438 RUBIACE X. SrPERMACOCE. 
ramosa, Wall.! L. n. 831) is quite intermediate, having the leaves shaped as 
in B. Kleinii, but slightly hispid as in B. Roxburghiana. 
XXX. SPERMACOCE. Linn; Meyer ; Cham. and Schlecht. 
Calyx-tube ovate or turbinate ; the limb divided into 2—4 teeth, with some- 
times aécessory ones: Corolla hypocrateriform or infundibuliform, 4-lobed. 
Stigma bifid or entire: Capsule crowned with the (sometimes obliterated) 
limb of the calyx, 2-celled; the cocci 1-seeded, separating from the apex 
downwards, the one shut by the dissepiment, the other open. Seeds oval- 
oblong, marked on the: inner side with a longitudinal furrow.—Herbaceous 
or suffrutescent plants. Stems and branches usually 4-angled. Leaves op- 
posite. Stipules cohering with both petioles, sheathing, fringed with several 
bristles. Flowers axillary, sessile, crowded, verticillate or half-verticillate, 
small, white or blue. 
1347. (1) S. articularis (Linn. :) herbaceous, diffuse, hairy and scabrous : 
leaves from broad-lanceolate to obovate-oblong, usually acute but not point- 
ed: bristles of the stipules longer than the hispid sheath: flowers 2-4 axil- 
lary, sessile, tube of the corolla slender, 4-8 times longer than the teeth of 
the calyx: capsule oval, pubescent hirsute or villous, crowned with 4 caly- 
cine teeth.— Linn. f. suppl. p. 119 (exc. syn.); DC. prod. 4. p. 555 ; Spr. syst. 
.1.p. 402; Roxb. fl. Ind. 1. p. 372; (ed. Wall.) 1. p. 878 ; in E. I. C. mus. 
a [cart i me L. ù. 827; Wight! cat. n. 1361.—S. scabra, Wall.! L. n. 
PAPY Peon ' =e 
. This can only be recognised from the following by the slender tube of the 
corolla, and as both species vary considerably in its length and shape, we 
are even much inclined. to doubt if that character ought to be trusted to. 
tere. ore Ravally flat, bat in yey arid soils become occasionally d 
and was - longicaulis, Br. in Wall.! L. n. 826, appears to us to ? 
mere form of our plant. a re 
1848. (2) S. hispida (Linn.:) herbaceous, diffuse, more or less hairy or sca- 
brous : res from obovate-oblong to roundish, bluntish and somewhat mu- 
cronate or slightly lanceolate and pointed, flattish or waved : bristles of the 
stipules longer than the hirsute sheath : flowers axillary, usually 1—4 together 
(sometimes more numerous), sessile: tube of the corolla rather wide, from as 
long to twice or thrice as long as the calyx-teeth ; fruit hirsute or villous, 
oval, crowned with the 4 calycine-teeth.— Linn. mant. p. 558; DC. prod. 4. 
p. 555 ; Spr. syst. 1. p. 400 ; Rowb. fl. Ind. 1. p. 373; (ed. Wall.) 2. p. 919 ; 
in E. I. C. mus. tab. 1526; Wall.! L. n. 825; Wight! cat. n. 1362.—Sp. bir- 
ta, Rottl. in nov. act. n. cur. Berol. 1803. p. 95.—S. scabra, Willd. sp. 1. p. 
572; DC. 1. c.; Spr.l. c. p. 401; Roxb. fl. Ind. 1. p. 871; (ed. Wall.) 1. p. 
971 ; in E. I. C. mus. tab. 1524; Wall. !L. n. 824 (partly ).—Rheed. Mal. 9. 
t. 76; Burm. Zeyl. t. 20. f. 3. : : 
A common plant in the Peninsula, and by no means confined to the oe | 
lands near the sea shore, the locality mentioned by Roxburgh. It is found, 
also, throughout many other parts of India; we have specimens before us 
from Canton-China. In moist places the leaves are usually less harsh, muc 
larger (sometimes 2 inches long and 1 inch broad) and scarcely waved, the 
extreme state of which represents the Linnean plant: in dry sandy soils t 
leaves are very harsh and rigid, smaller and rounder (often scarcely half an 
inch each way), much waved and curled, and this represents S. hirta of Rot- 
tler or S. scabra of Willdenow. But so numerous are the gradations that we 
have found it quite irapossible to separate the specimens before us into varie” 
ties. S. soasra, Wall.! L. n. 824. a, is the most distinct of all, having the 
leaves narrow and slightly pointed ; in this respect it approaches to $.ramo — 
