THE INDIAN SPECIES OF ERIOCAULON. 143 



The Sections or Main Groups. 



The following deviations from what might be called the normal 

 or primitive conditions seem to be the most constant — hairy in- 

 volucre, one male petal enlarged, scarious floral bracts, crested female 

 sepals, united female sepals, and white anthers ; while the number of 

 sepals or petals, 'in either sex, their relative sizes and shapes, the 

 length of the involucral bracts and of the pedicels are not neces- 

 sarily even of specific rank. 



If this supposition be correct, and the evidence is I think too 

 strong to doubt it, the Indian species fall naturally into eight groups 

 distinguished by the above ' sectional ' characteristics, with a ninth 

 composed of species or forms which grow wholly submerged in water 

 and have elongated stems thickly covered for several inches with long 

 capillary leaves. This group I name SETACEvE, from the chief and 

 Linnaean species; not, following Hooker, Aquaticae, because there 

 are other species with just as good a claim to that title. A character 

 which like this is purely adaptative is not as a rule considered of 

 much value in determining relationships, but the five forms which 

 share this in common are so alike among themselves and so differ- 

 ent in appearance from any other species that they must go together 

 in any systematic scheme. The possibility is not excluded that 

 they have sprung severally from the other distinct sections of the 

 genus, but the fact that the male sepals are more or less free 

 instead of being united into a calyx split at the back as with 

 most of the other species, may indicate that they separated off early 

 from the primitive stock. Of my other eight sections the ANISO- 

 PETAL^ with one male petal much enlarged, and the HIRSUTiE 

 with hairy involucre, correspond in part to groups in the F.B.I, of 

 species with these characters but not so named. The LEUCAN- 

 THERiE with white or pale yellow anthers, the CRISTAIO-SEPA- 

 L^ with crested female sepals and the CONNATO-SEPALiE with 

 the female sepals connate, found places in Ruhland's arrangement ; 

 but, except the last of which there is only one species in India, were 

 broken up in the different claves and included several species which I 

 exclude. The SGARIOSiE with scarious floral bracts is I believe 

 anew grouping; and I place together as SIMPLICES all species 

 which do not show one or other of the above mentioned characters. 



Geographical Distribution. 



The geographical distribution of the species and groups pre- 

 sents many interesting problems of variation and relationship. As 

 regards the extra-Indian species, the material at my disposal does 



