Matine.] xxi. ELATiNEiE. (W. T. Thiselton Dy6r.) 251 



NiLGHiBi Mts., Schmidt. — Bisteib. N. America (usually dimerous), N. Zealand, 

 Australia. \ 



Prostrate on mud in patches 1-3 in. broad. Stems rooting at the nodes, with nume- 

 rous opposite or alternate ultimately ascending branches. Leaves \-^ in., opposite, 

 ovate-lanceolate, narrowed to the base, entire, minutely scabrid ; stipules soarious, 

 acute, incise-serrate. Flowers fully jV in- diam. Sepals 3, 2 slightly herbaceous. 

 Petals 3, twice as long as the sepals, with a mid-vein. Seeds about 12 in each cell, 

 slightly curved. — Asa Gray, Oen.lll.t. 95, represents entire stipules united at the 

 base and sepals exceeding the pistil ; American specimens disagree with the figure in 

 these respects and agree with the Indian plant. 



2. E. ambig'ua, Wight in Hook. Bot. Misc. ii. 103, t. 5 ; flowers pedi- 

 celled, stamens shorter than the sepals. W. & A. Prodr. 41 ; WigM III. t. 

 25 B ; Seubert in Nov. Act. Nat. Cur. xxi. t. 2, f. 11-14. 



Westeeh Pbkinstjla, Wight.— Di&iBiB. Fiji Islands. 



Habit of E. americana, Am. Leaves oblong-lanceolate. Sepals, petals and stamens 

 each 3.— Probably should be united with the preceding and H. triandra, Schk. (which_ 

 differs in the absence of the superior petal). The aggregate species would have a cos- 

 mopolitan range. 



2. BERGIA, Linn. 



Annuals or iindershrubs, erect, decumbent, or diffusely branched, 

 often pubescent. Leaves opposite, serrate, or sometimes quite entire. 

 Flowers solitary or in more or less dense axillary fascicles, minute, usually 

 5-merous. Sepals with a herbaceous midrib and more or less membranous 

 margins, acute. Ovary ovoid. Capsule subcrustaceous, septicidal or sep- 

 tifragal. — Distkib. Warm countries throughout the world ; known species 

 about 14. 



1. B. odorata, Edgew. in Joum. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vii. 765 (1838); 

 pubescent-glandular, flowers fascicled pedicelled 2-8 together. Lancretia 

 suffruticosa, Delile Fl. Egypt. 69. B. suffruticosa, Feu'H in Denies. Bot. 

 " 'I iii 183 ; Boiss. Fl. Orient, i. 783. 



Sikh States at Balawati, £Jdgeworth ; Sindh at Kurrachee, Stochs, — Disthib. 

 Trop. Africa, Egypt. 



Woody, diffuse, 1 ft. or less, aromatic, with papery deciduous bark. Leaves -f^-^ in., 

 sessile, thick, elliptic or ovate, margins crenate-sen'ate, often reflexed. Flowers J in. 

 long, on blanches barren below. Sepals 6, ovate, herbaceous, seiTulate. Petals obovate. 

 Stamens 10, filaments dilated below. 0«(iry grooved ; styles 5, one-half the length of 

 the ovary. Capside 6-celled. Seeds numerous, minute, shining, slightly curved. — A , 

 very variable plant. Smells of chamomile. 



2. B. aastivosa, W. il; A. Prodr. 41 ; nearly glabrous, flowers solitary 

 or 2-4 together. Elatine aestivosa, Wight Ic. t. 222. Spergula asstivosa, 

 £(En. ex Wall. Cat. 6963. 



Panjab, Thomson; Moultan, Edgeworth. 



Branches slender, divaricate. Leaves narrow-obovate .or oblong, faintly serrate. 

 Flowers pink, on branches with almost linear leaves barren above. _ Sepals lanceolate, 

 acute, denticulate, with membranous margins. — Probably only a variety of .B. odorata, 

 but distinct in habit. 



3. B. ammannioides, EosA. Sort. Beng. 34 ; Fl. Ind. ii. 457 ; annual, 

 flowers in dense. sub verticillate fascicles, stamens 3-5. Both. Nov. PI. Sp. 

 219 ; Wight in Hook. Bot. Misc. iii. 93, Suppl. t. 28 ; III. i. t. 25 A. ; Wall. 

 Cat. 655; Boiss. Fl. Orient, i. 472. B. pentandra, Giiill. & Perr. Fl. Seneg. 

 42, t. 12. Elatine ammannioides, W. &A. Prodr. 41, Sagina ammanmoides, 

 Wail. Cat. 7504. 



