180 LYTHEACE.E. — cucDBBiTACEiE. [Bryonia. 



of which the 6 greater ones are triangular and erect or spreading, the remaining 

 6 short, blunt, or frequently produced into a sort of horn, which is mostly a little 

 recurved. Petals 6, each inserted orj a glandular depression a little below the 

 margin of the calyx and opposite to the smaller calycine processes ; very minute 

 and often in part fallen away (sometimes, it is said, wholly waiitini;), obovato- 

 rolundate, entire, pale pink, the midrib purplish. Stamens 6 — 8 (or 12?), inserted 

 on the calyx near its base, and equal in length to the calyx-tube ; filaments rose- 

 red ; anthers greenish or blackish, round, incumbent, of 2 large distinct lobes 

 bursting along their outer edges. Germen rose-coloured, ovate, compressed, with 

 a deep lateral furrow ; style short, capitalo-orbieular, glanduloso-pilose. Capsule 

 scarcely so large as hemp-seed, at first reddish, then brownish and membranous, 

 subglobose, a little compressed and somewhat 2-lobed by a lateral furrow, tipped 

 with the style, about as long as the calyx, bursting irregularly. Seeds numerou.=, 

 whitish or yellowish, trigonous, gibbous at the back and somewhat pointed at one 

 end, finely and rugosely punctato-striate ; very similar to those of Lythrum Salicaria. 



[Order XXVIII.* TAMAEISCACE^, Desv.] 



Tamarix Gallica, L., is found at Freshwater gate, according to Pulteney, but 

 is only growing there now in a cultivated state, and I suspect was never seen in 

 any more wild condition. I notice it here to draw the attention of botanists to the 

 genuine discovery of a species that has been assumed on very loose grounds as 

 indigenous to this country. I have seen most of the recorded stations quoted in 

 books, viz. St. Michael's Mount, Hurst Castle, Hastings, and at Landguard Fort, 

 as well as on the banks about the Land's End and Lizard, and can safely assert 

 that in none of these places has the Tamarix the semblance of an indigenous pro- 

 duction. I am of opinion the wisest course would be to expunge Tamarix, with 

 Castanea, Staphylea and one or two more genera, from the British Flora alto- 

 gether. 



Order XXIX. CUCUEBITACEiE, Juss. 



" Frequently monoecious or dioecious. Calyx 5-tootlied, tlie tube 

 adnate with the ovary. Corolla 5-cleft, often scarcely distinguish- 

 able from the calyx, frequently reticulated. .Stamens 5, often 

 more or less cohering. Ovary 1-celled, inferior, with 3 parietal 

 receptacles. Style short. Stigmas lobed. Fruit fleshy. Seeds 

 flat, in a juicj' aril. Embryo flat. Albumen 0. Cotyledons folia- 

 ceous, nerved. — Succulent climbing plants, with extra-axillary 

 tendrils {in the place of a stipule), frequently scabrous." — Br. Fl. 



I. Bryonia, Linn. Bryony. 



" Corolla 5-cleft. Filaments 3-adelphous, inserted at the base 

 of the corolla. Anthers 1-celled, 3-adelphous, applied to the edge 

 or back of the connectivum, and forming a sinuous line. Style 

 trifid ; stigmas somewhat reniform or bifid. Fruit ovoid or glo- 

 bose, baccate, few-seeded." — Br. Fl. 



1. B. dioica, Jacq. Bed-berried Bryony. Vect. Mandrake. 

 Leaves palmate 5-lobed calloso-scabrous on both sides, flowers 

 dioecious, pistillate blossoms subumbellate, their common peduncle 

 shorter than the leaves, their calyx about half the length of the 

 corolla, fruit globose (red). Jacq. Fl. Aust. ii. tab. 199. E. B. 

 vii. 439. Fl. Dan. xi. t. 1830. Br. Fl. p. 141. 



