as the cells; ovules solitary in each cell, pendulous. Fruit indehiscent, globose or obconic, often horned or tuberculate; endocarp hard or almost bony; epicarp coriaceous or fleshy.
A small genus of about 25 species, most of which are natives of South Africa, a few only being scattered over the coasts of America, Australasia, and parts of Asia.
| Leaves 1–4 in. Fruit turbinate, hard, angular, horned above | 1. T. expansa. |
| Leaves ¾–2 in. Fruit globose, succulent, not horned | 2. T. trigyna. |
1. T. expansa, Murr. in Comm. Gotting. vi. (1783) 13.—A more or less succulent minutely papillose herb. Stems 1–2 ft. high, decumbent or suberect, glabrous or sparingly puberulous. Leaves 1–4 in. long, ovate-rhomboid or triangular, obtuse or subacute, suddenly narrowed into the petiole, quite entire or very obscurely sinuate. Flowers small, yellowish, solitary or rarely 2 together, sessile or on very short peduncles. Calyx-tube broadly turbinate; lobes about as long as the tube, broad, obtuse. Stamens 12–20, irregularly inserted. Ovary 3–8-celled; styles the same number. Fruit about ⅓ in. long, hard and dry, almost turbinate, angular, usually furnished at the summit with 2–4 prominent teeth or horns.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 320; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 523; Raoul, Choix, 48; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 77; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 84; Benth. Fl. Austral. iii. 325; Kirk, Students' Fl. 185. T. halimifolia, Forst. Prodr. n. 223.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon along the coasts; seldom found inland. Kokihi. November-February.
This has long been cultivated in Europe as an edible plant, under the name of "New Zealand spinach." It is also a native of Australia and Tasmania, Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island, Japan, and extra-tropical South America.
2. T. trigyna, Banks and Sol. ex Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 77.—Stems 1–8 ft. long, branched, trailing or almost climbing, terete, woody at the base. Leaves ¾–2 in. long, broadly ovaterhomboid or rounded-ovate, obtuse, abruptly narrowed into the petiole, fleshy, usually covered with transparent papillæ. Flowers small, yellowish, solitary or rarely 2 together; peduncles about as long as the flower. Ovary 2- rarely 3-celled; styles the same number as the cells. Fruit ¼ in. diam., subglobose, succulent, bright-red, obscurely lobed or quite even, not horned. Seeds 1–3.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 84; Kirk, Students' Fl. 185. T. implexicoma var. chathamica, F. Muell. Veg. Chath. Is. 12.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: In many places on the shores, but often local. November–February.
Easily distinguished from T. expansa by the trailing habit, smaller broader leaves, and bright-red fleshy fruit. The flowers are often unisexual. It is probably identical with the Australian and Tasmanian T. implexicoma, Hook. f.
