1882 CXIV. LORANTHACE^. [Viscuni. 



Leaves opposite at the nodes. Petals deciduous 1. V. oruntale. 



Leaves none. 



Branches slender, angular, not flattened. Petals deciduous 2. V. angulatum. 



Branches flattened. Petals persistent Z. V. articulatum. 



1. V. orientale (eastern), Willd.; DC. Prod.iw. 278 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. iii. 

 896. Branches elongated, nearly terete, always leafy. Leaves opposite, narrow- 

 oblong or lanceolate, and 1 to l|in. long, narrowed at the base, 3 or 

 5-nerved. Flowers minute, in 1 to 3 sessile or shortly pedicellate clusters in 

 each axil, each cluster consisting of 3 or 5 flowers, the central one or rarely 

 3 females, each under 1 line long, the 2 lateral ones males and much smaller, 

 all sessile in the clusters within 1 or 2 small bracts. Petals 4 or rarely 3, 

 deciduous. Berry globular, 2 or rarely 3 lines diameter. 



Hab.: Eockhampton, Bowman; a single small specimen in Herb. F. Mueller. Common in 

 India and the Archipelago, extending westward almost to the Mediterranean. 



2. V. angulatum (angular), Heyne; W. and Am. Prod: iv. 380 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. iii. 896. Quite leafless. Branchlets opposite or dichotomous, articulate, 

 rather slender, angular, not flattened, the older branches terete. Flowers minute, 

 in sessile clusters of 3 to 6 at the nodes, the males and females in the same clusters, 

 each one half -immersed in a cup-shaped 2-lobed bract. Petals usually 4, very 

 deciduous. Berry small, globular. 



Hab.: Gilbert Elver, F. v. Mueller ; Edgecombe Bay, Dallachy ; Port Deuison, W. Hill ; 

 Brisbane Biver, Moreton Bay, A. Cunningham. 



3. V. articulatum (articulated), Burm.; DC. Prod. iv. 284; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. iii. 896. Very much branched, forming tufts from a few in. to 1 or 



2ft. diameter. Branches flattened, articulate, sometimes forked at almost every 

 node, sometimes elongated ; the articles thick, mostly ^ to fin. long and 2 to 4 _ 

 lines broad, but sometimes as broad as long or above lin. long and very narrow. 

 Mowers minute, sessile and clustered at the nodes, males and females in the same 

 clusters, the females scarcely ^ line long, nearly globular, half-buried in a cup- 

 shaped bract, the males still smaller. Petals usually 3, very minute, persistent 

 and crowning the very small globular berry. — V. moniliforme, Blume ; DC. Prod, 

 iv. 284 ; Wight, Ic. t. 1018 and 1019. 

 Hab.: Common. 



3. NOTOTHIXOS, Qliv. 

 (Alluding to the plants being Southern Mistletoes.) 



Flowers unisexual. Calyx-border quite inconspicuous. Petals 4, rarely 3 

 or 5. Anthers almost sessile, at the base of the petals, not adnate, transversely 

 2-lobed inside, with parallel lobes obscurely locellate. Stigma sessile. Fruit 

 a 1 -seeded berry. — Parasitical dichotomous shrubs, more or less covered with 

 a golden or hoary tomentum, rarely at length nearly glabrous. Leaves opposite, 

 flat, 3 or 5-nerved, but the nerves often obscure. Stipules minute, rigid, acute. 

 Flowers minute, sessile in little pedunculate heads, solitary or several on a 

 common terminal peduncle. 



The genus is endemic in Australia. As in the case of Viscums, they are found sometimes 

 parasites on species of Loranthus. 



Leaves small, cuneate or spathulate. Flower-heads solitary (or in threes?). 



Plant hoary : 1. N. incanus. 



Leaves obovate-oblong or broadly cuneate Flower-heads in a terminal 

 raceme, sometimes reduced to 1 or 8 heads. Plant hoary or nearly 

 glabrous 2. N. coniifollus. 



1. N. incanus (hoary), Oiir. in Jouni. Linn. Soc. vii. 104; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. iii. 397. Densely branched and hoary with a minute tomentum, the 

 branchlets much flattened below the leaves, the older branches terete. Leaves 



