100 



OEDER tCI. SPHENOCLEACE-ffi. 



Tube of the calyx adnate to the ovary, limb 5-parted, lobes 

 Yound on the margin, inflexed, persistent, finally connivent over 

 the ovary : corolla deciduous, 2-celled, dehiscing longitudinally : 

 -fevary 2-celle(i, many-ovuled : styles very short, stigma capitate 

 bilobate, glabrous : capsule membranaceous, 2-celled, cuneiform 

 at the base; many-seeded, circumscissile : placentae fungose. 

 pendulous from the apex of the septum : seed tuberculate, mi- 

 nute, terete, sparingly furnished with fleshy albumen : embryo 

 ateaight, terete, radicle about twice as long as the cotyledons. 



GENUS. SPHENOCLEA. 

 Pentandrla AKonogrynlM. Sex: Syst: 



Deriv. From SpTien, a wedge, and Kleio, to enclose ; alluding 

 to the wedge-shaped capsules. 



GeK. Char. Same as that of the Order. 



(1) S. PoN«ATnjM. (Die.) 



Ident. Dec. prod. VII. p. 548. 



. Syn. Pongatium Indicum, Lam. — S. Zeylanica, Uoasb ft. Ind, 

 }. p. 507. — Rapania herbacea, Lour. — Gaertnera pongati, ReU. 



Engrav. Wight's 111. II. t. 138.-^Rbeede Mai. 11. t. 24. 



Sfec. Char. Annual, herbaceous, erect, branched, glabrous : 

 leaves alternate, exstipnlate, lanceolate, entire, smooth ; terminal 

 •or leaf-opposed, peduncled, cylindric : bracts 3 or 3-partite, under 

 the flower : flowers very small, white. 



Peninsula. Bengal. Hindostan. Common in rice fields, flow- 

 ering nearly all the year. 



OEBER XGII. GAMFANTJLACE^. 



Herbaceous, rarely suffiruticose, milky plants : leaves exstipu- 

 late, alternate, or rarely opposite, often dentate : inflorescence 

 either definite, centrifugal or obscurely indefinite, in that case 

 the flowers terminating, the lateral branches opening firsts 



