468 LVIIl, LYTHRACEZ (HIERN). [Rotala. 
at apex, subcordate or subauricled at base, subsessile, spreading, 2 in. 
long. Flowers sessile, with minute linear bracts. Calyx scarious, with 
ovate-oblong tube and 4 ovate-lanceolate acute lobes, not cornuate nor 
accrescent, early lacerated by dehiscence of valves of capsule. Petals 
wanting or caducous. Stamens 2, arising from near base of calycine 
tube and rather shorter than the calyx. Style short. Capsule 3-valved, 
dehiscing widely—Ammannia elatinoides, Hb. Schimp. Abyss. 9, il. 
n. 1187! (non DC.) 
Nile Land. Abyssinia, in marshes, Schimper ! 
6. R. filiformis, Hiern. A cespitose annual, with erect or ascend- 
ing simple or branched leafy quadrangular stems, 1-6 in. high. Leaves 
varying from ovate to linear-subulate, blunt, decussate, spreading, 1-8 
lines long, not exceeding 1 line in width, subsessile and subcordate ; 10- 
ternodes shortening upwards. Flowers solitary and subsessile in the 
axils of all the leaves except near the base of the plant; bracts 
lateral, subulate at the base of the calyx. Calyx campanulate, with 4 
rather short deltoid acute lobes, tender, not cornuate nor accrescent, 
sometimes purplish. Petals 0 or scarcely any. Stamens 2, lateral, in- 
cluded in the calyx-tube and inserted near its middle. Style short; 
ovary included, 2-celled. Capsule 2-valved, exceeding the calyx, at 
length dark purple; embryo straight.—Suffrenia jiliformis, Bell; DC. 
Prod. iii. 76; S. capensis, Harv. Thes. Cap. ii. 56, t. 189. 
Lower Guinea. Benguela, Huilla, Dr. Welwitsch! Angola, Pungo Andongo, 
2400-3800 ft. alt., fl. and fr. March, Dr. Welwitsch ! 
South Central. Island near Victoria Falls, Kirk! 
7. R. fontinalis, Hiern. An erect or ascending simple or branched 
annual or perennial, 2-7 in. high. Stem quadrangular, rooting, ant 
often creeping at the base, leafy. Leaves oval, subsessile, rounded at 
the apex, decussate, often wider towards the base and broadly cordate, 
not exceeding 4 in. long, the upper ones imbricating, tle rest patent; 
lower internodes longer than the leaves, upper ones shorter.- Flowers 
solitary and sessile in the crowded axils of the upper leaves, with 2 
lateral small subulate bracts at the base of the calyx. Oalyx campanu- 
late with 4 deltoid lobes of a deep rose colour and without cornua, not 
accrescent. Petals 4, small, caducous. Stamens 4, exceeding the calyx- 
tube. Ovary ellipsoidal, 2-celled, included in the calyx-tube ; style ex- 
ceeding the calyx. Capsule 2-valved, exceeding the calyx-tube, dehis- 
cing septifragally. Seeds ovoid, concave on one side, convex on the 
other; embryo with short radicle, slightly curved in an accumbent 
manner. 
Lower Guinea. Congo, Chr. Smith! Angola, Pungo Andongo, 2400-3800 ft. alt., 
fl. and fr. March, Dr. Welwitsch! 
8. R. nummularia, Welw. mss. Perennial, glaucous-green, rather 
fleshy. Stems erect or ascending, crowded, simple or branched, 1-7 i. 
high, leafy. Leaves decussate, elliptic roundly ovate or subrotund, 
the broader ones cordate and sessile or floral ones smaller subcordate 
