Tetragonia. | AIZOACEAE, 417 
4 together ; peduncles about as long as the flower. Ovary 2- rarely 3-celled ; 
styles the same number as the cells. Fruit din. diam., subglobose, succulent, 
bright-red, obscurely lobed or quite even, not horned. Seeds 1-3.—Hook. f. 
Handb, N.Z. Fl. (1864) 84; T. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 185; Cheesem. 
Man. N.Z, Fl. (1906) 192. T.implexicoma Hook. f. var. chathamica F. Mull. 
Veg. Chath. Is. (1864) 12. : 
Kurmapec Istanps, NortH anp Souru I[snanps, Srewarr IsLanp, CHATHAM 
Istanps: In many places on the shores, but often local. Novermber—February. 
Easily distinguished from 7. expansa by the trailing and often climbing habit, 
smaller broader leaves, and bright-red fleshy fruit. The flowers of both this species 
and 7. expansa are frequently unisexual. It is very closely allied to the Anstralian 
and Tasmanian 7’, implericoma Hook. f., but is said to differ in the broader leaves, 
broader and more unequal calyx-lobes, styles 3-4, and the fruit 3—4-celled. 
A_#} 
Family XXXVIII. PORTULACACEAE. 
Herbs, usually fleshy and glabrous, occasionally clothed with long 
hairs. Leaves opposite or rarely alternate, entire, generally exstipulate. 
Fiowers regular, hermaphrodite. Sepals 2, rarely more, imbricate. Petals 
4-5, hypogynous or rarely perigynous, free or united below. Stamens 
elther equal in number to the petals and opposite to them or indefinite, 
often adnate to the base of the petals. Ovary free or rarely half-inferior, 
1-celled ; style 3-8-fid; ovules few or many, affixed to a free central or 
basal placenta. Fruit a capsule, either dehiscing with as many valves as 
style-branches, or opening by a transverse lid. Seeds 1 to many ; embryo 
curved round a farinaceous albumen. 
A small family, having its headquarters in America; found more sparingly in 
South Africa and Australia ; decidedly rare in Asia, north Africa, and Europe. 
Genera 16; ° species about 225. Some of the American genera are shrubby; and 
the widely distributed Portulaca (naturalized in New Zealand) differs from the rest 
of the family in having perigynous petals and stamens, and a half-inferior ovary. Of 
the New Zealand genera, Claytenia is mainly American, and Montia occurs in the 
temperate regions of both hemispheres. I have followed Professor Ewart in transierring 
Hectorella to the Caryophyllaceae. 
Stems slender. Stamens 5, opposite the petals. Capsule 3-many- 
seeded, seeds shining : 1, CLAYTONIA. 
Stems slender. Stamens usually aS opposite the petals. Capsule 
1—3-seeded, seeds dull and opaque <S vd 3: .. 2. Monta, 
— VIA wwnAna ( Aled iss (Ge 
/1, CLAYTONIA Linn. | eats a. 
Annual or perennial low-growing glabrous and succulent herbs. Radical 
leaves petiolate, cauline opposite or alternate. Flowers solitary or in 
terminal or axillary racemes or cymes. Sepals 2, persistent. Petals D, 
hypogynous. Stamens 5, adhering to the petals at the base. Ovary free ; 
ovules few ; style 3-cleft. Capsule globose or ovoid, membranous, 3-valved, 
Seeds reniform or orbicular, flattened. 
Species about 20, all from North America or north-eastern Asia with the exception 
of the following one, which is confined to Australia and New Zealand. 
f r ' * J ic —A c.&- Ly * 
1. €, australasied Hook. Adin Hook. Ic. Plant. (1840) t. 293.—A perfectly 
glabrous tender and succulent usually matted plant, with slender creeping 
stems 1-6 in. long. Leaves very variable in size, 4-13 in. long, alternate 
14—fl. 
C. cat a CR. iG 39:69] 
wm. _ @ev) hie a1 RM 
