BOTANY : ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 47 



3. Ruellia, — Herbs or underslirubs ; bracts larger than the calyx ; 

 corolla lobes about equal ; capsule solid below, bearing large thin 

 seeds in the upper part. 



R. prostrata (Dipter acanthus dejectus, D.) — Prostrate or strag- 

 gling and climbing in hedges; flower solitary or nearly so, purple 

 or blue bell-shaped ; leaves long, petioled, ovate, often acute ; bracts 

 like the young leaves. 



Very common in Guzerat and the Konkau. (Query, Deccan ?) 



4. Strobilanthes, — Shrubs or herbs ; calyx deeply 5-cleft ; corolla 

 tube bulged out. 



Note. — H. has no less than 14f> species of this genus, and it ia exceedingly difficult 

 to make which our Bombay species ought to be. But I have very strong authority 

 for identifying the only very well known species as 



8. callosus, — which includes D.'s 8. Grahamianus, the late shrub 

 so common at Mahableshwar and known as karvi, very strong- 

 smelling and viscid; flowers in large thick spikes, large and hand- 

 some, deep blue, hairy within.* 



5. Blepharis, — Rough creeping or prostrate plants, with leaves in 

 whorls and crowded bracts ; corolla with short fleshly tube, upper 

 lip wanting, lower 3-cleft. 



B, asperrima 9 — Straggling along the ground with weak straw- 

 coloured stem, every part covered with bristly hairs; flowers blue 

 or white, sessile; bracts whitish with green veins; sepals four in two 

 unequal pairs. Very common on the Ghats, less so in the Konkan, 

 Pahadiatgan. 



B. hoerhavifoUa, — Flowers white, pale blue or pink, with 

 yellow spot on the lip; bracts edged with bristles; leaves in 

 fours, lanceolate. Common in Guzerat and elsewhere. 



6. Acanthus, — Sepals and corolla as in the last. 



A. ilicifolius (Dilivariai., D.), — Small, handsome, thorny shrub, 

 with leaves like holly, prickly, and large bright blue flowers; 

 corolla lip nearly entire ; bracts small, ovate. Nigur. Very common 

 in salt marshes; sometimes called Sea holly, but not to be confound- 

 ed with the English plants of that name. (Eryngo.) 



* This is the early flowering showy species common on the Ghats flowering in 

 October. 



S. pcrfoliatus, with thin spikes glandular bristly narrow bracts, and dark blue or 

 purplish flowers: flowering in January, and 



8. iwiocephalus, with thick heads, broad bracts and dull white flowers, flowering iu 

 January, are both ve'-y common in the ravinea at Khandalla. Botli are very viscid 

 and strong smelling. — G. C. 



