Alphlia. MONANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 63 



and friable, not opening by sutures, but crumbling to pieces, 

 crowned with the permanent, withered calyx, and corol, 

 three-celled. 



3. A. bracteata. R. 



Leaves lanceolar, villous underneath. Raceme terminal, 

 simple; pedicels oni -flowered. Braetes green. 



A native of the eastern parts of Bengal. In the Botanic 

 garden near Calcutta it flowers in March. This is one of the 

 smallest of our East India Alpiuias; this circumstance, and 

 the green braetes, immediately distinguish it from maluccen- 

 sis, which is not so easily done in a specific definition. 



Root biennial, or perhaps, perennial. Stems erect, about 

 three feet high, entire l\ invested in the smooth sheaths of the. 

 leaves. Leaves birarious, petioled, from ovate-oblong below, 

 to lanceolar above, fine-pointed; ihe upper surface smooth, 

 polished, deep green, villous and paler underneath ; length 

 from six t<> eighteen inches. Petioles proper, about an inch 

 long, and deeply channelled. Sheaths smooth, rising a little 

 above the insertion <>f the proper petioles on the inside. Raceme 

 terminal, erect, simple, about a span long, slightly villous; 

 before expansion, embraced by one or two caducous sheaths. 

 Pedicels throughout one-flowered, round, short, and villous. 

 Braetes (or inferior perianth) solitary, one-flowered, more 

 permanent than in the other species, and of a dull green 

 colour, hiding the calyx. Calyx shorter than the bracte, open 

 on the underside, bidentate. Corol ; exterior border of three 

 oval, nearly equal, white segments; lip somewhat three-lob- 

 ed ; lateral lobes large and incurved into a tube round the sta- 

 mina ; exterior narrower, with a bifid apex, colour a beauti- 

 ful mixture of crimson and yellow, with a paler belt on each 

 side. Filament short, with two curved spurs at its base. 

 A it titer double, linear. Germ oval, three-celled ; with many 

 ovula in each, attached to the inner angle. Stigma funnel- 

 shaped, sub-ciliate. 



