516 CIX. ACANTHACEX. (C. B. Clarke.) ^ [Lepidagathis. 
* Spikes chiefly aggregated, globose, near the base of the stem. 
l. L. cristata, Willd. Sp. Pl. ii. 400; leaves linear or oblong 
nearly glabrous, bracts and bracteoles elliptic ovate or obovate suddenly 
spinose-acuminate, sepals elliptic or obovate suddenly spinulose in fruit 
thickened very hairy upwards. Roxb. Cor. Pl. iii. 63, t. 267, and #7. 
Ind. ii. 53; Wall. Cat. 2421, chiefly; Nees Monogr. Lepidag. 25, and 
in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. iii. 96, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 256, Var. a only; 
Wight lll. t. 164 b, fig. 5, and Je. t. 455; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 191; 
T. Anders. in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 494. L. Shuteri, T. Anders. l. c.— 
Lepidagathis sp. n. 18, Herb. Ind. Or. H. f. & T. 
CoROMANDEL, in the tropical region, frequent; Rottler, Wight (Herb. Propr. 
n. 1971), &c. 
Rootstock perennial ; stems 6-18 in., branched, procumbent, quadrangular, puberu- 
lous or slightly pubescent. Leaves 1 by i in., sessile, lineolate above, minutely 
scabrid-pubescent on the nerves beneath or glabrate. Inflorescence subradical, 
globose ; one or two smaller heads sometimes added on the lower part of the 
leafy branches ; bracts 4 in., rigid in fruit; bracteoles membranous, hairy, sp!nes- 
cent. Calyx sub-4-partite, one segment bifid; segments upwards thickened. oblong 
obtuse with a muero, hairy, in fruit densely hairy. Corolla 4 in., densely hairy 
in bud, white with brown or purple spots in the palate. Stamens glabrous; 
anther-cells one slightly above the other, papillose-ciliate. Ovary glabrous. Cap- 
sule 1 in.—T. Anderson’s specimens of L. Shuteri are merely the fruiting states of 
L. cristata, with particularly glabrous leaves, &c. His description again appears 
drawn up chiefly from Z. mitis. The older botanists did not separate L. cristata 
from the 2 following, and Willdenow’s original description does not mention the bracts, 
and may belong to all of the three. So Roxburgh’s picture cited shows obtuse 
bracts ; but his description says “bracts lanceolate ciliated pointed," which may 
have been taken from Z. Hookeri. 
VaR. rupestris; stem pubescent, leaves elliptic pubescent on both surfaces. L. 
rupestris, Nees in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. iii. 96, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 256 ; T. Anders. 
in Journ, Linn. Soc. ix. 494.— Coromandel (?), Wight (Herb. Propr. n. 1970). 
2. L. Hamiltoniana, Wall. Cat. 2422; leaves linear or narrowly 
oblong nearly glabrous, bracts lanceolate spinesc^nt patently ciliate up- 
wards, calyx-lobes lanceolate spinescent not thickened upwards. Nees 
Monogr. Lepidag. 23, and in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. ii. 96, and in DC. 
Prodr. xi. 255. L. Beddomei, T, Anders. in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 499. 
BEHAR, alt. 1000 ft.; R. Sone at Rotasghur, J. D. H.; Bhagulpore, Hamil- 
ton. BUNDELKUND: Edgeworth. JUBBULPORE; Beddome. CHoTA NAGPOBE, 
alt. 1-3000 ft., plentiful. 
Closely resembling L. cristata in habit, leaves and inflorescence. Bracts long- 
tapering upwards, with long white hairs on their margins. Calyx-segments tough- 
membranous. Corolla with adpressed straight white hairs, not densely furred a$ 
in L. cristata.—'The flowers in Beddome’s example are detached; T. Anderson 
describes them as terminal, which is certainly not the case. 
3. L. mitis, Dalz. in Hook. Kew Journ. iii. 226; leaves oblong pubes- 
cent scabrous on the nerves beneath, flower-heads not prickly, racts 
softly membranous obtuse or shortly acute. Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 191. 
W. Deccan PENINSULA; Concan, Belgaum, Mangalore, Wight, Stocks, &c. 
Closely allied to L. cristata. Stems usually acutely quadrangular, puberulous oF 
pubescent. Leaves lj by 1-4 in., broader than in the two preceding species, often 
distinctly scabrid-ciliate. Bracts chaffy, purple or yellow.—Seems well separated from 
L. cristata, but the bracts pass insensibly into the following var. 
Var. subarmata ; bracts lanceolate soft or subspinescent or rigidly spinous. L. 
cristata var. latifolia, Nees in DC. Prodr. xi. 256; Dalz. 4 Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 191. L. 
