Pistia. MONADELPHIA PENTANDRIA, 131 
bent. Germ ovate. Style longer than the stamens, taper- 
ing. Stigma acute, Capsule born-shaped, much pointed, 
smooth, one-celled, one-valved. Seed solitary, filling the 
capsule, 
PISTIA. Schreb. gen. N. 1112. 
Calyx inferior, irregular, one-leaved, spathaceous ; tube ob- 
liquely campanulate ; border crowded, bearing the stamina on 
its centre. Corol none, Germ semi-supera, one-celled, ma- 
ny-seeded ; attachment unilateral. Style single. Capsules 
one-celled, many-seeded,. ease in the apex | of the sical 
perisperm, bree 
P. stratiotes, Willd. iii. 690. 
Tala indica, Lourier. Cochin Ch. 492. 
Sans, Koombhika, 
_ Kodda-pail. Rheed. Mal. xi, t. 32. 
Plantago aquatica. Rumph. Amb. vi. t, 74. 
Teling. Neeroo boodookee. 
Hind, and Beng. Taka panna. 
Found swimming on pools of stagnant water in most 
parts of India, having much the appearance of half-grown 
Lettuce plants. Flowering time the hot season, seed ripens 
after the rains, 
Root consists of numerous, long, tapering, hairy Stes 
Leaves radical, sessile, between obcordate and triangular ; 
having the exierior margin scolloped, with many elotated 
ridges running lengthways underneath ; downy on both sides, 
Gemmation or stoles from the base of the united leaves. 
Flowers short-peduncled from the centre of the leaves, few 
_ and in succession, small, pale-yellow, the structure uncom- 
mon and beautiful in the extreme. Calyx inferior, one-leav- 
ed, tubular, irregular. Tube obliquely bell-shaped, woolly on 
the outside; a crescent-shaped, fleshy, yellow gland, or low- 
er nectary, on the centre of the inside, opposite to the stig- 
Seeae 2 ae 
