298 CXXXIV, SCITAMINEE (BAKER). [ Costus. 
usually appendiculate at the back. Capsule ovoid or globose, trisulcate, 
splitting between the ribs. Seeds subglobose, with a small aril and 
thick straight embryo.—Terrestrial or epiphytic herbs. Flowers usually 
in dense spikes at the end of long leafy stems, rarely on peduncles pro- 
duced direct from the rhizome ; outer bracts suborbicular or ovate, firm 
in texture; bracteoles oblong, membranous. Lip large and showy, 
white or red, with usually a blotch of yellow in the middle. 
Species about 30, cosmopolitan in the Tropical zone, concentrated in America. 
Spike terminal on the leafy stem, of which the nodes are 
produced. 
Ligules large. 
Bracts with leafy tips . ; : : : . 1. C. phyllocephalus. 
Bracts without leafy tips . : : - . 2. C. ligularis. 
Ligules short. 
Leafy stem long, sarmentose `", 2 : . 3. C. sarmentosus. 
Leafy stems erect. 
Outer bracts 3-1 in. broad. 
Leaves glabrous or slightly pubescent beneath. 4. C. afer. 
Leaves densely grey, silky beneath . . . 5. C. lucanusianus. 
Outer bracts larger . ` c 6. C. trachyphyllus. 
Spike terminal on a leafy stem, of which the leaves are 
crowded at the tip. e S : 
Spikes terminal on a very short leafy stem, which bears 
only one leaf ; . : : S i . 8. C. englerianus. 
Spikes lateral on a leafy stem è : : : . 9. C. lateriflorus. 
Spikes produced from the rootstock distinct from the 
leafy stems. 
Spikes 2—4 flowered. 
. ©. nudicaulis. 
~J 
Leaves glabrous . ; S S S $ -< 10. C. bicolor. 
Leaves pubescent. 
Leaves obovate, 2-3 in. long. : . 11. C. tappeinbeckianus. 
Leaves oblong, 4-6 in. long : : : . 12. C. pauciflorus. 
Spikes many-flowered. 
Bracts 2 1 in. broad . c ` . : . 4. C.afervar, maculatus. 
Bracts 2-3 in. broad . : : a . 13. C. giganteus. 
1. C. phyllocephalus, Schumann in Engl. Jahrb. xv. 420. Leafy 
stem terete, glabrous, very slender, under a foot long. Leaves obovate- 
oblong, 5-6 in. long, about 2 in. broad at the middle, acuminate, - 
narrowed to the base, glabrous on both sides; petiole very short ; 
ligule large, obliquely truncate, membranous, subacute, mucronate 
below the apex. Spike many-flowered, 2 in. diam. ; bracts furnished 
with a leafy point. Calyx above 4 in. long; lobes very short. Corolla- 
lobes oblong-lanceolate, 14 in. long. Lip obovate-cuneate, 2 in. Jong 
and broad ; petaloid filament much shorter than the lip, }—} in. broad ; 
anther-cells } in. long. , 
Lower Guinea. Angola: banks of the Quango River, Teuscz, 508. 
No specimen in the Kew Herbarium, 
2. C. ligularis, Baker. Leafy stem 4 ft. long. Leaves eier l 
late-oblong, acuminate, 6-8 ins long, about 3 in. broad above the middle, 
