944 LXXII. PLUMBAGINE^. [^gialitis. 



divided nearly to the middle into linear cotyledons, enclosing a linear-conical 

 plumula. — Gaud, in Preye. Voy. t. 51 ; Boiss. in DC. Prod. xii. 621 ; Mgialinites 

 annulata, Presl, Bot. Bern. 103. 



Hab. : Seacoast, amongst the Bhizophoras, Prince of Wales Islands, R. Brown; Howick's 

 Group, F. u. Mueller; Cape York, DcBmel; Port Denison, Fitzalan ; Fitzroy Eiver, Thoset ; 

 other northern localities. 



It is also found on the coasts of Timor, and of the Malayan Peninsular. The name was 

 altered by Presl, as being preoccupied in zoology, — a reason now generally acknowledged to. be 

 insuiHcient,^5«ntft. 



2. STATICE, Linn. 



(From statizo, to stop ; supposed astringent properties.) 



(Taxanthema, H. Br.) 



Calyx more or 'less expanded at the top into a dry, membranous, coloured 



and slightly 5-lobed limb, each lobe traversed by a green or dark nerve. Petals 



slightly united at the base. Styles free, ending in linear-terete stigmas. Fruit 



included in the calyx. Seed more or less albuminous. — Herbs or rarely under- 



shrubs. Leaves usually radical. Flowers solitary or 2 or 3 together in little 



spikelets, forming one-sided spikes, arranged in dichotomous or trichotomous 



panicles, or rarely in simple spikes. 



The largest genus of the Order, ranging chiefly over maritime districts in the northern 

 hemisphere, with very few southern species. The only Queensland one extends northward as 

 far as Japan. 



1. S. australis (southern), Spreng. Syst. i. 959 ; Benth, Fl. Anstr. iv. 

 267. Stock short and thick. Leaves all radical, obovate-oblong, 1^ to Sin. 

 long, quite entire, narrowed into a petiole of very variable length. Scape 

 angular, 9 to 18in. high, repeatedly forked so as to form a broad corymbose 

 panicle, with a small green bract under each branch, and in some specimens 

 there are a few entire or forked barren branches, ^ to l^in. long, at the base of 

 the panicle. Flowers numerous, in short, dense, unilateral spikes, formed of 

 little clusters or spikelets of 2 or 3 flowers each, or of single flowers. Calyx- 

 lobes pale pink, broad and undulate, the ribs usually hairy outside at the base, 

 produced into short points or almost obtuse. Petals yellow, rather longer than 

 the calyx when first flowering. Seeds oblong ; albumen very scanty on one side 

 only of the embryo ; cotyledons oblong ; radicle superior, very short. — Boiss. in 

 DC. Prod. xii. 642 ; Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. i. 801 ; Taxanthema australis, R. Br. 

 Prod. 426 ; Statice texanthema, Eoem. et Seh. Syst. vi. 798. 



Hab.: VovtCtutia, M'Gillivray ; PoifDenison, Mtzalan ; Fitzroy Eiver, TAo««t ; common on 

 the coastal sands. 



3. PLUMBAGO, Linn. 

 (A species one time used as a remedy for " plumbuma" — disease of the eyes.) 

 Calyx tubular, with 6 prominent ribs, more or less glandular-muricate, ending 

 in short teeth. Corolla with a cyhndrical tube and spreading lobes. Stamens 

 hypogynous. Style filiform, with 5 filiform branches stigmatic from the base. 

 Fruit included in the calyx. — Perennials or shrubs, with leafy branches. 

 Flowers sessile, in simple terminal spikes. 



The genus, although comprising but very few species, ranges over the temperate and tropical 

 regions of the New as well as the Old World. The only Queensland species is a common 

 Asiatic one. 



1. P. zeylanica (of Ceylon), Linn.; Boiss. in DC. Prod. xii. 692; Benth. 

 Fl. Austr. iv. 267. A shrub attaining several feet, the long weak branches 

 sometimes half-climbing, glabrous except the short, glandular, viscid bristles 

 on the inflorescence, and especially on the calyx.. Leaves petiolate, ovate, 



