438 MR, C. B. CLAEKE OK 



■ 



Some persons will perhaps not easily accept this explanation, 

 and they will not unnaturally express a doubt as to seeds so ex- 

 posed to salt water, and lying for it is impossible to say how long 

 in the mud, retaining any vitality ; but 1 see no other way in 



which to account for the appearance of these plants on the Konkun 



coast. 



On the Commelynacese of Bengal. By C. B. Clae^e, M.A., F.L.S., 

 Officiating Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, Calcutta. 

 Communicated by Dr. Andeeson, P.L.S. 



[Read February 17, 1870.] 



The present paper is intended to describe all the species of the 

 Order Commelynacefe which grow within the political area ad- 

 ministered by the Lieut.-Govemor of Bengal. With the ex- 

 ception of three species, all are known to me growing wild. I 

 have had three dried collections to work with, viz. my own, the 



Mr 



Curator 



y , 



specimens authoritatively named by Dr. Hasskarl. I am also in- 



Mr 



literature bearing on the subject. 



The books which I have been able to consult are :— 



1. Eoxburgh's ' Flora Indica,' Carey's edition. 



2. Eoxburgh's original figures preserved in the Calcutta Her- 



barium. 



3. Wight's ' Icones Plantarum,' vol. vi. 



4. Kunth's ' Enumeratio Plantarum,' vol. iv. 



5. Hasskarl in ' Pkntae Junghuhnian^,' published 1852. 



6. Miquel's ' Flora Batavije,' vol. iii. 



7. Hasskarl on Forrestia, ' Kegensburg Flora,' no. 40, 1864. 



8. Hasskarl, " Genera Commelynacearum," ' Eegensburg Flora,' 



no. 14, 1866. 



Journal 



J.W. AinvuiLeB 8 jLnumeratio riantarum Zeylanije.' 



11. Bentham's 'Flora of Hongkong.' 

 The main object kept in view in this paper is, not the creation 

 of the largest possible number of new and imperfectly known 

 species, but to clear up the synonymy of, and give definite cha- 



Vfctf-h^^*-tf^«*«-* X.-v.^ X.1-.^ ^^.^_ -_ I ~% 1 • -r . ^ rf» « 



very 



not to overload the specific descriptions ; and I have taken my dis- 

 tinctions from the number of cells andmaunerof dehiscence of the 



