290 Dr. Francis Hamitton’s Commentary 
sidered as representing three plants; that is, there are three 
plants very like each other ; but they differ so much in the essen- 
tial point of seed, that they must be three distinct species; and 
unfortunately, Plukenet neglects to inform us to which of the 
seeds the branch represented belongs; only as these marked a 
are placed near the capsules annexed to the branch, they proba- 
bly belong to it, the seeds b and c having separate capsules 
placed by them.  Plukenet himself afterwards (Mant. 90.) com- 
pares his plant with his Gratiole affinis Maderaspatana, Digitalis 
emula, folio Chinopodii, capsulis in verticillis positis (Alm. 180. ; 
Phyt. t. 193. f. 3.): but this also has little resemblance to the 
Nir Schulli, and cannot even belong to the same genus, having 
the corolla divided into four equal segments. ‘There is no repre- 
sentation of the flower in ¢. 49. f. 3.; but the capsules a and 5 
strongly resemble those of the Nir Schulli, and these plants may 
belong to the same genus at least. 
No further notice seems to have been taken of the Nir Schulli, 
until Willdenow thought (Sp. P/. iii. 374.) that it might be a 
variety of the Ruellia difformis, first described by the younger 
Linnzus. This is saying very little; nor does M. Poiret say 
more (Enc. Meth. vi. 348.). I do not therefore wonder that 
Dr. Roxburgh described the plant as a new species, which he 
called Ruellia obovata (Hort. Beng. 46.) ; for it by no means 
agrees with what Linnæus states of his Ruellia difformis. Rox- 
burgh, however, does not quote the Nir Schulli, because he 
found it already taken up. I doubt very much the propriety of 
considering this as a Ruellia, and think that it should be asso- 
ciated with the Hygrophila of Brown (Nov. Hol. i. 479.). The 
specimens, however, which I have presented to the Collection 
of the East India Company are marked Ruellia? obovata, while 
those of a species very nearly allied are marked Ruellia? quadri- 
valvis. As I look upon this last as entirely new, I shall give a 
full 
