709. Ixora cuneifolia shrubby : leaves oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, more or less cuneate at the base, pointed, glab- 

 rous : corymbs trichotomous, open ; flowers (small and 

 whitish) fascicled at the extremities of the ultimate sub- 

 divisions: segments of the calyx narrow-oblong, thrice 

 the length of the tube : tube of the corolla slender (more 

 than half an inch long) lobes oval, obtuse : filaments 

 slightly exsertcd ,• divisions of the stigma linear, recurv- 

 ed : berry roundish-turbinate. — W. and A. Prod. I. 4*28. 



Introduced into the Calcutta Botanic Garden from 

 Dacca, but is also found in Coromandel. 



—2 dissected flower— 



1 Flowering branch- 

 vertically with two sepals remaining 



-6 cut transversely 



5 a fruit full grown- 



-8 embryo detached. 



—3 ovary cat 



4 cut transversely 



-7 cut ver- 



) 



tically- 



710. 

 site spreading branches : leaves shortly petioled, lanceo 



late-oblong, obtuse, tapering at the base, glabrous : sti- 

 pules triangular, acute : corymbs sessile, trichotomous, 

 open ; primary branches long, the lateral ones horizon- 

 tal ; flowers (small, white) numerous on the ultimate di- 

 visions : calyx with 4 small broad acute teeth : tube of 

 the corolla (3-4 lines long) slender ; lobes obovate, re- 

 tuse, during aestivation forming a globose head : anthers 

 sessile : style scarcely exserted, glabrous ; divisions of 

 the stigma oblong, short, erect. — W. and A. Prod. i. 429. 

 A native of forests of Bengal and also of Coromandel, 



a rather large handsome shrub. 



1 Flowering branch— 2 detached corolla — 3 ovary 

 style and stigma— 4 ovary cut transversely — 5 full grown 

 fruit— 6 the same cut transversely — 7 a dissected seed 



8 embryo detached. 



711. Ixora parviflora (Roxb.) arboreous : leaves 

 short-petioled, from linear-oblong to cuneate-obovate, 

 bluntish or with a short point, often slightly cordate at 

 the very base, coriaceous and hard, shining : stipules 

 •with a long subulate point : corymbs or panicles termi- 

 nal, trichotomous, sessile or peduncled, with often foli- 

 aceous bracteas subtending the primary branches : flow- 

 ers (small and white) crowded on the extreme subdivi- 

 sions : calyx with 4 obtuse small teeth : corolla (scarcely 

 half an inch long) with a slender tube ; lobes oblong- 

 linear, obtuse, reflexed, forming an oval head during 

 aestivation: style hairy ! exserted; divisions of the stig- 

 ma oblong, erect : berry somewhat didymous. — W. and 



A. Prod. 1. 429. 



Widely distributed over the Indian Peninsula— a 

 handsome shrub, the wood of which, dried and split is 

 much used by travellers in place of torches. 



1 Flowering branch— 2 corolla magnified— 3 ovary, 

 style and stigma magnified— 4 fruit natural size— 5 cut 

 transversely. 



712. PolycarfjEA corymbosa (Lam. Celosia corym- 

 bosa Roxb.) stems ascending or erect, simple or with a 

 few simple branches ; young parts glabrous or tomen- 

 tose : leaves narrow-linear or setaceous, mucronate : 

 cymes terminal, dichotomous, rather lax: sepals entirely 

 scariose, lanceolate, acuminated, 2-3 times longer than 

 the capsule. — fV. and A. Prod. 1. 358. 



A native of dry sandy lands, and is in flower all the 

 year. Between this and P. spadicea, I have not been 

 able to discover any good discriminating character. 



1 A flowering plant natural size— 2 an expanded flow- 

 er magnified, and showing the filaments free to the base 

 —3 and 4 stamens and ovary of a species of Celosia 

 apparently introduced \n conformation of an opinion 

 expressed by Roxburgh that " this would better tbrm a 

 separate genus than a species of Celosia'— 5 capsule 

 dehiscing. 



713. Amarantustristis (Linn. Willd. Roxb.) erect, 

 Tery ramous near the ground : leaves rhomb-oval, obtuse 

 emarginate : glomerules axillary, and on terminal spikes: 

 •alyces daggered longer than the empsuiea.— Roxb. FL 



hid. 3. 604. 



Generally cultivated. Roxburgh remarks that he has 

 never found it wild. It is much esteemed by all ranks 

 of Natives as a pot-herb. A. catnpestris and A. polysta- 

 chyus Willd. Roxburgh suspects are only varieties of 

 this species* 



Note. The genus Amaranthus being a large and very 

 natural one, the species are in many instances very diffi- 

 cult of discrimination. The difficulty is occasionally 

 increased by some species being, as in this instance, only 

 found in a cultivated state while others, occurring at 

 weeds in every kind of soil and aspect, presents such 

 endless variations of form as renders their limitation by 

 the usual specific characters nearly impossible. 



Willdenow paid much attention to this genus and in his 



Historia Amarantorum gave figures of many of the spe- 

 cies. He, however, working with dried specimens far from 

 their place of growth, seems to have fallen into the too 

 common error, under such circumstances, of being more 

 anxious to multiply species, taking his distinctive char- 

 acters almost entirely from the foliage, (the part of all 

 others most liable to mislead through variations in its 

 forms) than to retrench existing superfluities by an at- 

 tentive study of structure and a careful application of 

 structural differences to the definition and limitation of 

 his species. 



Roxburgh has in several instances expressed doubts 

 of the goodness of Willdenows species, but I suspect, 

 has not altogether avoided his error. He certainly does 

 not seem to have been more successful in his verbal dis- 

 tinctions but has left figures of most of his species to 

 aid his written characters. Having got copies of several 

 of his drawings, 1 have dstermined to publish the whole, 

 including A. tristis and A. polygonoides, (see 512 and 

 514) to guard my readers against the error into which I 

 seem to have fallen, of applying Roxburgh's characters 

 to other than his own plants. This I feel the more ne- 

 cessary, as, my never having studied this genus with the 

 minute attention its acknowledged difficulty demands, 

 disqualifies me from offering any decisive opinion on the 

 goodness or otherwise of these species. Judging, how- 

 ever, simply from the series of figures now before me, 

 it strikes me, my A. polygonoides (512) is not identical 

 with Roxburgh's, plant but seems rather an inter- 

 mediate form between that and A. tristis (514) while 

 my A. tristis (514) seems to be another intermediate 

 form between 51*2 and 713 : again, between 718 and 

 714 I confess I can see no satisfactory differ- 

 ence unless, in the form and mode of attachment of 

 the anthers, distinctions not alluded to in the specific 

 characters and possibly not existing, except in the draw- 

 ing, thus kjaving it doubtful whether, in truth, they do 

 not all represent but varying forms of one species. 



714. Amaranths i»olyga.mu3 (Linn. Willd. Roxb.) 

 diffuse: leaves rhomb-ovate emarginate: glomerules 

 axillary or on terminal spikes : calyces daggered, longer 

 than the capsules.— Roxb. FL hid. 3. 603. 



A very generally diffused plant and I can scarcely 

 avoid thinking the wild state of the former. So far as 

 can be learned from Roxburgh's specific characters there 

 is no difference, except in habit, which cultivation might 

 change. 



715. Amaraktus oleraceus (Linn. Wifld. Roxb.) 

 erect with a few branches above the middle : leaves from 

 broad rhomboidal to ovate lanceolate : glomerules axil- 

 lary and on a terminal spike : calyces cuspidate and 

 rather longer than the rugose capsules.-— lioxb. FL hid. 

 3. GOo. 



Roxburgh, though he quotes TVilldenowas his authority 

 for this species, seems vet to think this plant is not iden- 

 tical with his. He says Willdenow's figure of A* Olera- 

 cens M does not by any means agree with what Kouig and 

 myself have always consdered to be that plant. His A. 

 inamosnus is much more like it, and if the leaves were 

 emarginate, it would be a very excellent representation 

 of this species." The leaves in Roxburgh's own figure 

 are acute, not emarginate, hence it seems not improbable, 

 the species of this genus are very unnecessarily multi- 

 plied. There are several varieties of this species distin- 

 guished by their colours. One has red stem and veins, 

 another has them white — in a third, of which the accom- 

 panying figure is a representation, has them green. 



716. Amaraintus lanceolatxjs (Roxb.) straight : 

 leaves lanceolar, plain green : glomerules triandrous axil- 

 lary : calyx daggered, longer than the swelled rugose 

 capsules. — Roxb. FL Jnd. 3. 607- 



A native of Bengal. 



( a ) 



