Root aimual, sending ont many rigid, slender, spreading steins 2 - 4 inches long, that are sparingly branched, and
do not root at the joints. Leaves on short petioles, palmately cut to tbe base into three to five naiTow cuneate,
trifid lobes. Redundes short in flower, elongating in fndt. Flowers pediceUed. Fruits veiy small. Mericarps
rather thicker than usual in the genus, with one prominent, seinicbeular ridge on each face, between which rib and
the commissure is a well-defined pit.
8 . H ydrocotyle muscosa (Br. in R ich . Hydr. p. 4 5 . f. 2 7 ) ; pusilla, caulibus cæspitosis repentibus,
foliis gracile petiolatis palmatisectis, segmentis 3 - 5 cuneatis trifidis, pedunculis petiolo brevioribus,
umbe llis 3 -6 -flo r is, fructibus sessilibus, mericarpiis utrinque 1-costatis, co stis nerviformibus.— DC. P ro d r .
iv. 6 4 . [Gu n n , 8 8 5 .)
H a b . Circular Head, forming large patches in moist places, Gunn.— (F l. Jan.)
D i s t k i b . Australia.
I have seen no Australian specimens o f tlus plant, for the identification o f which I depend on the insufficient
draiving and description o f Richard. The fobage is exactly that of H . tripartita, but the whole plant much
smaUer, o f a very different habit, having interlacing, creeping, rooting stems aud branches, and the fruit is very
different.
Gen. 11. D ID IS C U S , B C .
Fructus a latere plano-compressissimus, biscutatus, calycis limbo obsoleto coronatus ; mericarpiis evit-
tatis, ju g is filiformibus, dorsalibus e t marginalibus sæpe obsoletis, intermedio elevato curvilineo. P e ta la
obovata, integra, obtusa, apice recto. S ty li e lon g a li, divergentes.— Herbæ sim p lic iu scu la , e r e c ta ; foliis
lo batis v iu ltip a r titis v e ; umbe llis sim p lic ibu s compositisve, in vo lu c ra tis in vo lu c e lla tisqu e ; floribus alb is
An Australian genus, o f about twenty species, chiefly extratropical, found both in the south-eastern and southwestern
quarters of the continent, no species however being common to both. The structme o f the flower and
fruit is almost the same as that of Hydrocotyle, but the habit is entirely different, more resembhng tbe common
northern forms o f Umbellifei'a than the Australian species usually do.— Erect, annual berbs, simple or brauche^
witb simple or compound umbels. Mericarps very much lateraUy compressed, almost flat, didymous, much contracted
vertically towards the commissure, each with a strong, thickened, curved ridge near the commissure on
either face, looking like au adherent lobe. Gzfyar-limb obsolete. P eta ls obovate, concave. Styles slender, diverging.
(Name from 8 is . two, and Shtkos, a disc ; in allusion to the form o f the mericarps.)
1 . Didiscu s p ilo su s (Ben th . in PI. H iig e l. p. 5 4 , in n o t . ) ; pilosa v. glabrata, caule erecto robusto
ramoso, foliis radicalibus lon g e petiolatis palmatisectis, segmentis cuneatis incisis inciso-lobatisve dentatis,
caulinis lobis angustioribus, umbe llis compositis, involucri foliolis linearibus integerrimis inciso-lobatisve,
in volu ce lli foliolis subsetaceis, floribus parvis, fructibus h ir su tis.— Hooh. I c . F l . t. 3 0 7 . [Gunn, 8 2 5 .)
H a b . On the coasts between Circular Head and W oolnorth, in sandy soil, Gare«.— (F l. Jan.)
D i s t b i b . South-eastern A u s tr a lia : Yictoria and N ew South W a le s. (“ N a tiv e P a r sn ip ” o f Yictoria.)
A common South Australian coast-plant, but also found by Cunningham and Frazer in the interior o f New
South Wales.— Stems hollow, erect, 1 - 3 feet high, branched, gi-ooved, pilose below, as are tbe petioles and leaves
more or less. Radical leaves palmatisect, segments cuneiform, cut and to o th ed ; cauline cut into narrower segments.
Umbels compound, branches often very numerous. P a r tia l umbels of very many rays. Involucre of many simple or
lobed leaflets; partial of naiTOW subulate or lanceolate leaflets, often united at the base. Flowers small, white (or
bluish?).
2. DidiscTis humilis (N o b . in H o o k . I c . PI. t . 3 Ü 4 ) ; scapigera, acaulis, foliis omnibus radicalibus
gracile petiolatis ovatis irregulariter 3 -5 - lo b is (primordialibus in teg r is), lobis obtusis glaberrimis v. parcc
pilosis, scapis erectis fructiferis declinatis, umbella simplici parva multiflora, involucri foliolis linearibus,
fructibus h irsutis. [G im n , 2 4 5 .)
H a b . A bundant in subalpine situations, as at Marlborough, th e Hampshire H ills , Middle sex P lains,
e tc ., Lam-ence, Gunn, Backhouse.— (F l. D e c ., Jan.)
D i s t r i b . A lp s o f South-eastern Australia, elev. 5 0 0 0 fee t, M u e lle r.
A much smaller species than B . pilosus, and of a different habit, probably perennial.— Leaves all radical, very
numerous, 3 -8 inches long, ovate, three- or five-lobed; lobes unequal, b lu n t; glabrous or sparingly hairy; petioles
slender. Scapes several, longer than the leaves, erect in flower, lient suddenly at the base when in fruit, so that the
main part lies parallel to the ground, the umbel being still erect. Umbel simple, many-flowered.
G en. I I I . X A N T H O S IA ,
Fructus a latere compressas, lob is 5 calycis coronatus; mericarpiis ad commissuram contractis, 7 - 9 -
ju g is, ju g is 2 lateralibus marginantibus. P e ta la uuguiculata, cuspidata v. carinata. S t y l i filiformes.—
Suffrutices v . herbæ, sa p iu s s te lla tim p ilo s a ; foliis lo b a tis d isse etisv e ; umbe llis a x illa r ib u s terminalibusve,
s a p e pau c ijlo ris, incompletis ; involucri foliolis sa p e inaqualihus.
An Australian genus, the species o f wliich differ greatly iu habit. About twelve are known ; they are chiefly
extratropical; some are shrubby and leafy, others small, subherbaceous plants.— Umbels few-flowered, axillary, with
few unequal involucral leaves. Calyx-lobes distinct. Mericarps laterally compressed, with seven to nine ridges,
much contracted at the commissure. (Name from iav6o%, yellow ; in allusion to the taivny hairs on some o f the
1 . Xan tho sia montana (Sieb. F l. N o v . H o ll. E x s. p. 2 4 8 ) ; suffruticosa, to ta tomentosa v. villosa,
caulibus lign o sis ramosis foliosis, foliis ovatis varie 3 -se c tis v. 3 -lobatis, lob is ob tu sis crenatis superne pubes-
c enti-pilosis inferne ferrugineo-tomentosis, umbellis axiUaribus inconspicuis breve v . lon g e pedunculatis
1 -3 -flo r is , involucri foliis 1 - 3 oblongis linearibusve tomentosis albis v. ferrugineis.— B C . P ro d r . iv. 7 4 .
X . pilosa, Budge, L in n . Trans, x. 3 6 1 . t . 2 2 . f . 1. X . hirsuta, B C . I. c. [Gunn, 2 1 8 .)
H a b . Common in many places on the north coast, in poor sandy or peaty soil, which is we t in winter ;
as at Rocky Cape, Black River, Georgetown, etc ., also in Flinde rs’ Island, Gunn.— (FI. Oct.) {v. v .)
D i s t b i b . South-eastern Australia: Yictoria and N ew South Wale s.
Bentham (Plant. Hiigel.) has pointed out the identity of X pilosa aud hirstita, but remarks that X. montana
always differs in liaving oue-floweved peduncles; I find however that the flowers vary from one to tliree in the Tasmanian
specimens. It aboimds on tlie south-eastern parts of the continent of Australia, from Port Jackson to
Bass’ Straits.— A small shrub, 1—2 feet high, branching, erect or prostrate, everywhere püose or tomentose. Stems
and branches woody and leafy. Leaves ^ -1 inch long, on rather slender, short petioles, which, as weU as the
young branches and under siuTace of the leaves, are wlren dry densely clothed with red-brown tomentum ; lamina
trifid, three-lobed or tripartite ; segments blunt, entire or cut. Umbels small aud inconspicuous, sessile or on
short or long tomentose peduncles, oue- to tliree-floivered. Involucral leaves few, linear or oblong, when narrow
covered with tomentum; when broader, white aud membranous at the margin, tomentose along the back. Flowers
nearly sessile.
2. Xan thosia dissecta (N ob . iu Ho ok . I c . PI. t. 3 0 2 ) ; pusilla, glaberrima, caulibus e radice perplurimis
gracilibus diffusis, foliis lou g e petiolatis palmatim 3-se ctis v. biternatim sectis, segmentis linearibus
acutis, umbellis parvis a x illailb u s breve pedunculatis 3 -5 -flo r is, involucri foliolis inæqualibus ovato-Ianceo-
latis subulatisve, floribus subsessilibus.— Hydrocotyle apiifolia, A . Cunn. M S S . in He rb. Hook. [Gunn, 8 8 0 .)
H a b . Nor thern shores o f the Colouy, a t Rocky Cape and Georgetown, Gunn.— (F l. O c t .-D e c .)