Elatostemma.] CXIX. UETICACEJi!. 1485 



to 6in. long, nearly sessile, broadly lanceolate oblong-lanceolate or obliquely 

 ovate-elliptical, slightly falcate or curved, more or less acuminate, coarsely 

 toothed, narrow towards the base especially the inner side, the outer side 

 decurrent nearly to the base of the petiole, and often semicordate, penni veined, 

 with 6 to 9 primary veins on each side, the lower ones not at all or scarcely more 

 oblique than the succeeding, and always shorter. Flower-heads variable in size, 

 the males usually ^ to near lin. diameter when fully out, both sexes nearly sessile 

 or the males on peduncles varying from ^ to Sin. in the typical form, the 

 involucre of 4 or -5 acute or acuminate bracts nearly as long as the flowers. 

 Perianth about 1 line long, of 5 broad segments. Female heads more globular, 

 rarely above 3 or 4 lines diameter and the involucra much shorter. Nuts about 

 ■J line long, contracted at the base almost into a stipes as long as the minute 

 perianth. 



Hab.: Brisbane River, Moreton Bay, F. u. Mueller ; Killarney. 



2. E. stipitatum (stalked), Wcdd. in Ann. Sc. Xat. so: 4. i. 190; Monogr. 

 Urt. 322, t. 9 D, f. 11-16, and in DC. Prod. xvi. i. 185 ; Benth. Fl.Aiistr. vi. 184. 

 A small slender diffuse or prostrate herb, the stems simple or branched, rooting 

 at the base, a few inches or rarely nearly a foot long. Leaves quite sessile, oblong 

 oblong-lanceolate or almost ovate, very shortly acuminate, rather deeply toothed, 

 from under 1 to nearly 2in. long, the lower margin expanded into a rounded 

 almost decurrent auricle, the principal veins as well as the stems more or less 

 hispid. Flower-heads small, all pedunculate, the males 2 to 3 lines or very rarely 

 nearly 4 lines diameter, the bracts much narrower than in E. reticidatum. 

 Flowers nearly as in that species. Female heads still smaller. 



Hab.: Mount Lindsay, W. Hill; and other southern looaUties. 



14. BOEHMERIA, Jacq. 

 (After G. E. Boehmer.) 

 Flowers monoecious or dioecious, in globular usually unisexual clusters, with 

 small scarious bracts. Male perianth of 4, rarely 3 or 5, segments or lobes, 

 valvate in the bud. Stamens as many as perianth segments, with a central 

 clavate or globose rudimentary pistil. Female perianth tubular, compressed, 

 more or less dilated below, usually contracted at the orifice, with a 2 or 4-toothed 

 border. Nut dry, included in the persistent perianth, free or more or less adnate 

 to it, sessile or stipitate, with a long linear-filiform papillose-hirsute style or 

 stigma, protruding from the perianth and persistent on the ripe nut. Seed more 

 or less albuminous. — Shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate or opposite, 

 petiolate, 3-nerved, toothed. Stipules usually deciduous. Flower-clusters 

 axillary, either sessile and solitary or in simple interrupted spikes or short 

 branched panicles. 



The genus is spread over the tropical and subtropical regions of both the New and the Old 

 World. 



Leaves alternate. Flowers in short broad panicles 1. B. nivea. 



Leaves opposite. Flowers in long filiform spikes . . . . 2. ii. jjlatyphylla 



1. B. nivea (snow-white), Hook, and Am. in Bot. Beech. Voy. 214 ; Hoolc. 

 1<1. Brit. Ind.y. 51Q. " Jalcan Jalcan," Johnstone Eiver, W. C. Harding. A 

 shrub with herbaceous stems several feet high, the branches and petioles softly 

 hairy. Leaves alternate usually broadly ovate, 3 to 6in. long ; subscabrous 

 above, white with densely appressed hairs beneath, base cuneate or subcordate, 

 marginal teeth triangular often up-curved ; petiole 1\ to 4in. long. Stipules free, 



Part V. I 



