liber is connatisve. F oe u . C alyx 6-partitus, lac iniis subulatis v. masculo similibus. Corolla 0 . Ovarium
3 -lo cu la re , locu iis 2-ovu Iatis; stigm atib u s 3 , recurvis, robustis, in tu s stigmatosis, apice bilobis. Capsula
8 -co c ca ; coccis stigmatibus p e rsistentibus rostratis, 2-valvibus, 1-spermis.— Suffru ticu li; foliis a lte rn is te r nisve
, lin e a r ih u s ; floribus ax illa rib u s, s o lita r iis , g em in is te rn isve , bre v ite r p ed u n cu la tis.
I find about eight plants referable to tbis genus in tbe Hookerian Ilerbariiiin ; they are ebiefiy natives of tbe
southern parts of the continent o f Australia, occuiTing both on the east and west coasts. All appear to be small,
somewhat shrubby plants, with very miuute flowers, and small, coriaceous leaves. M. hexandra is a small shrub,
with numerous, erect, leafy branches, aud terete, puberulous branchlets.—Leaves in tlirees, linear-obovate or lanceolate,
acute or acniuiuate, 4—|- inch long, rigidly coriaceous, suberect, quite entire, nerveless, with thickened mai-gins
beneath, and a prominent costa. Flowers monoecious, axillary, solitai-y or binate or teraate ; peduncles one-
flowered, ebracteate, shorter thau the leaves. Calyx of six spreading pieces, in the male and female flowers alike ;
three outer pieces narrower, inner imbricate, orbicular-. Stamens about six, with unequal filaments, dilated into
broad connectives ; anthers adnate, their cells introrse, longitudinally two-valved, the valves waved. Ovary oblong,
thi-ee-lobed, thvee-celled ; cells two-ovuled ; the lobes each narrowed into a short, stout, reenrved, two-lobed stigma,
papillose from the apex to the base on the inner face. Fruit an oblong, woody capsule, about 4 iucb long, of three
cocci, each with a strong, recurved apex, and one seed. Seeds nai-row-oblong, pale brown, shinmg, with a large
caruncle at the top. Column, to which the cocci are attached, filamentose. (Name from the minute flowers,)
1. Micran-thea hexandra (N o b . in L on d . .Jouru. B o t. vi. 2 8 3 ) ; frutescens, foliis ternis lineari-
obovatis ob lon g is lanceolatisve acuminatis r igid is subtus margimbus incrassatis costaque valida, floribus
axülaribus solitariis 2 -3 -n is v e , p edunculis folio brevioribus, stamimbus 6 . [Gunn, 3 3 .)
H ab. M o ist, slia d j raviues, near Launc eston, e tc ., Scott, Law ren c e, Gunn.— (Fl. Oct.)
Dis t r ib . N ew Sou th "Wales and Victoria.
Gen. V I . PO R A N T H E R A , JRudge.
Flores monoici. Calyx coloratus, 5-partitus, lac iniis imbricatis. P e ta la 5 , calyce multo breviora.
M a s c . G la n d u la 5 , petalorum basi inserta, carnosæ, bilobæ. S tam in a 5 , circa ovarii rudimentum squamu-
losum im e r ta ; f ilam e n tis filiformibus lib e r is; a n th eris 4-locularibus, poris totid em dehiscentibus. Foem.
G la n d u la in annulum lO -lobum conuatæ. Ovarium 6-costatum, 3-loculare, loculis 2 -ovulatis ; s ty lis 3,
bifidis, lob is subulatis. Capsula depresse globosa, verrucosa, 6-costata, 3 -c o c c a ; coccis 2-valvibus, 2-
spermis. Seminis testa carnosa, foveolata, alba.— F ru ticu li v. herbæ, ramosissimi, g la b r i; foliis a lte rn is,
s tip u la tis , in teg e r r im is ; floribus a d apices ramulorum confertis, subracemosis ; pedicehis b ra c te a tis ; bracteis
A genus o f small, herbaceous, often weedy, prostrate plants, confined to extratropical Australia and Tasmania.
Stems often branched in a racemose or subumbellate manner. Leaves small, altemate, stipulate, quite entire ;
the upper forming foliaceous bracts, or suiToundmg tbe inflorescence with a kind of involucre. Flowers small,
Poranthera microphylla is a smaU, glabrous, herbaceous plant, with a woody root, giving off very numerous,
spreading, slender, prostrate, ascendmg branches, 2-6 inches long, simple or di-trichotomously divided. Leaves
opposite and alternate, with small, membranous stipules, obovate-spathulate or eUiptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate,
crowded or fascicled towards tbe branches, and then often linear, and sometimes uniformly recurved. Fiowers
small, crowded towards the tips of the branches, monoecious. Calyx white, of five unequal petaloid lobes. Petals
five, small, irregular. Stamens five, insei-ted round a rudimentary ovarium; filaments free; anthers four-celled.
Ovaiy globose, six-ribbed, seated on a lobed disc, with three two-lobed styles. Capsule membranous, depressed,
of three two-seeded cocci. Seeds small, brown. (Name from iropos, a pore, and avOgp; in allusion to the dehiscence
of the anthers.)
1. Poranthera microphylla (Brongmart in B o t. V o y . Coq. t. 5 0 A) ; humilis, glaberrima, ramis e
radice perplurimis prostratis gracilibus apicibus ascendentibus, foliis oppositis altem isv e petiolatis spathulatis
ellipticis lanceolatisve acuminatis versus apices ramulorum confertis, floribns minimis pedicellatis ad apices
ramulorum confertis foliis linearibus spathulatisve immixtis.— Ann. Sc. N a t. ser. 1 . x x ix . 3 8 5 . [Gunn, 9 2 .)
Hab. a common little weed everywhere, from th e mountain-tops to the sea-coast.— (F l. N o v .) (v. v.)
Dis t e ib . Throughout Australia, both tropical and temperate.
N a t . O r d . L X X I I I . URTICEÆ.
The rarity o f th is N atural Family in the Australian con tin en t is remarkable ; nevertheless th is country
contains oue o f th e most g ig an tic plants o f the Order known, in th e L a p o rte a g ig a s, Wed d ., a native of
the Illawarra district, which attains a h eigh t o f 1 4 0 feet, and girth o f 4 2 at 3 feet above th e ground.
The Natu ral Order has lately been ably worked up by YVeddell, who enumerates about twelve Australian
sp ecies, be lon g in g to the genera Urtica, L a p o rtea , Elatostemma, P ip tu ru s , P ou zolsia, P a r ie ta r ia , and Austr
a lin a ; tbe majority o f th e above are tropical, or natives o f th e warmer parts o f tbe N ew South Wales
Colony.
Gen. I . U R T IC A , A.
Flores monoici v. dioici, glomerulati. Masc. P e ria n th ium 4-partitum. S tam in a 4 ; antheris ohlongo-
reniformibus, circa p istillum rudimentarium disposita. Foem. P e rian th ium 4-partitum v . 4-p liyllum , seg mentis
inæqualibus. Ovarium rectum, ov o id eum ; ovulo solitario erecto, stigmate su bse ssili penicillato.
Achenium com pre ssum , perigonio iuclusum, Semen pericarpio conforme; albumine p arco; cotyledonibus
obcordato-rotuudatis.— Iie rbæ v . ra r iu s frutices, g la b r a v . p ilo s a , inermes v . setis p ilis v e urentibus a rm a ta ;
foliis a lte rn is v. oppositis, in ciso-se rratis ; stipulis o v a tis linearibusve ; glomerulis hasi hracteolatis.
WeddeU describes forty species o f true Nettles known to himself, in his excellent monogi-aph of this Order,
most of them natives o f the northera hemisphere, though there arc also a considerable number of southern species.
Only one Australian species is knotvn, ivhich is also found in New Zealand.— Herbs, or rarely shrubs, witb opposite
or alteraate, stipulate, toothed leaves, glabrous or more or less covered with simple or stinging hairs, the latter consisting
of a membranous sac, full of acrid fluid, placed on the surface of the leaf, and provided with a tubular seta,
wbich penetrates the skin, and breaking there, introduces the poison into the wound. Floioers spiked, in small
glomeruli, unisexual, small, green. Glomerules bibraeteate. Perianth generally in-egularly four-cleft or four-leaved.
Males with four stamens, opposite tbe segments o f the perianth, their anthers at first enclosed and held back by the
hooded apex of the segment as the flower expands, from which they are finally released by the elastic force o f the
filament, ivhich becomes bent into an arch, and consists of cells turgid with fluid ; the release is very sudden, and
causes the discharge of a cloud o f pollen. Female flowers with a single, erect, flattened, ovate ovary, ivith a plumose
stigma, and one erect ovule. The leaves and other parts of this and mauy species contain curious bodies
lodged in their cells, called cystolithes : these, wliose true nature was discovered by Weddell, consist of concretions,
formed o f concentric layers o f a mixture of carbonate of lime aud cellulose, at the apex of a peduncle, attached
to the inner walls of the cell in which tliey are fouud. (See Ann. Sc. Nat. series iv. ii. 267.) (Name from uro,
to burn.)
1. Urtica incisa (Poiret, E ncycl. Suppl. iv. 2 2 3 ) ; herbácea, pilis urentibus armata, foliis oppositis
gracile petiolatis polymorphis triangulari-ovatis oblongis linearibns lanceolatisve basi obtusis acutis cordatisve
dentatis inciso-serratisve, sinnbus acutis, glomerulis racemosis rarius paniculatis, floribus masculis
superioribus.— Wedd. Arch. Mu s. ix . 8 1 . U . lucífuga. Nob. in Lon d . Journ. B o t. vi. 2 8 5 ; F l. N. Z eal.
i. 2 2 5 . [Gunn, 5 4 1 , 2 0 0 3 .)