60 XCVIH. ACANTHACEE (CLARKE) [ Distichocalyx. 
16. DISTICHOCALYX, Benth. in Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. 
Pl. ii. 1080. 
Calyx anticous 2 segments free to the base, posticous 3 united more 
than ? their length (only } their length in D. thunbergiiflorus). Corolla — 
large or medium ; tube inflated in upper half; lobes 5, subequal, round, 
contorted in bud. Stamens 4; filaments nearly glabrous, gland-bearing 
near the top; anthers all alike, not spurred; pollen globose, echinate. 
Style nearly glabrous, 1 stigmatic branch large spathulate, the other 
obsolete; ovary narrowly oblong, glabrous, with at least + (usually 6-8) 
ovules in each cell. Capsule linear-cylindric, small, slender, many- 
seeded (usually perfecting 10-14 seeds where known) from the base; 
but in D. thunbergitflorus (though similarly constructed) much larger. 
Seeds having the faces glabrous, the margins with many white hygro- 
scopic hairs.—Small shrubs, bearing cystoliths everywhere, sparingly 
hairy (D. hirsuta moderately hairy). Leaves petioled, entire. Flowers 
purple-blue or white, 3-16 in a terminal spike or head, elongated and 
loose in R. thunbergiiflorus ; bract close to the calyx, ovate or elliptic, 
about as long as the calyx ; bracteoles very small, oblong. 
Species 8, endemic in Tropical Africa. 
T. Anderson founded in MS. his genus Dischistocalyx in herb. Kew on six of the 
species below ; he diagnosed the genus from Ruellia entirely by the calyx, and there 
fore he described as Ruellia thunbergiiflora the eighth species below, as it has the 
calyx divided for 3 its length, often irregularly or sometimes subequally 5-partite nearly to 
the base. Bentham published the genus as Distichocalya (in Benth. & Hook. . Gen. 
PI. ii. 1080), aking an error in the name and widening the calyx-character to inclnde 
Ruellia thunbergiiflora. Dischistocalyx Lindau (in Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenf. iv. 3B. 
307) does not contain any one of the 7 species included by Bentham; it has equal calyx- 
segments, and is stated to have 10 or 12 seeds in each cell, but the two species which 
Lindau really possessed, viz. bis Dischistocalyx laxiflorus, and D..confertiflorus, have 
only 2 ovules to each cell of the ovary, and are closely congeneric with Pseudostenos? 
phonium rhamnifolium, Lindau. The first six species of Distichocalyx below descri 
are so intimately allied that the essential part of the description of all is included in the 
above generic description ; it is remarkable that Bentham should have brought Ruellia 
thunbergiifiora here in the teeth of T. Anderson’s generic characters (which make it # 
fuellia) ; his instinct has been confirmed by the discovery that this species has the 
pollen of Distichocalyx—not of Ruéilia. 
Calyx 2 anticous lobes free, 3 posticous united nearly to the 
top. Inflorescence dense. Capsule and seeds very 
small. 
Corolla 14-2 in. long. 
Leaves less than 2 in. broad. 
Stem glabrous or nearly so. 
Leaves narrow-lanceolate ; corolla 1} in. Jong . 1. D. angustifolius. 
Leaves elliptic-lanceolate ; corolla 2 in. long . 2 Dz polyneurus. 
Stem and leaves thinly shaggy . . 3. D, hirsutus. 
Leaves 4} in. broad ; corolla 1g in. long. . . AD. 
Corolla about 1 in. long, rather slender. 
Leaves up to 4-7 in. long. 
Leaves 7 in. long ; spike strobilate . . . 5. D. strobilinus. 
Leaves 4 in. Jong ; head small, ovoid . . 6. D. capitellatus. 
Leaves up to 14 in. long; head of 2-4 flowers. . 7. Dz brevifolius. 
Calyx divided 3 the way to the base. Spike elongate loose. . 
Capsule and seeds medium-sized . . . . & Dz thn ber gy 
grandifolius. 
