as long as the calyx, flat, five-lobed. Orarie® two, eacb witli two ovules, one basal style, and a capitate stigma.
Fruit of two membranous, indehiscent, one-seeded utrieiili. (Name fi-om Sis, two, and xovSpos, a seed.)
1. Dichondra repens, Forsi. Gen. 8 9 . i. 2 0 ; D r . F ro d r . 4 9 1 ; C/ioisy in B C . P ro d r . ix. 4 5 1 ; Fl.
N . Zeal. i. 1 8 5 . [Gunn, 3 9 8 .)
Hab. Abu n d an t in many parts o f th e Islan d .— (F l. all summer.) [v. v .)
Dis t e ib . Temperate and tropical A u stra lia ; N ew Zealand; In d ia ; South A fr ica ; and N o r th and
Sou th ibne rica.
Gen. V . C U SCUTATA.
C a lyx 4 -5 - fid u s . Corolla marcescens, urceolata v . globosa, limbo 4 -5 - fid o . Stam in a 4 - 5 ; squamæ
epipetalæ filamentis oppositæ, rarius 0 . Ovarium 2-loculare, locu lis 2 -o v u la tis; stylis 2 , interdura coadunatis.
Capsula bilocularis, indehiscens v. circumscissa. Semina a lbuminosa; embryone spirali indiviso.—
H erbæ aphy llæ, voluhiles, p a r a s itic a ; floribus aggregatis.
A very large genus of tropical and temperate-country plauts, of w hich only two Australian species are known,
one of them tropical, and the other extending from the tropics to Tasmania.— Vei-y remai-kable, twbiing, parasitical,
leafless plants, known as Dodders in England, where they do great injury to crops of Clover, etc., ivith slender,
thread-like stems, that derive their nourishment by suckers from the plants to which they become attached ; the
seeds germinate in the ground by means of a spiral, undivided embi-j'o, and the young plant, when fuUy developed,
decays away near tbe root, and continues thenceforth to live wholly on the plant it has attached itself to .— Floioers
rather small, in heads or clusters, whitish aud transparent. Calyx four- or five-lobed. Corolla ureeolate, foui-- or
five-lobed. Stamens four or five, epipetalous, generally subtended by small scales. Ovary two-ceUed, cells twoovuled
; styles two, sometimes combined. Capsule indehiscent or bursting transversely.— The Tasmanian C. Australis
is distinguished by its very slender stems, like matted packthreads; small flowers, about a inch long;
smooth, deeply five-lobed calyx ; subcampanulate coroUa,- witb five short, recurved lobes ; the connate, fimbriated
scales beneath, but attached to the dilated filaments ; and the two styles with capitate stigmata. (Name of doubtful
origin.)
1. Cuscuta Au stra lis (Br. Prodr. 4 9 1 ) ; caule filiformi, racemis dense con ge stis 4 -8 -flo r is , calyce
brevi profunde 4 -lob o , corolla subcampanulata g landulis Huearibus notata, filamentis dilatatis, squamis late
oblongis obtusis fimbriatis basi membrana brevissime cohærentibus, stylis 2 , stigmatibus capitatis.— Choisy
in B C . P ro d r. i s . 4 5 9 ; F l. N . Z ea l. i. 1 8 6 . {Gunn, 1 9 9 1 .)
Hab. Nea r Hobarton aud a t Georgetown, Gunn.
Dis t b ib . Tropical and Soutb-eastern Austraba ; N ew Zealand.
N a t . O rd. LV. BORAGINEÆ.
An extensive In d ian and South-European Natu ral Order, sparingly represented in other parts o f the
glob e . Th e Australian genera are none o f them peculiar, and contain only about twenty species, wbich
are scattered over various parts o f tb e continent.
G en. I . M YO SO T IS , D.
C alyx 5-partitus v. 5-fidus. Corolla hypocrateriformis v . campanulata, fauce fornicibus clausa ; lobis
5 , contortis. S tam in a 5 ; antheris peltatis, apice subappendiculatis. S tigm a capitatum. Nuces 4 , e llipticæ,
compressæ, lævissimæ, glaberrimæ, umbihco minimo donatæ. Semina a lbuminosa; radicula b r ev i; cotyledonibus
obovatis crassis.— Herbæ viUosuloe v . substrigosæ ; foliis a lte rn is , intege rrimis, rad ica libu s p e tio la tis ,
cau lin is p le rumque se ss ilib u s,- racemis scapioide is, b ra ctea tis v . ebracteatis ; corolla p lerumque cærulea.
N at. O rd. LX V. PHYTOLACCEiE, B r .
Of tbis small Natu ral Order about e igh t Australian species are known, b e lon gin g to five genera, all
peculiar to Australia and Tasmania, and th e majority o f tbem to tb e south and south-we st coasts.
Gen. I . D ID YM O T H E C A , D o a L /? .
Flores dioici, minute bibracteolati. P e ria n th ium 4-partitum, laciniis 2 majoribus. E l. Mas. S tam in a
su b -9 , uniserialia; autheris subsessilibus. rudimenta 0. E l . E oem. 0mm?» didymum, e carpellis
2 orbiculari-reniformibus columnæ brevi adnatis compositum, biloculare ; o vulis solitariis, ascendentibus,
ángulo interiore aflixis, exostomate fu n g o so ; s ty lis 2 , subulatis, divergentibus, facie interna stigmatiferis.
Fru c tu s didymus, bicapsularis, carpellis compressis dorso lon g itudinaliter dehisc entibus. Semina reniformia,
radiatim undulata et transversim striata; te sta Crustacea, arillo bilobo b r ev i; albumine centrali carnoso;
embryone homotrope curvato peripherico, radicula infera.— Herbæ v. sufCruticuli ramosissimi, ere cti ; ramis
g ra c ilibu s, st/ricü s; fobis a lte rn is , linearibus, in teg e rrim is ; floribus a x illa rih u s, so lita r iis , a x illa ribu s, breve
1. Didymotheca thesioides (N o b . in Lond. Journ. B o t. vi. 2 7 9 ) ; fobis planiuscubs, perianthii
laciniis late -ovatis, seminibus profunde striato-rugosis.— Moq. in B C . P ro d r . xiv. 3 7 . {Gunn, 3 8 0 .)
(Tab. X C I I I .)
Hab. Cataract near Launceston, L awrence ; Elinde rs’ Island, Gunn.— (El. Jan.)
Distju b . S outh Australia and Swan River.
Of this curious genus only two species are known, tbe present (which is, I think, the same as Mueller’s B .
veronidformis), and D. Drummondii, Moq., of Swan River.— An erect, dull green, glabrous plant, 1 -3 feet high,
with a short, ivoody stem, and many erect, simple, or sparingly divided, slender, angled and furrowed branches.
Leaves few, alternate, rather fleshy, narrow buear-lanceolate, 1 -2 inches loug, one-nerved, variable in length and
breadth. Flowers dioecious, small and gi-een, axillary, becoming spicate toivards the tops of the branches, shortly
pediceUed; pedicels minutely bibracteolate. Perianth four-cleft. Male flowers woMiug, 2 lines broad, with nine
almost sessile, oblong, two-ccUed anthers, and no pistil. Female containing a compressed, didjTuous, two-celled
ovaiy. Styles two, recurved, stigmatiferous along the upper surface, their bases enlarged and lapping over the top
of the caqiels. Ocules solitaiy in each cell. Fruit small, didymous; carpels compressed, splitting down the hack,
coriaceous. Seeds solitary, kidney-shaped, with a short, two-lobed arillus, attached by tbeir sinus to the axis of
the cell. Testa wrinkled ; embryo curved round the central fleshy albumen. (Name from SiSujUos, twin, and ôgKa,
a box.)— P l a t e XCIII. Fig. 1 , male flower; 2, stamen; 3, female flower; 4 , vertical section of caipel; 5 , ovule ;
6, fruit; 7, vertical section o f ditto ; 8, seed aud arillus ; 9, the same, witb the arillus removed ; 10, vertical section
of albumen and embryo ; 11, embryo removed :— all magnifled.
N a t . O rd . LX Y l . Ab lARANTH ACE/E.
Between eighty and nine ty Australian species o f tb is Order are known, and for th e most part described
in D e Candolle’s ‘ Prodromus,’ by M. Moquin-Tandon. B y far the greater number o f these be long to tire
g enus T richinium, wliich is confined to Australia (a doubtful South African species excepted), and chiefly
to tbe south-west quarter o f the continent. There are also about twenty-five tropical Australian Amaran-
thacere, amongst which are some o f tbe most widely diffused Asiatic, and even American kinds. Tasmania
contains much fewer species than might have been expected, and no peculiar ones.
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