Saffina.] xviii. CARYOPHYLLEiE. (Edg-eworth & Hook, f.) 243 



Tempeeate and Alpine Himalaya, and Webtebn Tibet, alt. 7-14,000 ft., ascending 

 to 16,000 ft. in Sikkim. — Distkib. N. and S. Temperate Zones. 



Whole plant 1-6 in., bright green. Leaves glabrous or ciliate, usually mucronate. 

 Flowers globose, green, rarely 5-merous, J in. diam., pedicels erect or curved at the tip. 

 /Sepals obtuse. Qapsule a little longer than the sepals. 



Vae. pentamera ; flowers pentamerous. — This may be referable to S. Linncei, Presl. 

 {saxatilis, Wimmer), hut diflers in the shoi-t petals. 



15. THVIiACOSFEBllXVia, Fenzl. 



« 



A most densely tufted herb. Leaves minute, most densely imbricate, 

 short, acute; stipules 0. Flowers solitary, sessile in the tips of the branches. 

 GaJtyx-tuhe obconic, 4-5-lobed, lobes suberect. Petals 4-6, smaU, obovate- 

 spathulate. Stamens 8-10, inserted on the edge of a disk lining the calyx- 

 tube. Ovary 1-celled ; styles 2-3, filiform ; ovules few. Capsule coriaceous, 

 spherical, 4-6-valved. Seeds tew, large, with a soft loose cellular testa. 



1. T. rupifragrum, Schrenk. Periandra csespitosa, Cambess. in Jacc^. 

 Vmj. Bot. 27 and t. 29 (Flourensia). Bryomorpha rupifraga, Kar. & Kir. 

 ilnum. PI. Soong. Arenaria rupicola, Feml in Ledeh. Fl. Ross. i. 780. 



Alpine Western Tibet, alt. 15-18,000 ft., Jacquemont, ho. — Disteib. Soongaria. 



Forming large hemispheric cushions a foot across and more, quite glabrous. Leaves 

 J— (T in., suberect, or spreading most densely S-farioualy imbricate, ovate, acuminate, 

 pungent, shining, nerveless, back convex, concave above with thickened margins. 

 Flowers ^ in. diam. Capsules shining, 4- or irregularly 6-valved. Seeds very large, 

 irregularly compressed, almost white. — A very singular plant in habit, closely allied to 

 Arenaria densissima, &c. 



16. SFERGirXiA, Linn. 



Annual or perennial herbs, with forked or fascicled branches. Leaves op- 

 posite, often with leafy buds in their axUs, whence the foliage appears to be 

 ■whorled ; stipules small, scarious. Flowers in peduncled panicled cymes. 

 Sepals 5. Petals 5, entire. Stamens 5 or 10, rarely fewer, inserted on a 

 perigyaous disk. Ovary 1-celled; styles 3 or 5, ovules many. Gapsvle 

 •with 3 or 5 entire valves. Seeds compressed, margined or winged. — Dis-- 

 lELB. Weeds of cultivated grounds : species 2-3. 



The valves of the capsule are described as opposite to the sepals, hut this does not 

 hold good where there are but 3 valves and 5 sepals. 



* Leaves apparently whorled. 



1. S. arvensis, Linn. ; green, leaves in false whorls linear-subulate 

 ^-terete grooved beneath rather fleshy, petals obtuse white, seeds keeled 

 or narrowly winged granulate or papillose. Boiss. Fl. Orient, i. 731. 



Cultivated fields in various cool parts of India ; and throughout the Northern hemi- 

 sphere. 



Piiheeoent or glandular. Stems J-2 ft., branched from the root, geniculate. Leaves 

 J-2 in., slender, spreading. Flowers J-i in. diam., sub umbellate ; pedicels slender, 

 spreading or deflexed. Sepals ovate, obtuse. Fetals white. Capsule subglobose, 

 shining. Seeds black. 



2. S. pentandra, Linn. ; glaucous, leaves in false whorls linear-subu- 

 late terete not grooved beneath, petals lanceolate-acute white, seeds piano- 

 compressed smooth, wing often as broad as the striate nucleus. Boiss. FL 

 Orient, i. 731. Arenaria flaccida, £oxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 447. 



e2 



