60 
PLANTS INDIGENOUS TO 
[D roseracece. 
often upwards again cleft, and stigmatose at the truncate apex. Capsule laxly enclosed in the calyx, covered 
hy the marcescent petals, about 1J line long. Placentae sometimes narrower and more elevated, sometimes 
broader and more depressed. Seeds, inclusive of the expansion of the sordid-brown cellulose testa, nearly 1 
line long, extremely' narrow. Nucleus minute, narrow-ellipsoid, not laterally hut at both extremities long 
appendiculate by tlie contiguous testa. 
In flower during' December and January. 
Brosera spatulataj Labill. Nov . Holl. Plant. Spechn. i. < 9, 1. 106, 1 ; Planch. Annul. des Scieuc. 
Nat. ix. 193; D. jDropinqua, All. Cunn. in Annal. of Nat. Hist. iv. 109. 
Stemless; root fibrous; stipules connate , deeply longitudinally dissected; leaves spathulate, rosulate, 
tapering- into a rather short glabrous linear petiole; peduncles many times longer than tlie leaves; slender 
towards the summit, as well as the solitary or geminate raceme glandulous-puberulous; pedicels unilateral, 
mostly shorter than the small acutely five-cleft at last rigldulous calyx ; petals white oi led, generally less 
than half exserted; styles 3, bipartite , with simple filiform rarely semi-bifid lobes; capsule turbinate-ovate, 
much shorter than the calyx, deeply three-valved, rigidulous; placenta oval, flat; seeds many, ellipsoid, 
minute; testa not expanded. 
In boggy soil towards Brighton (Dr. Howitt), on Mount Abrupt (C. Wilhelmi); also in extratropical 
Eastern Australia, in Tasmania, as far south as South Port, in New Zealand, and according to Planclion in 
the Philippine Islands. 
The wliole plant frequently tinged red, reminding in appearance of the British D. longifolia. Root 
probably perennial, sending out filiform fibrillee. Leaves, with addition of the confluent petiole, from about 
i inch to nearly' 1 inch long, 1J-4 lines broad, fimbriate, beneath glabrous, above glandulous-hairy, by 
decay r of the successive layers of old ones forming a kind of cushion. Stipules 2 lines or less long, scarious, 
fulvous, with linear-setaceous segments. Peduncle solitary or a few' to each individual plant, 1-6 inches 
long, slender-filiform, from an ascending base erect, casually twining or bifid. Eacerne few r - or many-flowered, 
rarely 2J inches long, sometimes reduced to two flow r ers only', spike-like, occasionally geminate or bifid, 
very rarely, how’ever, even imperfectly dichotomous. Bracts linear-setaceous, about 1 line long, at or near 
the base of the pedicels solitary, often less in number than the flow'ers. Pedicels generally J rarely 1-1J 
line long, sometimes almost obliterated. Calyx 1-11 line long, to the middle or deeply never to die base 
slit, with lanceolate or linear-lanceolate appressed at the apex spreading lobes. Petals generally broad 
obovate-cuneate, occasionally with a stalked terminal gland. Stamens about as long as the calyx. Fila¬ 
ments linear-filiform. Anthers yellow, cordate, about J line long. Styles confluent at the base, greenish, 
except the hyaline ramifications. Capsule somewhat less than 1 line long. Seeds measuring approximately 
£ line, ellipsoid, black, reticulate, with a testa except at the pointed base closely surrounding the nucleus. 
The relationship of this species to the D. longifolia, A., of the northern hemisphere, is evident; in that 
plant, however, the leaves are tapering into a much narrower and longer petiole, thereby reaching to about 
half the height of the peduncle, the raceme is smooth, the capsule exceeds the length of the calyx, is ovate, 
considerably' larger and membranous, the seeds are also larger, and the testa is widely' expanded beyond the 
nucleus. Amongst the Australian species, D. spatulata comes nearest to D. Burmanni (Yahl, Symbol, iii. 
50), which species, however, not extends to the southern latitudes of Australia, occurring scattered throughout 
the tropics, for instance, on the Victoria River, near Hookers Creek, on Macadam Eange, the Nicholson River, 
Moreton Bay', &c., sometimes on sandy occasionally' humid localities, sometimes in mossy places near springs 
or cataracts. It differs in more dilated leaves, in fruit-pedicels as long as the calyx, in less rigid and less 
acute divisions of the calyx, in 5 styles with radiating stigmas, in somewhat larger and membranous capsules, 
in linear prominent placentae and in more numerous seeds. The Australian specimens accord fully with 
Ceylon ones communicated by Mr. Thwaites. 
Principally in flower from November until January'; in favorable places throughout the year. 
