Poranthera
(from poros, a pore or opening, and anthera, an anther; the anthers open by pores). ORD. Euphorbiaceae. A genus comprising five species of greenhouse, Australian herbs, annual or at length suffrutescent. Flowers white, monaecious, small, densely racemose, solitary in the axils of the bracts, pedicellate; females few, at the base of the capituliform racemes, which are solitary, or corymbose at the tips of the branches. Leaves alternate or rarely irregularly opposite, membranous, entire, small or narrow. P. ericifolia, the only species in cultivation, is a rather ornamental suffrutescent herb. It thrives in a peaty soil, and may be increased by seeds. P. ericifolia (Heath-leaved). fl. numerous, the pedunculate racemes forming a dense, terminal, leafy corymb. July. l. crowded, sessile, linear, 1/4in. to 1/2in. long, with revolute margins. Stem erect, 6in. to nearly 12in. high. 1824. (T. L. S. x. 22, p. 301.)