Celosia AMAKANTACE.E 127 



Flowers in short spikes or capitate. Anthers 1-celled, 

 Flowers spicate. Perianth woolly, tube crested in 



fruit 7. Frcelichia. 



Flowers capitate. Perianth unchanged in fruit. 

 Perianth not woolly. 



Staminodes present 8. Alternanthera. 



Staminodes wanting. Sea-shore plants 9. Fhiloxerus. 



Perianth woolly 10. Gomphrena. 



Flowers in clusters along the branches of a panicle. 



Female perianth woolly. Anthers 1-celled 11. Iresine. 



1. CELOSIA L. 



Herbs annual, sometimes shrubby. Leaves alternate. Flowers 

 hermaphrodite, in spikes, with persistent bracts and bracteoles 

 white or pink, shining. Perianth scarious. striate or ribbed. 

 Stamens 5, united below" into a cup ; anthers 2-celled ; staminodes 



Fig. 2S. Celosia argentea L. 



A, Upper portion of i)lant. D, f)vary cut lengthwise. 



B, Flower with hiact and one bracteole. ' E, Fruit. 



C, Flower with portion of perianth re- F, Seed cut leii^tlnv ise ; c, cotyledons ; 



moved. r, radicle ; e, endosperm. 



none. Ovary with 2 or more ovules. Utricle eircumsciss, 

 sometimes thickened above, with 2 or more seeds. Seeds erect, 

 testa crustaceous. 



Species about 40, natives of tte tropics. 



Leaves lanceolate to linear. Spikes compact, cylindrical... 1. C. argenica. 

 Leaves deltoid or oblong-ovate. Spikes lax 2. C. nitida. 



