( 220 .) 
PE'PLIS* *. 
Linnean Class and Order. Hexa'ndriaI Monogy'nia. 
Natural Order. Lythrarie'a:, Juss . — Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 
514. — Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and Bot. v.ii. p. 706. — Salica'- 
RjyE, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 330. — Lindl. Syn. p. 71.; Introd. to Nat. 
Syst. of Bot. p. 59. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 527. — Rosales ; sect. 
Onagrin.e; type, Lytiiraceje; Burn. Outl. of Bot. pp. 614, 
722, & 726. — Calycanthema:, Linn. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) inferior, of 1 sepal, bell-shaped, 
with 12 lobes, of which 6 are broader than the rest, and upright ; 
the others spreading, awl-shaped, and alternating with the larger 
ones. Corolla (see fig. 2, b,b.) of 6 very minute, inversely egg- 
shaped petals, inserted into the throat of the calyx, between its 
segments ; sometimes wanting. Filaments (see fig. 2, c. and fig. 
4, a.) 6, thread-shaped, incurved, shorter than the calyx, alternate 
with the petals, and opposite to the broader segments Of the calyx. 
Anthers (see fig. 4, b.) roundish. Germen (fig. 5.) superior, globu- 
lar, furrowed. Style very short, cylindrical. Stigma capitate, 
globose. Capsule (fig. 6.) globose, membranous, pellucid, of 2 cells, 
not bursting, with a transverse partition. Seeds (figs. 7 & 8.) nu- 
merous, minute, obtuse, triangular, inserted into the central column 
(see fig. 7.). 
The bell-shaped calyx with 6 large and 6 alternating smaller 
teeth ; and the corolla (when present) of 6 minute petals, inserted 
upon the calyx ; will distinguish this from other genera in the same 
class and order. 
One species British. 
PE'PLIS PO'RTULA. Common Water Purslane. 
Spec. Char. Leaves opposite, inversely egg-shaped, stalked. 
Flowers axillary, solitary ; petals wanting, or scarcely visible. 
Engl. Bot. t. 1211. — Curt. FI. Lond. t. 288. Cul t. Brit. Entom. v. x. t. 459. — 
Linn. Sp. PI. p. 474. — Buds. FI. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 147.— Sm. FI. Brit. v. i. p. 
389. Engl. FI. v. ii. p. 187. — With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 452. — Lind. Syn. p. 72.— 
Book. Brit. FI. p. 151. — Light!'. FI. Scot. v. i. p. 187. — Sibth. FI. Oxon. p. 108. 
— Abbott’s FI. Bedf. p. 78. — Davies’ Welsh Bot. p. 35. — Purt. Midi. FI. v. i. 
p. 181. — Relh. FI. Cant. (3rd ed.) p. 146. — Hook. FI. Scot. p. 111. — Grev. FI. 
Edin. p. 82. — FI. Devon, pp. 63 & 170. — Rev. G. E. Smith’s PI. of S. Kent, p. 
23. — Winch’s FI. of Northumb. and Durh. p. 23. — Walk. FI. of Oxf. p. 101. — 
Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and Bot. v. ii. p. 708. — Perry's PI. Varvic. Select*, 
p. 32. — Mack. Catal. of PI. of Irel. p. 34. FI. Hibern. part. i. p. 69. — Portula 
palustris, Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p.553. — Portula Ray’s Syn. p.368. — Alsine 
rotundifolia, sive Portu/aca aquatica, Johns. Ger. p.614. — Glaucoides pa- 
lustre , portulacee folio, fiore purpureo, Mich. Gen. p. 21. 1. 18. f. 1. 
Localities. — In marshy and watery places on a sandy or gravelly soil, espe- 
cially such as become dry in Summer. Not uncommon. 
Fig. 1. Calyx. — Fig. 2. Tbe same opened, exhibiting, a, the Calyx ; b, b. the 
Petals; c. the Stamens. — Fig. 3. A Petal. — Fig. 4. A Stamen; a, the Fila- 
ment; b, the Anther — Fig. 5. Germen, Style, and Stigma. — Fig. 6. Capsule, 
accompanied by the permanent Calyx. — Fig. 7. A transverse section of the 
Capsule. — Fig. 8. A Seed. — All, more or less, magnified. 
* From peplion, Gr. anciently applied to the genus Porfulaca, now to one 
somewhat similar in habit. Sir W. J. Hooker. 
4- See Galanthus nivalis, folio 33, note t- 
