, 386 COMMELINACEA. 
Order CXLIX. COMMELINACEZ. 
Commelinacee, Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. iii. p. 844; C. B. Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phanerog. 
ii. p. 115. 
Of this order there are twenty-five genera and upwards of 300 species, which are 
widely dispersed in the warmer regions of both hemispheres; a few inhabit temperate 
regions in North America, Asia, Africa, and Australia, but the order is unrepresented 
in Europe. 
1. ATHYROCARPUS. 
Athyrocarpus, Schl. in Linnea, xxvi. p. 454; Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. iii. p. 847. 
Pheospherion, Hassk. in Flora, 1866, p. 212; C. B. Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phanerog. ii. p. 135. 
An exclusively Tropical-American genus, of four species. 
1. Athyrocarpus leiocarpus, Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. iii. p. 847. 
(Tab. XCV. figg. 1-11.) 
Pheospherion leiocarpum, Hassk. in Flora, 1866, p. 212; C. B. Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phanerog. 
iii. p. 187. - 
Commelina ? letocarpa, Benth. Bot. Voy. ‘Sulphur,’ p. 176. 
Commelina pallida, Schl. in Linnea, xxvi. p. 454, non Willd. 
Sour Mexico, San Blas to Tepic (Coulter, 1595), near Cordova (Bourgeau, 1480), 
region of Orizaba (Botteri, 522); Honpuras, Tiger Island, Gulf of Fonesca (Sinclair). 
_— VENEZUELA. Hb. Kew. 
EXPLANATION OF TAB. XCV. Fiee. 1-11. 
Fig. 1, a branch of Athyrocarpus leiocarpus (Pheospherion), natural size; 2, raceme of flowers 
removed from an upper spathe; 3, one of the fertile stamens ; 4, one of the sterile stamens ; 
5, pistil; 6, capsule (white, crustaceous, and shining) ; 7, horizontal section of the capsule ; 
8, vertical section of the capsule in a plane through the dorsal and one of the ventral cells ; 
9 and 10, seed from the dorsal cell seen from the side 3; 11, the same seed, showing the ventral 
hilum : all more or less enlarged. 
2. Athyrocarpus persicarizfolius, Hemsley. 
Pheospherion persicariefolium, C. B. Clarke in DC. Monogr. Phanerog. iii. p. 137, t. 5. fig. 2. 
Commelina persicariefolia, DC. in Red. Lil. viii. t. 472 ; Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. p. 525. 
Panama, Chagres. (Fendler, 454).—Cotomsia to Perv, Gurana, Brazit, and in the 
West Inpies. Hb. Kew. 
2. COMMELINA. 
Commelina, Linn. Gen. Plant. n. 62; Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. iii. p. 847. 
This genus has about the same range as the whole order, and comprises about 
ninety species. 
