128 FLOKA OF JAMAICA Cclosia 



1. C. argentea L. Sp. PL 205 (17r)3); stem herbaceous; 

 leaves lanceolate to linear ; spikes showy, compact, cylindrical 

 or ovate, long-stalked, silvery ; style filiform with 2 or 3 minute 

 stigmas. Mog. in DC. Prodr. xiii. pt. 2, 242 ; Griseh. FI. Br. 

 W. hid. 62 ; Urh. Symh. Ant. iv. 217. (Fig. 38.) 



Distill ! Bath, Prior ! River courses, Fort Stewart, Metcalfe ! Rio 

 Grande, 200 ft. ; Bath ; Harris ! near Morant Bay, Faiocctt ! Fl. Jam. 

 6029, 8247. West Indies, tropics in America, Africa and Asia. 



Stem 1-3 ft. high. Leaves 2-10 cm. 1. Spikes 2-12 cm. 1. Flowers 

 rose-coloured, fading to white, about '75 cm. 1. Perian^/i-leaves thin, 

 transparent. 



2. C. nitida Vald Sijmh. ii. 44 (1791) ; stem shrubby ; leaves 

 deltoid, ovate to lanceolate ; spikes short and dense or elongated 

 and lax ; flowers yellowish-white ; style trifid. Griseh. loc. cit. ; 

 Urh. loc. cit. C. paniculata Moq. torn. cit. 240 (1849). Ama- 

 rantus fruticosus &c. Sloane Cat. 48 tfe Hist. i. 142, t. 91,/. 1. 



Rio Cobre, near Spanish Town, Sloane Herb. ii. 109 ! Broivne ! 

 Brougliton ! Rock Fort, Campbell ! Palisadoes ; near Alligator Pond, 

 300 ft. ; Great Goat Is. ; Long Acre Point, west of Black River ; between 

 Portland Point and Rocky Point; Harris \ Fl. Jam. 5715, 6754, 7233, 

 9303, 9870, 10,194. Florida, Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, 

 St. Cruz, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Central America, 

 Calif, peninsula. 



A straggling shrubby plant. Leaves 2-5 cm. 1. Spikes 2-7 cm. 1. 

 Floivers "5 cm. 1. Perianth-segments tough, striated. The specimen of 

 this plant from Browne in Linnseus's Herbarium is labelled by Linnaeus 

 Celosia paniculata. The C. paniculata L. of Sp. PI. (1753) is h-esine 

 paniculata Kuntze, of the second edition Chamissoa altissima H. B. & K. 



2. CHAMISSOA H. B. i- K. 



Climbing shrub. Leaves alternate. Flowers hermaphrodite, 

 with persistent bracts in paniculate spikes, white or greenish. 

 Perianth scarious. Stamens 5, united below into a cup ; anthers 

 2-celled ; staminodes none. Ovary with 1 ovule, erect with 

 short stalk. Utricle circumsciss. Seed erect, testa crustaceous. 



Species 4, natives of tropical America and subtropical South 

 America. 



C. altissima H. B. & K. Nov. Gen. d- Sp. ii. 197, /. 125 

 (1818) ; Wright Mem. 257 ; 3Ioq. in DC. Prodr. xiii. pt. 2, 250; 

 Griseh. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 62; Urh. Symh. Ant. iv. 218. Blitum 

 album majus scandens Sloane Cat. 49 &, Hist. i. 142, t. 91, Jig. 2. 

 Achyranthes altissima Jacq. Enum. 17 (1760); Sw. Fl. Ind. Occ. 

 522. Celosia paniculata L. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 298 (1762) (non ed. 1, 

 206). (Fig. 39.) 



Basket Withe. 



Near Spanish Town, Sloane Herb. ii. 117! Houstoun\ Wright \ Brough- 

 ton ! Shakspear ! Distin ! McNab ! Lane ! St. Mary, Hartweg ! Moneague, 



