200 . LXXV. RUBIACEE. (J. D. Hooker.) [ Spermacoce. 
Stamens 4, on the throat or tube of the corolla, filaments short or long ; anthers 
linear or oblong. Ovary 2-celled ; style filiform with 2 short arms or a capi- 
tate stigma; ovules l in each cell, on the middle of the septum, amphitropus. 
Fruit of 2 coriaceous or crustaceous mericarps which dehisce various y. Seeds 
oblong, grooved ventrally, testa thin often granulate ; cotyledons thin, broad ; 
radicle inferior.—DisrriB. Species about 150, tropical and subtropical. 
* Capsule dehiscing septicidally, both mericarps then dehiscing ventrally. 
l. S. stricta, Linn. "E DC. Prodr. iv. 554; annual, stem usually erect 
and leaves more or less scabrid, leaves from linear to ovate acute, calyx hispid 
or pubescent, teeth slender, seeds linear-oblong highly polished. Roxb. Fl. Ind. 
i. 970; Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. 1877, ii. 187. S. lasiocarpa, Br. in Wall. Cat. 
832. S. pusilla, Wall. in Roxb. Fl. Ind., ed. Carey & Wall. i. 379; Cat. 823; 
Don Prodr. 134. S. filina, Gardneri, and angustifolia, Wall. Cat. 830, 834, 835. 
B. triandra, Ham. in Don Prodr. l c. Bigelovia stricta, Blume Bid. 945. 
D. lasiocarpa, Roxburghiana, and Kleinii, JW. & A. Prodr. 437. B. myriantha, 
Mig. Fl, Ind. Bat. ii. 384. Borreria pusilla, DC. Le 543. B. gracilis, Mig. 
in. Pl, Hohen. No. 705. 
Tropica, HiMALAYA from Kashmir eastwards, ascending to 5500 ft., and through- 
out India to SINGAPORE and CEYLON.— DISTRIB, Tropical Asia and Africa. 
Stem 6-14 in., simple or branched from the base, angles more or less seabrid. 
Leaves subsessile, 1-2 by 4-4 in., green when dry, narrowed at both ends, horizontal 
or deflexed, more or less coriaceous, glabrous or with seabrid nerves beneath. Heads 
globose, usually very many- and dense-flowered ; bracteoles filiform, exceeding the 
calyx. Corolla % in. long, white. Stigma subglobose. Capsule narrowed at the 
base, glabrous below, rather membranous.—The two most prominent forms of this 
variable plant are small fruited ones with globose heads and very narrow leaves, the 
S. pusilla, DC., and B. myriantha, Miq., and a large coarser plant, S. lasiocarpa, Br. ; 
but there are no limits between these forms. 
2. S. ocymoides, Burm. Fl. Ind. 34, t. 13, f. 1; perennial, glabrous or 
nearly so, stems branched from the base decumbent and ascending, leaves ovate 
elliptic or lanceolate acute glabrous or scabrid above, calyx glabrous or glabrate, 
téeth lanceolate, seeds oblong black granulate opaque. S. stricta, Schlecht. in 
Pl. Hohen. No. 998. S. ramosa, tenera, ocymoides, and Roxburghiana, Wall. 
Cat. 831, 833, 6185, 6186 excl. B. Borreria ocymoides, DC. Prodr. iv. 544. 
Bigelowia Roxburghiana, Wight Cat. 1360 (not of W. e A. Prodr.). B. lævi- 
caulis and setidens, Mig. Fl. Ind. Bat. ii. 334, 330. 
Western PENINSULA; from Matasar and the Niraukgmy Huis southwards, 
Heyne, Ac, Maracca, Griffith; CEYLON, Gardner, &c.—DIsTRIB. Malay Islands, 
Mauritius, Trop. Africa. 
Root more or less woody (except in seedlings). Branches 4-16 in., stout or more 
often slender, rarely scabrid on the angles and only beneath the leaves. Leaves much 
broader than in S. stricta, often membranous, quite glabrous or scabrid above, some- 
times petioled. Flowers fewer and in smaller heads than S. stricta, with usually 
shorter bracteoles. Calyx rarely puberulous, teeth often unequal. Seeds usually 
broader and shorter than in S. sérictz.—I follow Wallich in referring this to Bur- 
mann’s plant. Wight & Arnott’s B. Roxburghiana is not Wallich’s 6186 of that 
name, nor is it Wight's plant of that name, nor is Wight & Arnotts B. Kleinii 
Wallich's S. ocymoides, No. 6185, as cited ; both these plants of W. & A. having hispid 
calyces are referable to S. stricta. 
** Capsule septicidal, one mericarp remaining closed by the septum (which 
finally separates as a membranous plate), the other dehiscing ventrally. 
3. S. hispida, Linn.; DC. Prodr. iv. 555; procumbent, scabrid hirsute 
or hispid, leaves obovate spathulate oblong or elliptic obtuse or acute margins 
