( 3186 ) 
SHMEA Mertensit. Mertens’ AScum@a. 
OR 
Class and Order. 
Hexanpria Monoeynia. 
( Nat. Ord.—Brome.iscez. ) 
Generic Character. 
Bractee 3, in cyatho connate. Calyx superus. Petala 
voluta, distincta, basi squamosa. Stamina basi peri- 
thii inserta. Stylus filiformis. Stigmata linearia, con- 
uta. Capsula baccata. Semina nuda. Lindl. 
Specific Character and Synonyms. 
MEA * Mertensii; racemo spicato denso pubescenti- 
_ lanato, floribus glomerato-fasciculatis, bracteis univer- 
salibus foliaceis coloratis, partialibus solitariis ventri- 
coso-convolutis striatis calycibusque spina terminatis, 
petalis acutissimis, foliis ligulatis acutis lepidotis spi- 
_hoso-marginatis inferne convolutis. ; 
HMEA Mertensii. Schultes, Syst. Veget. v. 7. p. 1272. 
RomELIA Mertensii. Meyer, Fl. Essequib. p. 144. Spreng. 
Syst. Veget. v. 2. p. 21. 
cr. Leaves radical, two feet and more long, erecto- 
t, ligulate, acute, concave, coriaceous, dark-green 
ve, paler and more yellowish beneath, on both sides 
“otted with minute, membranaceous, white scales, not at 
 fasciculated, convolute below, the margins beset with 
ig, deflexed, spinous teeth, of a dark-brown colour. 
a foot or more long, terete, downy upwards, and 
ere, and in the lower part of the spike, beneath the fasci- 
of flowers, bearing several oblongo-lanceolate, mem-— 
branaceous, — 
asyun, a point, from the rigid points on the ealyces 
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