lous whip-like branches rooting when they reach the ground.— 3 inches in diameter; inner bark silky and
verj' strong, useful as a substitute for hemp. Leaves opposite, glabrous, petiolate, lanceolate, acuminate, 2 -3 inches
long, very dark green. Flowers 4 inch long, duU yellow, in many-flowered cymes, Fruii 3 inches long, ripening
at the same time as the flowers o f the following season open. (Named in honour of Isi-ael Lyons, a Cambridge
collector of plants.)
1. Lyon sia straminea (Br. Prodr. 4 6 6 ) ; foliis lanceolatis lou g e acuminatis, cymis pubescentibus.
— Alph . B C . P r o d r . v iii. 4 0 1 . {G w m , 4 4 .)
H a b . Nor th ern parts o f the Islan d , in deep, shaded ravines, etc. ; Circular Head and Launc eston,
G w m .— (PL D e c .)
D i s t r i b . South-eastern Australia.
N a t . O r d . L I I . GENTIANEÆ.
S ev en * genera o f th is Order have been found in Australia and Tasmania, namely, G en tian a , Ery tk roe a ,
Sebæa, and Orthostemon, toge the r with th e somewhat anomalous genera V illa r s ia , Limnanthemum, and
L ip a r o p h y lhm . O f th ese none exc ep t th e last are peculiar to Australia, aud th ey toge ther in clu d e about
a dozen species.
Gen. I . S E BÆ A , Soland.
Calyx 4 -5 -p a r t itu s ; lob is carinatis v. alatis. Corolla 4 -5 -fid a , marcescens. S tam in a exserta. An theræ
longitudinaliter dehiscentes, defloratæ subtortæ, apice calloso recurvo. Stigm a ta 2 . Capsuloe valvæ
margine inflexæ. Semina plurima, axi centrali libero affixa.— Herbæ annum?-, caulibus simplic iusculis.
Besides the Tasmanian S. ovata, there is one Australian species of this genus, the S. albidiflora, Mueller, of
Victoria, and about a dozen others, all natives o f South Africa.— The S. ovata is a slender, annual herb, with an
erect, four-angled stem, 2 -6 inches high, simple or dichotomously branched above, with a flower placed at each
fork. Leaves \ inch long, sessile, very broadly ovate, blunt. Flowers few, clustered at the tops of the branches, 4
mch long, yellow. Calyx-lohes ovato-lanceolate, acnminate, keeled. Corolla ivith a straight tube, and five oblong
blunt lobes, that are twisted after the flower is closed. Stamens five, with ve iy short filaments, placed at the mouth
of the corolla. Anthers slightly twisted after flowering. Ovai-y two-celled, with two straight styles and small
capitate stigmas. Capsule of two linear, concave, pointed valves, that separate from a central axis, hearing numerous
seeds. (Named iu memory o f Albert Seba, an Amsterdam apothecaiy and author.)
1. Sebæa ovata (B r. Prodr. 4 5 2 ) ; caule simplici superne ramoso gracili 4 -g o n o , foliis late ovatis
obtusis, calycis lob is carinatis, floribus 5-fidis.— D G P ro d r . ix . 5 3 ; F l. N . Zeal. i. 1 7 2 . Exacum ovatum,
La b . Nov. H o ll. i. 3 8 . t. 5 2 . {Gunn, 7 1 8 .)
H a b . Common in pasture-lands at Circular Head and Launceston, Lawrence, Gunn ; Por t Arthur,
Backhouse.— (Fl. N o v .)
D i s t r i b . N ew South Wales, Victoria, and Swan R iv e r ; N ew Zealand.
Gen. I I . ER Y TH R yEA , .
Calyx 4 -5 -f id u s . Corolla infundibuliformis, limbo supra capsulam marcescente. Stamina 4 - 5 , an-
* Ophelia has also been regarded as AustraUan, from Ceylon specimens o f 0 . Zeylanica having been erroneously
ticketed as from King George’s Sound, and described as 0 . Baxteri. The fimbriated scale, which is accurately described
by Grisebach in D e Candolle’s ‘ Prodromus’ as covering the nectarial pits of 0 , Baxteri, is present also in
0 . Zeylanica, though not aUuded to in that work.
the ris exsertis tortis. u n i- v . semi-biloculare; stylo deciduo ; stigm atibus rotundatis. Capsula
bivalvis, placentis spongiosis. Semina placentæ immersa, minuta.— Herbæ annum; caule su b an gu la to ;
foliis b asi connatis.
A European genus, containing also several North and South American, Asiatic, African, Polynesian, and
Australian species, distinguished ft-om Sebæa, which it resembles in hahit, by the twisted anthers and unilocular
ovary. E. australis is the.on ly Australian species, and forms a slender, erect herb, a foot high, with oblong,
blunt, three-nerved leaves, and numerous subsecund, almost sessile, spiked, pink flowers. Calyx about the length
o f the tube o f the corolla; tube elongated, limb four-cleft. Go>-o??a-lobes very narrow. (Name from red ;
in allusion to the colour of the flowers.)
1. Erythræa australis (Br. Prodr. 4 5 1 ) ; caule stricto ramoso, foliis oblongis obtusis S-nerviis,
floribus subsecundis subsessilibus, corolla 5-fida lob is a n gu stis.— Grisebach in B C . P r o d r . viii. 6 0 .
H a b . W e t saline marshes on the banks o f the Tamar, Gunn.
D i s t k i b . Australia, from the tropics to Yictoria and Swan R iv e r ; I s le o f Pines.
G eu . I I I . G E N T IA N A , D.
C a lyx 4 -5 -f id u s . Corolla infundibuliformis v. hypocrateriformis, 4 -5 - fid a . S tam in a 4 - 5 ; antheræ
n o n tortæ, connectivo instructæ. Ovarium 1-loculare ; stylo brevi v. 0 ; stigmatibus persistentibus. Capa
l a l-lo cu la r is, b ivalvis; semina placentis immersa, immarginata.— ’B.crhæ perenne s, ra riu s annuæ, p l e rumque
amarm ; foliis oppositis ; floribus speciosis, in sp. Tasmaniæ pu rpu ra ec en tibu s v. cmruleis ra riu s
A very extensive genus of beautiful herbaceous plants, abounding in the Alps o f Europe, the Himalaya, and
especially in the Cordillera o f South America ; also common in Northern and temperate Em-ope, hut unknown in
tlie Ai-ctic regions ; none are found in very hot climates, and a few species inhabit the South temperate zone, as
the alps of Austi-alia, Tasmania, and Kew Zealand, and the Antarctic islands o f Lord Auckland’s Group, Campbell
Island and Fuegia. The species are usually very variable in stature and branching, and size and form o f leaf and
flower, the same species being low or tail, prostrate or erect, simple or branched, large- or sraall-fiowered, also varying
in the colour of the corolla, and size and form o f the calyx-lobes.— Herbaceous plants, more or less bitter to
the taste (especiaUy the roots, which are frequently yellow in colour), and with simple or branched, erect or decumbent
stems, with opposite, entire, exstipulate leaves, and dichotomous inflorescence. Calyx four- or five-lobed or -partite.
Corolla funnel- or salver-sliaped, with a spreading or erect four- or five-lobed limb. Stamens five, inserted
on the corolla. Ovary oiie-celled, with marginal placentæ and veiy numerous ovules. Stigma two-lobed. Capsule
two-valved. Seeds not winged. (Named iu honour o f Gentius, King of lUyria, who, according to Pliny, introduced
the use o f the root into medicine.)
• 1. Gentiana montana (Forst. Prodr. 1 3 3 ) ; annua, caule erecto simplici v . e basi ramoso, ramis erectis
V. basi decumbentibus l-flo r is v . laxe corymbosis, foliis radicalibus obovato-spathulatis obtusis, caulinis
omnibus v. supremis tautum ovatis eUipticisve, pedunculis gracilibus, lob is calycinis lineari-subulatis linea-
ribusve obtusis, corolla 5-fida campanulata v. infunclibuliforrai-cainpanulata, lob is oblongis.— B r . P ro d r.
4 5 0 ; Grisebach in B C . P ro d r . ix. 9 9 ; Fl. N . Z eal. i. 1 7 8 . G. Grisebachii, Nob. in Hook. Ic . P la n t.
6 3 6 . {Gunn, 1 1 9 , 1 2 1 7 .)
Y^ar. f l. B iem en sis; caulibus I -2 -p ed a lib u s gracilibus cyma corymbiformi laxa terminatis, corollæ
r o ta te campanulate segmentis calycem paulo superantibus.— G. Diemensis, Griseb. Gent. 2 2 4 ; DG. P ro d r.
I .e . 90.
Var. ry, p leurogynoide s ; caule crassiusculo erecto e basi ramoso ramis apice corymbosis, floribus amplis,
corolla calyce duplo longiore.— G. pleurogynoides, Griseb. I. c. ; B C . P ro d r. I. c. p . 9 9 .