Gypsophala. | CARYOPHYLLACEAE. 419 
; . ee 1 
many or twice as many valves as styles, very rarely indehiscent. Seeds 
few or many; albumen farinaceous, usually more or less surrounded by 
the narrow curved embryo. 
A large and very natural family, found in every part of the world, but most 
abundant in temperate regions, particularly of the Northern Hemisphere ; rare in the 
tropics, unless on high mountains, Genera about 55; species 1200 or more. The family 
contains some handsome garden-plants, as the various kinds of carnations and pinks, 
but as a whole the species are insignificant, possessing no important properties or uses. 
Of the 6 genera indigenous in New Zealand, Hectorella is endemic, Colobanthus is 
confined to the South Temperate Zone; the remaining 4 occur in both hemispheres. 
More than 20 naturalized species have become well established, all of them of northern 
origin. 
Sepals untied into a tubular calyx (Sileneae). 
Calyx broadly 5-nerved. Styles 2. Capsule deeply 4-valved .. 1. GypsopHina. 
Sepals free (Alsineae). 
Petals 2-fid. Styles 3-5. Capsule globular or ovoid, opening 
with as many valves as styles. No stipules ae .. 2, STELLARIA. 
Petals wanting. Styles 4-5. Stamens equal in number to the 
sepals. No stipules We ef 64 S .. 98. COLOBANTHUS. 
Petals entire. Styles 3. Capsule 3-valved. Stipules scarious.. 4. SPERGULARIA, 
Alpine herbs with densely tufted stems. Stamens 5, alternate 
with the petals res yy. *: -¢ 5. HECTORELLA. 
Densely tufted herbs. Petals wanting. Stamen usually 1 6. SCLERANTHUS. 
1. GYPSOPHILA Linn. 
Annual or perennial herbs, often glaucous, sometimes glandular- 
pubescent or hispid: Flowers usually small, paniculate or solitary in the 
forks of the stem. Calyx campanulate or turbinate, 5-toothed or 5-lobed, 
with 5 broad green nerves separated by membranous interspaces. Petals 5, 
with a narrow claw ; limb entire or notched. Stamens 10. Ovary 1-celled ; 
styles 2; ovules many. Capsule globose or ovoid, 4-valved to or below 
the middle. Seeds subreniform, laterally attached, embryo curved round 
the albumen. 
A genus of about 50 species, with the exception of the following one all limited to 
the Mediterranean region and extra-tropical Asia. 
1. G. tubulosa Boiss, Diagn, Fl. Or. i (1842) 11.—A dichotomously + **** 
branched erect or spreading annual 2-6 in. high, glandular-pubescent in all * 3 (473) 
its parts, often viscid; stems and branches slender, terete. eaves linear- 33. 
subulate, §-$in., rarely longer. Flowers solitary in the forks of the 
branches, sometimes appearing axillary from one branch only being 
developed ; peduncles slender, +} in. long. Calyx tubular, with 5 short 
teeth. Petals red or whitish-red, linear-oblong, slightly exceeding the 
calyx, Capsule ovoid-oblong, longer than the calyx, 5-valved at the apex. 
Seeds black, transversely rugose and pitted—Hook f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii 
(1855) 325; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 22; Benth. Fl. Austral. 1 (1863) 155; 
f. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 54; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 62. 
NortH IsLhAND: Hast coast, from Ahuriri to Cape Palliser, Colenso! Sourn Isuanp: 
Nelson—Tarndale, W. 7. L. Travers. Marlborough—Buchanan. Canterbury—la!e 
Forsyth, Lake Lyndon, 7. Kirk! Rangitata Valley, Sinclair and Haast ; Mackenzie 
Piains and Lake Tekapo, 7. #7, OC. ; Lake Ohau, Haast. Otago—Commion in the interior, 
Hector and Buchanan, Petrie! Altitudinal range from sea-level to 3000 ft. 
November—January. 
He 
Also widely diffused in Australia, but found elsewhere only in south Hurope and 
Asia Minor, from whence it was originally described. Several botanists have suggested 
14* 
