 Alpinia. MONANDRIA MONOGYNIA, | 63 
and friable, not opening by sutures, but crumbling to pieces, 
crowned with the os withered calyx, and. corol, 
_ three-celled. pe” 
2g: A, bracteata. R. - : : . 
Leaves lanceolar, villous exadieusain Raceme sertesideal 
simple; pedicels one-flowered, Bractes green. ih. 
A native of the eastern parts of Bengal. In the Botanic 
garden near Calcutta it flowers in March. This is one of the 
smallest of our East India A/pinias ; this circumstance, and 
the green bractes, immediately distinguish it from malaccen- 
sis, which is not so easily done in a specific definition. : 
_ Root biennial, or perhaps, perennial. Stems erect, about 
three feet high, entirely invested in the smooth sheaths of the 
Jeaves. _ Leaves bifarious, petioled, from ovate-oblong below, 
to lanceolar above, fine-pointed ; the upper surface smooth, 
polished, deep green, villous and paler underneath ; length 
from six to eighteen inches. Petio/es proper, about an inch 
long,and deeply channelled, Sheaths smooth, rising a little 
above the insertion of the proper petioles on the inside. Raceme 
terminal, erect, simple, about a span long, slightly villous; 
before expansion, embraced by one or two caducous sheaths. 
Pedicels throughout one-flowered, round, short, and villous. 
Bractes (or inferior perianth) solitary, one-flowered, more 
permanent than in the other species, and of a dull green — 
colour, hiding the calyx. Calyx shorter than the bracte, open 
on the underside, bidentate. Corol ; exterior border of three 
oval, nearly equal, white segments; dip somewhat three-lob- 
ed ; lateral lobes large and incurved into a tube round he sta- 
mina; exterior narrower, with a bifid apex, colour a beauti- 
ful mixture of crimson and yellow, with a paler belt on each 
side, filenatt; frome with two eacyed spul a. 
