Commelina. | CXLIII, COMMELINACEH (CLARKE). 41 
13. C. crassicaulis, (. B. Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phan. iii, 149. 
Nearly glabrous ; margins of the leaves and spathes ciliate. Stem 6 in. 
long, erect from a bulb. Leaves 3 by 1} in., sessile, ovate-lanceolate, 
subcordate at the base. Peduncles 2 in. long, rigid. Spathes 1} in. 
long, simply folded, ovate-lanceolate, striated, cordate at the base. Cap- 
sule 5-seeded ; seeds {—} in. long, deeply wrinkled—Durand & Schinz, 
Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 425. 
Lower Guinea. Angola: near Guingongue, Herb. Paris.’ 
14. C. Schweinfurthii, (. B. Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phan. iii. 
158, Nearly glabrous, except the spathes. Stems 15 in. long, divided, 
with very long internodes, the base not well shown in the specimens, 
but similar to that of C. purpurea. Leaves up to7 by 3-4 in., elongate, 
linear-lanceolate. Peduncles }—2 in. long, scattered. Spathes ?—1 in. 
long, very broadly ovate, shortly acuminate, not striate with coloured 
veins, shaggy or nearly glabrate ; the two margins of the spathe shortly 
connate at the base. Capsule normally 5-seeded, but the ventral cells 
contain sometimes 1 seed only (the lower ovule having proved infertile); 
seeds subglobose, smooth.—Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 428; 
K. Schum, in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 134. 
Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone: on a rocky hill, 3 miles south of Falaba, Scott- 
Elliot, 5164 ! 
Nile Land. British East Africa: Jur ; Jur Ghattas, Schweinfurth, 2022! 
Mozamb. Dist. German East Africa: Unyamwezi; Kakoma (ex K. Schumann). 
15. ©. benghalensis, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. i. 41, ed. ii. 60, ewel. fig. 
Pluk. cited. A diffuse, more or less hairy annual, rooting at the base, 
1-24 ft. long, much branched. Near the base are often present branches 
that grow underground, or stolons, on which reduced leaves and spathes, 
with apetalous often closed flowers, and abnormal usually 1—2-seeded 
capsules are formed plentifully—even where the perfect regular cap- 
sules are also present on the upper branches. Leaves 1-3} in. long, 
ovate-elliptic, shortly triangular or subobtuse at the tip, suddenly nar- 
rowed at the base into a quasi-petiole. Spathes on peduncles hardly 
exserted from the leaf-sheaths, often a few near together near the tips 
of the branches, }—? in. long and broad, obliquely funnel-shaped, i.e., 
the lower margins of the spathe connate for }-} in. Petals blue. Cap- 
sule 4 in. long, 5-seeded ; seeds rough or wrinkled.—Forskh. Fl. Aigypt.- 
Arab. 12 partly ; Kunth, Enum. iv. 50; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 541 ; 
Hassk. Commel. Ind. 28, 29; Wight, Ic. t. 2065; C. B. Clarke, Com- 
mel. et Cyrt. Beng. t. 4, DC. Monogr. Phan. iii. 159, and in Dyer, 
Fl. Cap. vii. 9; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 370; Hassk. in Schweinf. 
Beitr. Fl. Aethiop. 209, 295, incl. var. 8 longepetiolata; Durand & 
Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. 424; Durand & Wild. in Comptes-rendus 
Soc. bot. Belg. xxxvi. 87, and in Bull. Soc. bot. Belg. xxxvii. 128; 
K. Schum. in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 134; Rendle in Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. 
ii, 76; Schweinf. in Bull. Herb. Boiss. ii. Append. ii. 53 (var. y). C. cucul- 
data, Linn. Mant. 176. C. canescens, Vahl, Enum. ii. 173; Webb & 
Berth. Iles Canaries, Phyt. iii. 358, t. 239. C. procurrens, Schlecht. 
