I have repeatedly studied the forms o f this variable plant, o f which Gmm has sent several, and of which we
have as many from South Australia. Gmm at one time (according to his notes) believed that there were several
species; but as his specimens increased, the characters broke down, and I can now find no distinction between any
of them. Much depends on the age o f the specimens, seedlings (wliich resemble annuals) being much smaller in
all their parts, less glabrous, and with narrower, deeper-coloured p e ta ls; and there are doubtless other variations
that may be referred to local causes, but w hich have no constancy, for the species grows in sea-sand, pasture-ground,
and on rocks. The variation in the length of the spur is one o f its most remaikable features, this being sometimes
produced downwards on the pedicel for half an inch, and at others forming a mere protuberance beneath the calyx.
The stems are suberect or procumbent, glabrous, or covered with soft spreading hairs, and the peduncles are long
or short, erect, patent, or deflesed; these differences, together with those o f size o f foliage and petals, afford such
prominent characters that it is impossible, without examining a large suite o f specimens, to believe them inconstmit
and specifically worthless. Of this however I am comnnced, no less from Gunn’s specimens than from the Australian
ones, to which must be added the argument derived from the extreme tendency to sport amongst the
cultivated species of the genus. In its largest state it is a very handsome p la n t ; in its smallest an insignificant
weed. Whether or not all should not be referred to a Cape of Good Hope species (P. odoratissimum,
Drege, 129 8 b, Zeyher, 4 2 6 , 193 ; P . brevirostre, E . Meyer) is more doubtful; and I have not sufficient specimens
o f that to cleat up the point. Seedling plants have the leaves more lohed than older ones.
2 . P e l a r g o n iu m A c u g n a t i c t u n (P e t. T h . E l. Trist. Acuuh. 4 4 . t. 13) ; caule suberecto piloso, foHis
ovato-orbiculatis cordatis, pedunculis multifloris, petahs calyce æquilongis v. brevioribus.— B C . P ro d r . i.
6 6 0 . P . claudestinum, L ’H é r it. in e d . ; FI. N . Z ea l. i. 4 1 . P . erodioides, Eo o k . Journ. B o t. i. 2 5 2 , ii.
4 1 6 . {Gunn, 1 0 4 9 .)
Hab. Elinders’ Island, B a ss’ Straits, and Circular Head, Gunn.— (El, all summer.)
DisTRiB. N ew Zealand, Tristan d’A cunha, Cape o f Good H op e ?
The only Tasmanian specimens I possess are not more than 6 inches high, and are more slender than the
majority o f the New Zealand ones, which grow 2 - 3 feet high. It seems quite the same with a Cape of Good
Hope species P r e g e , 7466), of which however I have seem but one specimen, and therefore cannot identify it
satisfactorily. The only important character between this and the P . australe resides in the very small petals, and
these organs varj' so much in P . australe that I doubt its validity.
Erodium cicutarium, L., a European introduced weed, is now commonly spread in Tasmania.
N a t . O r d . X X L OXAL IDEÆ.
O x a lis is th e only Australian g en u s o f th e Order, and there are very few species o f it indigenous to
that continent, probably only one, and that common to aU temperate and warm latitudes. The majority of
the genus inhabit the Cape o f Good H op e and S ou th America, and there are also a few tropical shrubby
and arboreous genera. Mo st o f th e species abound in o x a lic acid, whence th e name W ood Sorrel for
th e common E n g lish species, wbich is c lo se ly alhed to 0 . M agellanica.
Gen. I . O X A L IS , L .
Sep a la et p e ta la 5 . S tam in a 1 0 ; filamentis basi monadelphis, 5 alternis brevioribus. StylA 5,
stigmatibus capitatis. Capsula 5 -gon a, 5-locularis, 5-valvis.— H e r bæ ; foliis in speciebus A u slra la sic is
%-foliolatis.
This genus may be known by the obcordate, trifoholate leaves, and flowers not being papilionaceous, for the
Leguminous geaaxa Psoralea axià. Swainsonia are the only others with similar foliage in Tasmania.— Sepals and petals
five. Stamens ten ; filaments united at the base, five shorter than the others. Ovary five-ceUed, with many ovules
in each cell, and five styles with capitate stigmata. Capsule five-angled, five-celled, five-valved. Seeds as in the
ordinal character. (Name from o^vr, sharp or a r id )
1. Oxalis Magellanica (Eorst. Comm. Gcett. ix. 3 3 ) ; acauHs, pilosa v. glabrata, rhizomate repente
squamoso, stipulis magnis buUatis scariosis, fo lioh s late obeordatis subtus glaucis, scapo 1 -floro petiolo
æquiloiigo V. longiore 2-bracteolato, sepahs oblongis obtusis, petalis albis obovatis apice retusis v. oblique
bilobis glaberrimis v. cihatis, capsula globo*sa membranacea.— B C . P ro d r . i. 7 0 0 ; FI. A n t. ii. 2 5 3 ; FI. N .
Z eal. i. 4 2 . t. 1 3 . 0 . lactea, Eook. J o um . B o t. ii. 4 1 6 . O. cataract®, A . Cunn. P ro d r . FI. N . Zeal, in
Ann. N a t. H is t. iii. 3 1 5 ; Eo o k . Ic . P L t. 4 1 8 . {Gunn, 3 7 0 .)
H a b . Mountain woods and by streams in various parts o f th e Colony, elev. 1 5 0 0 - 3 0 0 0 feet.— (El.
N o v . Eeb.)
D i s t r i b . N ew Zealand, Sou th Chili, and Euegia.
A very delicate, white-flowered plant, glabrous or pDose.—Rhizomes red-brown, covered with large membranous
concave scales. Stipules large, concave. Leaflets pale green, broadly obcordate, glaucous below. Petioles
and peduncles generally pilose. Scapes variable in length, one-flowered, with two hiacteolæ above the middle-
Petals very membranous, 4—4 inch long, oblong-obovate or obcordate, often obHque, and ciliated. Capsule mem-
branous, globose.
2 . Oxalis corniculata (L . Sp. PI. 6 2 4 ) ; pilosa v. glabrata, caule erecto v . decumbente v. repente
50, foholis profunde obeordatis, pedunculis 1 -0 -flo r is pe tiolo æquilongis longioribusve, petahs flavis
emarginatis, capsulis 5 -gon is oblongis linearibusve. {Gunn, 9 4 , 3 7 0 .)
Var. /3. s tr ic ta (El. N . Zeal. i. 4 2 ) ; erecta v . suberecta, stipulis 0 .— 0 . stricta, Auct.
Var. 7 . microphylla (El. N . Zeal. i. 4 2 ) ; caule p rocumbente radicante, foliohs minimis, capsuhs oblongis,
— 0 . microphylla, P o ire t, S u ppl. iv. 2 4 8 ; B C . P ro d r . i. 6 9 2 ; Eook. J o um . B o t. i. 2 5 3 . 0 . reptans,
Porst. P ro d r . 5 1 9 .
H a b . Common in pastures, waste places, etc., thi-oughout th e Colony.— (El. all the year.) {v. v.)
D is t r ib . Throughout Austraha, N ew Zealand, and aimost all tropical and temperate countries.
Roots sometimes veiy woody and knotted. S tem 1 -1 8 inches high, long or short, erect, decumhent or
creeping, simple or divided, glabrons or pilose. Leaflets deeply obcordate. Peduncles one- to six-flowered.
Flowers yellow. Capsule linear or obloug-linear.— This is one o f the most widely diffused and variable plants
N a t . O r d . X X I I. ZYGOPHYLLEÆ.
This Natural Order is chiefly tropical, and represented by few southern species. Roepe ra is the only
N ew Holland genus peculiar to that continent, and contains thi-ee or four chiefly httoral species. I t is
hardly generically d istinct from Zygophyllum, with which it has been reunited by Souder. The ubiquitous
tropical Tribulus c istoides is found on the north coast, and as far south as Swan R iver, and there are perhaps
two other species o f that genus within the tropics.
Gen. I . ROE P E R A , A d r. Juss.
S epala 4 - 5 , persistentia. P e ta la 4 - 5 , uuguiculata. Stamina 8 - 1 0 , petalis breviora ; filamentis subulatis