394 CIX. ACANTHACER, (C. B. Clarke.) [Elytraria. 
IIl. ELYTRARIA, Vahl. 
Herbs, nearly stemless. Leaves alternate, crowded, subradieal. Seapes 
covered by imbricated bracts ; spikes close, rigid, simple or divided; bracts 
spirally imbricate, not opposite; bracteoles smaller than the bracts. Caly 
sub-4-partite, segments unequal, the largest sometimes 2-fid. Corolla small, 
white or blueish; tube linear, limb 2-lipped; lobes 5, oblong, imbricate 1n 
bud. Stamens 2 perfect, attached in the corolla-throat ; anthers elliptie, 
acute; cells 2, parallel, with or without a minute spur at the base. . Style 
shortly 2-lobed ; ovules 6-10 in each cell, superimposed. Capsule ellipsoid, 
acute. Seeds minute, ovoid, reticulated, minutely papillose, attached at & 
minute point without retinacula.—Species 3-4, American, whereof l 1s 
widely spread in tropical Africa aud Asia. 
E. crenata, Vahl Enum.i. 106 ; leaves obovate or elliptic obtuse crenate, 
bracts elliptic acuminate to a single sharp point. Wald. Cat. 2420; Nees 
in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. ii. 79,andin DC. Prodr. xi. 63; T. Anders. m Jour: 
Linn. Soe. ix. 449; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 183. E. lyrata, Vahl l. c. Fi 
virgata, Vahl l. c.; Nees in DC. Prodr. xi. 63. E. marginata, Beauv. E 
Owar. ii. 58, t. 93; Nees in DC. L e. 63. E. indica, Pers. Syn. 1. 23. " 
Vahliana, Miche Fl. Bor. Am.i.9,t. l. Justicia acaulis, Linn. f. Suppt. 
84; Roxb. Cor. Pl. ii. 15, t. 127, and Fl. Ind. i. 119. ” ' 
DrccaN PENINSULA and CEYLON, common southwards; extending north to dew 
and to the E. Himalaya, Griffith.—DisTRIB. Tropical and S. Africa; tropical and A. 
America. 
Stem 0-2 in., woolly. Leaves 2-5 in., sometimes obtusely lobed, pubescent x 
least on the nerves beneath, sessile or narrowed into a petiole. Scapes severa? 
3-10 in., clothed with bract-like scales. Spikes 4—4 in., harsh, simple or branche ; 
bracts | in., margins scarious, ciliate; bracteoles 4 in., scarious, ciliate. Calyx 6 vi I 
segments lanceolate, scarious, ciliate, the broad one entire at the apex. Corolla 
+-4 in., white or blueish, Amthers muticous at the base; rudiments of 2 barran 
stamens sometimes (at least) present. Capsule } in., rigid; valves resilienf.— in 
. Stem is in African examples sometimes considerably elongate branched, an 
American examples the scape is sometimes very tall. 
IIl. NELSONIA, R. Br. 
A diffuse, softly villous herb. Leaves opposite, elliptic, entire. Spikes 
ovate or cylindric ; bracts ovate, glandular-villous, closely imbricate, aiter- 
nate or spirally scattered; bracteoles 0. Sepals 4, unequal, lanceolate, the larger 
often bifid. Corolla very small, purplish rose or white ; tube slender, lim" 
2-lipped ; lobes 5, obtuse, patent. Stamens 2, attached above the middle vs 
the tube; anthers 2-celled, subincluded ; cells broadly ellipsoid, distinct, 
more or less divergent, glabrous or ciliate, muticous or minutely spurred- 
Stigma very shortly 2-lobed; ovules in each cell 8-10. Capsule oblong, 
acute, bearing seeds from the base, barren upwards. Seeds small, roundly 
ellipsoid, smooth with granular marks, attached on minute points without 
retinacula. 
N. campestris, Br. Prod. 481; Endl. Iconogr. t. 79; Benth. Fl. 
Austral. iv. 543. N. tomentosa, Nees in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. iii. 79, and 1n 
DC. Prodr. xi. 65; Griff. Notul. iv. 132; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 183; 
T. Anders. in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 450. N. origanoides, Roem. § Sch. Syst. 1 
173. N.lamiifolia, Spreng. Syst. i. 49. N. canescens, Nees in DC. l c. 67. 
