tag.) ; Purslane. 



An annual, prostrate or spreading, succulent, branched herb, quite 

 glabrous, 10 to 50 cm long, the stems often purplish. -Leaves fleshy, flat, 

 obtuse, oblong-obovate, base cuneate, 1 to 2.5 cm long. Flowers in sessile, 

 axillary and terminal, few-flowered heads, the heads solitary or cymose, 

 the buds compressed. Petals 5, yellow, about as long as the sepals. Sta- 

 mens 8 to 12. (Fl. Filip pi. lei.) 



In open waste places, very common, fl. all the year; throughout the 

 Philippines. All temperate and teopical countries. 



3. P. QUADRIFIDA L. 



A slender, prostrate, annual, succulent plant, the stems often rooting 

 at the nodes, the nodal appendages pilose. Leaves ovate-elliptic, about 5 

 mm long, subsessile. Flowers small, terminal, solito-ry, surrounded by a 

 4-leaved involucre and copious white hairs. Petals 4, yellow. 



Cementerio del Norte, Pasay, etc., in waste places, fl. all the year; of local 

 occurrence in the Philippines and a'pparently introduced. Tropical Asia and 

 Africa. 



48. BASELLACEAE (Basella or Libato Family) 



Twining, glabrous, herbaceous vines, more or less succulent. Leaves 

 alternate, entire. Inflorescence axillary, spicate or racemose. Flowers 

 small, perfect, 2-bracteolate. Sepals 2, more or less adnate to the corolla. 

 Corolla-lobes 5, nearly free or more or less united. Stamens 5; anthers 

 versatile. Ovary free, 1-celled, 1-ovuled. Fruit indehiscent, dry or fleshy 

 surrounded by the perianth. 



Genera 5, species about 14, mostly in tropical America, 2 genera and 2 

 species in the Philippines, both introduced. 



Sepals not winged; filaments erect in bud 1. Basella 



Sepals broadly winged down the back; filaments recurved in bud. 



2. Anredera 

 1. BASELLA Linnaeus 



A succulent, glabrous, twining vine. Leaves alternate, entire. Flowers 

 in axillary spikes, white or red, small. Bracteoles minute, caducous. Se- 

 pals 2, connate, not keeled. Corolla 5-fid, somewhat fleshy, the lobes erect, 

 obtuse. Stamens 5, inserted on the corolla-tube. Filaments straight in 

 bud. Ovary globose; styles 3, connate at the base; stigmas linear-clavate. 

 Fruit a globose utricle enclosed in and adnate to the perianth. (A Malabar 

 name.) 



A single variable species found in most tropical countries, its original 

 home uncertain, possibly tropical Asia. 



1. B. RUBRA L. Libato (Tag.). 



A succulent, branched, glabrous, twining, herbaceous vine, reaching a 

 length of several meters, the stems green or purplish. Leaves somewhat 

 fleshy, ovate, petioled, acuminate, base cordate to decurrent, 5 to 12 cm 

 long. Spikes axillary, solitary, 5 to 20 cm long. Flowers pink, about 4 

 mm long. Fruit ovoid or globose, 5 -.o 3 mm long. (Fl. Filip. pi. 74.) 



Occasional in Waste places, escaped from cultivation, fl. most of the 

 year; throughout the Philippines but certainly introduced here. In most 

 tropical countries, wild or cultivated, possibly a native of India. 



