new genus, which I propose designating PsevJanihus^ 

 In allusion to the deception which its Aerva-like flow- 

 ers have played off on all previous observers. Pluknet 

 has given (tab. 334 f. 5,) a most characteristic figure 

 of the usual form of the plant with opposite brachiate 

 branches and leaves- 



Courtailum, Mysore^ Coimbatore, &c. 



At first I considered this plant Moquin's fi. variety 

 of j^. lanatOf and named it accordingly ; perhaps it is 

 so, but on comparing it with what I presume to be 

 the true plant it appeared to me distinct. I have 



Linnaeus, who obtained speci- therefore raised it to the rank of a species, retaining 



mens from Surat, and also had the plant growing in his name which seems very appropriate. 

 the Upsal garden, twice described it, first under the 



name of Achyranthes^ and afterwards transferred it 1777. Achyranthes aspera (Linn), stem suffru- 



to the genus niecehrum. Roth obtained specimens 



. from Heyne, and described it from them under the 



name of Ackyranthes, but overlooked the flowers. 



Martius next took it up and placed it in Forskal's 



ticose, erect, striated, pubescent ; branches spreading, 

 somewhat 4-sided, pubescent: leaves short petioled, 

 obovato-rotund, abruptly attenuated at the base, very 

 obtuse, shortly acuminate, pubescent: spikes slen- 

 derly virgate, acute : flowers purplish-green, shining, 



awn of the lateral bracts about as long as the limb : 



genus AervOj but still apparently withont examining 

 the flower ; and lastly Moquin Tandon, in D. C. Pro- 



dromus, has described it, but apparently not the true calyx about twice as long as the bract ; sepals obso- 

 plant, as he describes the flower he examined as letely glabrous, 

 being pentandrous and having " staminodia filamentis 

 paulo breviora minutissima subtriangularia," a struc- 

 ture which does not conform with any of those I 

 have examined. 



As however he gives many locali- 

 ties, it seems probable that the flower he examined 

 belonged to a different species. He gives as stations, 

 Philippine Islands, Nubia, Senegambia, Bm-mah, and 

 many Indian stations. Having misled so many emi- 

 nent observers, it well merits the name of deceiver. 



Pseud ANTHus. 



A very common plant all over India. When bloom- 

 ing the flowers are horizontal, but afterwards become 

 reflexed, and the mature fruit are pendulous and ap- 

 pressed to the stalk. The bracts are at first soft and 

 herbaceous, but afterwards become rigid prickle-like. 



The leaves, beat to a pulp and applied as a dress- 

 ing, are said immediately to relieve the pain caused 

 by the sting of the scorpion. I have never seen it 

 so applied and cannot vouch for the truth of the 

 statement. The albumen of the seed, when bruised, 



breaks into angular fragments as represented under 

 the magnified portions of the leaf : the larger one 



Gen. Char. Flowers hermaphrodite, 3-bracteate. 

 Calyx 4-sepaled ; sepals equal. Stamens two, free exhibits one of them more highly magnified, showing 

 to the base ; no staminodes ; anthers roundish ovoid. ^^ granular structure- 



Ovary 1 -celled, 1-ovuled; style very short, stigma 

 sub-capitate. Fruit a utricle, indehiscent, inclosed in 

 the calyx, seed vertical, lenticular, testa crustaceous, 

 embryo annular, radicle descending. Herbaceous, 

 erect, ramous : branches like the leaves opposite, bra- 

 chiate, or sometimes alternate, spikes axillary, aggre- 

 gate, short white somewhat woolly: flowers very 

 minute, bracts ovate concave, persistent sepals, white 

 somewhat scariose, pubescent. 



1776. 



bbachiattjs CR. W 



'i> 



hrachiata^ Mart., Moq.) 



A common and widely distributed plant. 



The specimen represented owes the circumstance of 

 its finding a place in this work, to the accident of its 

 having alternate branches and leaves; had it present- 

 ed the usual brachiate form the mistake could scarcely 

 have happened. I am particular in directing atten- 

 tion to this point, to prevent its being supposed that 

 this is the normal form. 



I have specimens fi-om various localities, Courtal- 

 lum, Coimbatore, Mysore, &c., but with which I have 

 only now become properly acquamted, having hitherto 

 supposed it a form of JE. lanata^ from which how- 

 ever it is amply distinct. 



/^ r 1776-bis. -SIrva flortbunda (R, W.), herbace- 



ous, diffuse, procumbent, pubescent : leaves alternate, 

 short petioled, varying from elliptical to obovate 

 obtuse, slightly pubescent above, villous and pale 

 beneath; spikes axillary, solitary or two or three 

 together, in young plants about the length of the 

 leaves, in older, often two or three times the length, 

 very woolly, compact : bracts broad ovate, mucronate, 

 pubescent on the nerve, glabrous on the margins: 

 sepals oblong, elliptic, obtuse, 3-nerved, very woolly 

 on the back : staminodes equaling the filaments, style 

 short, stigma deeply 2 -cleft, lobes reflexed. 



1778. AcHTRANTHEs EUBEOFuscA (R. W.)i hcrba- 

 ceous, stems erect, ramous, round, pubescent ; branches 

 ascending: leaves ovate acuminate, short petioled, 

 finely pubescent on both sides, spikes virgate, com- 

 pact : flowers shining, pale greenish : awn of the 

 bracts as long as the limb : calyx longer than the 

 bra<;ts, sepals 3-nerved, glabrous, staminodes trun- 

 cated, fimbriated on the margin, about half the length 

 of the filaments, style equaling the stamens. 



Neilgherries, in moist soil. This species seems in 

 appearance nearly allied to A, fmiicosa^ that is, so 

 far as can be learned fi-om written characters, but is 

 abundantly distinct as shown by the analysis of the 

 flowers. Figure 8 of the plate represents the albu- 

 men highly magnified, which appears to consist of a 

 congeries of minute globular grains giving a cellular 

 appearance to the magnified representation. 



The stem and branches of the growing plant have 

 a reddish-brown colour, whence the name 5 in drying, 



the red tinge fades and the brown becomes deeper. 



T 



1779. ACHYBANTHES BIDENTATA (BlumC A, viridis 



R. W. in Icon.), herbaceous, erect, ramous ; stems 

 obsoletely 4-sided, furrowed between, somewhat his- 

 pid ; branches long, slender, ascending : leaves short 

 petioled, oval, acuminate, slightly pubescent on both 

 sides : spikes long cylindrical, loosely flowered : flow- 

 ers horizontal, greenish-brown (when dried) : lateral 

 bracts very minute, two-lobed, with a long rigid awn ; 

 lower one ovate naviculete, pointed : calyx longer 

 than the bracts, 1 -nerved: staminodes minute, trun- 

 cated, almost entire on the mai'gin, filaments about 

 the length of the style. 



Ceylon, ]!^"eilgherries, 8cc. 



When naming the drawing I unfortunately over- 

 looked the correspondence, in some important points, 

 existing between my plant and Blume's species, which 



( 3 ) 



