388 UMBELLIFEB^. [Gisekia. 



as long as the sepals, globose, many-seeded. Seeds reddish or yellowish 

 reticulate, bluntly ridged on back, not appendaged. 



Meerut dist. (T. Thomson). Distrib. In the drier and hotter parts of 

 India from the Punjab to Ceylon, not in Bengal ; also in other parts of 

 Asia and in Africa and Australia. The plant is used medicinally. 

 6. M. nudicaulis, Lam^^. ; W. Sf A. Prod. 43 ; F. B I. ii, 664, 



A slender giabrous annual. Stems many, leafless, rising from a tuft of 

 radical leaves. Leaves 1-2 in., oblong-spathulate, tapering to the base. 

 Scales 3-S in., wiry, 3-chotom jusly branched above. Sex^als -jV in., 

 oblong or oval, obtuse,' with membranous margins. Stame^is 3 or 5. 

 S%in,a,s o, very small. Cajos^uie as long as the sepals, globose or some- 

 what ellipsoid, many-seeded. Seeds minute, black, shining, closely reti- 

 culate, not tuberculate, minutely appendaged at the hilum. 



Agra dist. (Duthie), Merwara (Lowrie). Distbib. In the drier parts of 

 India from the Punjab to Ceylon, not in Bengal ; also in Irop. Africa, 

 New Caledonia and Cuba. 



3. GISEKIA, Linn. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii, e6i. 



Diffuse branched herbs. Leaves opposite or falsely whorled, fleshy, 

 spathulate, abounding in raphid.es ; stipules 0. Flowers sessile and 

 pedicelled, hermaphrodite or polygamous, smalL greenish or purplish, 

 in axillary cymes. Sepals 5, nearly free, ovate, herbaceous with mem- 

 branous margin:*. Petals 0. Stamens (in the Indian species) •% 

 hypogyno.is. Carpels 5-3, distinct, each ending in a short simple 

 style and containing one basal ovule. F'-uit of 5, free, membranous 

 papillose, indehiscent, carpels. Seeds vertical, subreniform ; embryo 

 curved. — Species 5, all African, including the following one which 

 extends to India. 



G. pharnaceoides, Linn. ; F. B. I. ii, 664 ; Watt E. D. 

 A succulent glabrous herb, with prostrate or ascending branches. Leaves 

 a-l| in. long, oblong-spathulate, tapering into a short petiole; sti- 

 pules O. Floivers in dense cymes, sepals y'g in., oblong-oval, with mem- 

 branous margins. Filaments dilated below. FrUit as long as the sepals 

 of 5 distinct indehiscent 1-seeded carpels. Seeds rounded on the back, 

 blackish, covered with pustulate glands. 

 Meerut and Delhi district (T. Thomson), Agra(Munro),Merwira (Duthie), 

 Bundelkhand (Edgeworth). Distrib. In the drier parts of India from 

 the Punjab and Sind to Ceylon ; also in Ava, Afghanistan and Africa, 

 The plant has had the reputation of possessing strong anthelmintic 

 properties. It is used sometimes as a potherb. 



LVII.— UMBELLIFER^. 



Herbs, rarely shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate, usually divided or 

 dissecte.l, sometimes simple ; petiole generally sheathing at the base ; 



