114 DISELMA. 



Gen. DISELMA. J. Hooker. 



Flowers, dioecious, or male and female on separate plants;, 

 the male catkins very small, oval, solitary, and terminal ; the 

 female ones small, sub-globose, and terminal. 



Cones, very small, globular, and composed of four scales; the 

 two outer ones being ovate, acute-pointed, short, and sterUe ; 

 the two inner ones oval, rounded at the ends, fertUe, and nearly 

 double the size of the outer ones. 



Seeds, in twos or threes, under each of the fertile scales, 

 almost round, and amply three-winged. 



Leaves, small, scale-formed, ovate-rhomboid, regularly imbri- 

 cated, in four rows, convex and keeled on the back, concave on 

 the upper side, and with narrow, membranous margins. 



A very branching shrub, with the female plants prostrate 

 and the male ones erect, found on the western mountains of 

 Tasmania. 



DiSELMA Aecheri, /. HooTcer, Dr. Archer's Diselma. 

 Syn. Microcachrys tetragona. Archer, not Hooker. 



Leaves small, scale-formed, ovate-rhomboid, obtuse, regularly 

 and closely imbricated in four rows, convex and keeled on the 

 back, concave on the upper surface, and with narrow, mem- 

 branous margins. Branchlets numerous, slender, and tetra- . 

 gonal. Flowers dioecious. Male catkins very small, oval, 

 solitary, and terminal ; female ones small, sub-globose, and ter- 

 minal. Cones very small, globular, and composed of four 

 scales ; the outer pair being ovate, acute-pointed, short, and 

 sterile ; and the two inner ones oval, rounded at the points, 

 fertile, and nearly double the size of the outer ones. Seeds in 

 twos or threes, under each ot the fertile scales, almost round, 

 and broadly three-winged. 



A very branching shrub, resembling the Microcachrys tetra- 

 gona, with the female plants prostrate, and the male ones erect, 

 and from eight to ten feet high, found on the western moun- 

 tains of Tasmania, at an elevation of froni 4000 to 5000 feet. 



