Commelina. triandbia monogynia. 175 



A native of Hindoostan and introduced into the Botatilc Gardea 

 'by Colonel Hardvvicke, where it blossoms in March and April, at 

 which lime the plant is destitute of leaves, notliing being seen but 

 the racemes ornarliented with large lively blue flowers round the apex. 

 Root perennial, composed of several, smooth, elongated tubers, 

 with a few tiiifoi m radicles. — Stems none, except the sheathing bases 

 of the lea' es which appear a month or two after the flowers ; these 

 are en-,jforni, waved, acute, smooth, and marked wilh several straight 

 veins; length from four to eight inches, breadth about one. — Ra- 

 cemes radical, erect, straight, smooth, invested at each of the re- 

 mote two or three joints, with a small, solilary sheath; these sheaths 

 towaid the top are more approximated, each of them there embrac- 

 ing the insertion of a branchlet which bears several pedicelled flow- 

 ers. — Ca/i/x the three leaflets thereof broad-lanceolate, and consider- 

 ably shorter than the corol. — Petals equal, round, concave. — Necta- 

 ries alternate wiih the stamens, hairy. — h'ilaments three, alternate 

 with the petals, longer than the filaments of the nectaries, and like 

 them hairy about the middle. Anthers blue. — Pistil declining. Stiir- 

 ma minutely three-toothed. 



9- C herbacea. R. 



Herbaceous. Stems jointed, ascending. Leaves lanceolate. Pa- 

 nicies terminal. Petals equal. Capsules three-celled, many-seeded. 



A native of Sumatra, from thence introduced into the Botanic 

 Garden by Dr. Charles Campbell, where it blossom and ripeus its 

 seeds during the whole year. 



Root perennial, consisting of long, firm, thick fleshy fibres. Stems 

 several from the same root, herbaceous, jointed, ascending, round, 

 smooth, much swelled at the joints, from two to three feet in height, 

 nearly the whole enveloped in the sheath of the leaves. — Leaves alter- 

 nate, sessile on their sheaths, lanceolate, smooth, slightly marked with 

 five parallel nerves, margins entire, waved, somewhat membranaceous, 

 and coloured. Sheaths shorter than the joints, striated, and smooth, ex- 

 cept a few white hairs round their mouths, — Panicles terminal j^ there. 



W2 



