Pistia. MONADELPHIA PEMANDUIA. . 101 



bent. Germ ovate. Stijle longer than the stamens, taper- 

 ino-. Stiffmn acute. Capsule horn shaped, much pointed, 

 smooth, one celled, one-valved. SWd solitary, fillino- the 

 capsule. 



PI ST [A. Schreb. gen. iV. 1112. 

 Calyx inferior, irregular, one- leaved, spathaceous ; tube ob- 

 liquely canipanulate ; border crowded, bearing the stamina on 

 its centre. Corol none. Germ, semi-suplera, one-celled, ma- 

 ny-seeded ; attachment unilateral. Style single. Capsules 

 one-celled, many-seeded. Embryo in the apex of the ample 

 perisperm. 



P. stratiotes. Willd. iii. 690. 



Tala indica. Louricr. Cochin Ch. 492. 



Sans. Koombhika. 



Kodda-pail. Rheed. Mai. xi. t. 3-2. 



Plantago aquatica. Rumph. Amb. vi. /. 74. 



Teliny. Neeroo boodookee. 



Hind, and Beny. Taka panna. 



Found swimming on pools of stagnant water in most 

 parts of India, having much the appearance of half-grown 

 Lettuce plants. Flowering time the hot season, seed ripens 

 after the rains. 



Root consists of numerous, long, tapering, hairy fibres. 

 Leaves radical, sessile, between obcordate and triangular; 

 having the exterior margin scolloped, with many elevated 

 ridges running lengthways underneath ; downy on both sides. 

 Gemmation or stoles from the base of the united leaves. 

 Floicers short-peduncled from the centre of the leaves, few 

 and in succession, small, pale-yellow, the structure uncom- 

 mon and beautiful in the extreme. Calyx inferior, one-leav- 

 ed, tubular, irregular. Tube obliquely bell-shaped, woolly on 

 the outside; a crescent-shaped, fleshy, yellow gland, or low- 

 er nectari/, on the centre of the inside, opposite to the stig- 



Q2 



