166 xxxix. composite. [Sonchus. 
ligulate. Pappus soft, white ; hairs simple, excessively fine and silky. Achene 
flat, not beaked, ribbed or striate. 
A genus of many species, natives of temperate countries, and several (Sowthistles) are 
weeds of cultivation. 
1. S. oleraceus, Linn.; — FI. N. Z. i. 153. An erect, glabrous an- 
nual, 2-4 ft. high. Leaves undivided or pinnatifid, toothed and prickly at 
the margins, with a broad, cordate or triangular, terminal lobe, upper narrow, 
2-lobed, and stem-clasping at the base. Heads pale-yellow, -f-1 in. diam., 
corymbose panicled or umbellate. 
Var. a. Achene glabrous ; ribs muricate. 
Var. j8. Achene oblong, broad, winged ; ribs smooth. — S. aspera, Vill. 
Common throughout the islands ; var. a perhaps only introduced, being a weed of cul- 
tivation throughout the world. Var. fi. Certainly indigenous, being found by Banks and 
Solander and Forster , and at Chalky Bay by Lyall, and in the interior of the Northern 
Island by Colenso, who says that it was formerly eaten by the natives, but that the intro- 
duced variety is preferred from being less bitter. The var. j6 is a European and Australian 
plant. 
Order XL. STYLIDIE^l. 
Herbs. Leaves alternate, exstipulate. Inflorescence various. — Calyx-tube 
adnate with the ovary; lobes 5-9. Stamens 2, filaments connate with 
the style, forming a column ; anthers large, transverse. Ovary inferior, 
crowned with epigynous glands, 1- or 2-celled; style slender, stigma 2-lobed, 
almost hidden between the anthers ; ovules numerous, attached to the septum 
or to a central axis. Capsule 2-valved, dehiscing downwards, or coriaceous 
and indehiscent. Seeds minute; albumen fleshy ; embryo most minute. 
A large Australian Order, extending westwards to Bengal and northwards to Chiiia, also 
found in antarctic America. 
Flowers 1-3, on long scapes. Column straight 1. Forstera. 
Flowers solitary, sessile at the ends of the branches 2. Helophylluh. 
Flowers 1 or racemed. Column bent towards the top 3. Stylidium. 
1. FORSTERA, Linn. 
Small, alpine, glabrous, perennial herbs, with tufted or creeping stems. 
Leaves small, imbricating or spreading, thick. Scapes terminal, slender, 
1-2-flowered. Flowers white, sometimes unisexual. — Calyx 1-3-bracteolate ; 
tube ovoid, lobes 5 or 6. Corolla campanulate or tubular, with spreading 
limb, 5-9-fid; throat naked or glandular. Epigynous glands 2; style 
straight, erect. Capsule ovoid. Seeds unknown. 
A small genus, confined to the alps of Tasmania, New Zealand, and antarctic America. 
It is probable that the three following species may be uuited by intermediates. 
Leaves in., imbricate, obovate, recurved ; midrib euneale .... 1. F. sedifolia. 
Leaves j-4 in., patent and recurved, linear-oblong ; margins recurved . 2. F. Bidwillii. 
Leaves in., patent, not imbricate nor shining ; midrib slender . . 3. F. tenella. 
1. F. sedifolia, Linn. f. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 154. Stems very stout, 3-12 
in., densely covered throughout their length with leaves. Leaves imbricating, 
sessile, g — } in. long, oblong- or obovate-spathulate, obtuse, recurved, very co- 
riaceous, shining, midrib thickened, margin cartilaginous, the lower red- 
