PoBTULACA.] I>OBTU.LACJEJS. 69 



An erect or proctunbent annual or perennial herb, 6-12 in., much dicho- 

 tomonsly branched, hoary-tomentose or glabrescent. Leaves ^-1 in., ses- 

 sile, narrowly linear, mucronate. Flowers many, ^ in. in diam., crowded 

 on yhe much-branched cymes, forming large flat-topped silvery heads. 

 Bracts scarious, bristle-pointed. Sepals much exceeding the capsules, 

 linear-lanceolate, not keeled, very acute, silvery and often veined with 

 red. Petals much shorter than the sepals. Ga'psule very small, shining, 

 brown. 



Common on sandy and rocky ground, flowering during the greater part 

 of the year. Distbib.: Throughout India, ascending the Himalaya up to 

 7,000 ft.; also in Ceylon and Burma. 



XVI.-PORTULACEiE. 



Heebs, rarely undershrubs. Leaves opposite or alternate, entire ; 

 nodes with scarious or hairy appendages, rarely naked. Sepals 2, 

 imbricate. Petals 4-5, hypogynous or perigynous, free or united 

 below, fugacious. Stamens 4-many, inserted with or upon tbe 

 petals ; JUamenis slender ; anthers, 2-celled, Ovary free or ^-infe- 

 rior, 1-celled ; styles 2-8-fid ; ovules 2-many. Capsule with 

 transverse or 2-3-valvuIar dehiscence. Seeds 1-many, compressed ; 

 embryo curved round the mealy albumen. — About 150 species, chiefly 

 natives of America. 



POBTULACA, Linn. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. i. 246. 



Diffuse annual or perennial herbs, usually succulent. Leaves with 

 scaly or hairy nodal appendages. Flowers terminal, surrounded by 

 a whorl of leaves, solitary or clustered. Sepals connate below, the 

 . free portion deciduous. Petals 4-6, perigynous or epipetalous. 

 Ovary ^-inferior ; style 3-8-fi.d ; ovules many. Capsule crustaceous, 

 dehiscing transversely. Seeds many, reniform. 



Leaves cuneate-oblong ; flowers in terminal clus- 

 ters . . . . • » • . 1. P. oleracea. 



Leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate ; flowers ter- 

 minal, solitary 2. P. quadrifida. 



1. P. oleracea, Linn. 8p. PI. 445 ; Bowh. Fl. Ind. ii, 468 ; W. <?■ A. Prod. 

 356 ; Boyle III. 221; D. Sf G. Bomb. Fl. 15; F. B. I. i, 246 ; DC. L'Orig. PI, 

 Cult 69 ; F. 8; Q. Crops Hi, 22, t. scciii ; Watt E. D. Vern. Kulfa, lunak 

 (Indian Purslane). 



A stout glabrous annual, 6-12 in., with numerous prostrate or ascending 

 branches. Leaves 5-l| in., alternate, cuneate-oblong or spathulate, trun- 

 cate or retuse at the apex, thick, pale and glistening beneath, petiole very 

 short ; stipular appendages minute or 0. Flowers sessile, in terminal 

 heads. Sepals fleshy, acute, persistent. Petals 5, yellow, about as long as 



