NEILGHERRY PLANTS, 59 
bable, if persons on the Hills were to collect seed and send them to England, they would soon be taken 
notice of there. In addition to the one represented here, there are three or four others, natives of the 
Hills, all pretty, though not so conspicuous as the Exacums. They have the advantage of continuing in 
flower a long time through the successive opening of fresh portions. 
{ remarked, rather inconsiderately, I fear, in my Illustrations, that this genus seemed to have a four- 
carpelled ovary; subsequent consideration and more recent examination have led me to conclude that 
that was an erroneous view of the structure, and that this genus does not differ from the rest of the order 
in the structure of its ovary. 
Opnetia conymposa (Griseb.), stem 4-sided, as- 
cending, branches divaricate: leaves spathulato- 
elliptic, roughish, 3-nerved; the lower ones largest, 
nes short sessile: cymes oul song's) 
few-flowered, pedicels spreading, segments of the 
calyx linear acuminate, half the length of the 
corolla: corolla 4-parted, blue, segments obovato- 
and themselves bound with short fimbriz: filaments 
inea 
z 
Neilgherries, not unfrequent exing the rainy sea- 
son in pastures and about the outskirts of woods. 
he lower branches of this 
the sky, in which respect it differs considerably 
from another which Grisebach has joined with it. 
elliptic, mucronate: fovee minute, orbicular, soli- 
tary, covered with a scale, fimbriate at the apex, 
HALENIA, 
Calyx 4-5-parted, lobes united at the base, valvate. Corolla withering, shortly campanulate, 4-5-cleft ; 
lobes erect, destitute of folds or fimbrie ; the glanduliferous pits prolonged into spurs! Stamens 4-5, inserted 
on the throat of the corolla; filaments equal at the base; anthers small, incumbent. Ovary spuriously 2- 
celled, from the thickened spongy placente meeting in the centre; ovules numerous, superposed, inserted 
on the inflexed margins of the valves; stigmas two, sessile, or with a shortish style, often connate and con- 
fluent with the ovary. Capsule 2-valved; septicidal placentas sutural. Seed immersed in the placentz, 
globose; embryo superior, minute; albumen copious. Herbaceous annuals or perennials, erect, ramous; 
cymes terminal, umbelliform ; flowers usually yellowish or tinged with blue ; corolla about twice the length 
of the calyx. 
I have altered the character as regards the ovary to make it correspond with the two Neilgherry 
species, I may here remark that the figure of the ovary, as given in the accompanying plate, is not quite 
correct. A better representation is given in my Illustrations of Indian Botany, where Perrot- 
tetit is figured. The drawing from which this plate is taken was not made under my eye, and the section 
the ovary does not clearly exhibit its structure and the position of the ovules, a circumstance which 
I now greatly regret not having detected before sending the drawing te the Lithographer. This is not the 
true H. Perrottetii but either a very distinct variety or H. elliptica, only hitherto known from the Hima- 
layas. I now call it H. elliptica. ; ; 
The species of the genus Halenia are for the most part natives of the alpine regions of Northern Asia, 
and America, but some are found in Mexico and the Andes of Peru. This, and its congener are the only 
o not know whether it occurs 
mens with distinctly petioled leaves and others which vil 
but scarcely exceeding 6 inches in height. The acute leaved H. Perrottetit i 
shady forests, from 4 to 6 feet high. ae 
The genus isa curious one on account of the remarkable spurs of the corolla. Linnzus originally 
referred it to Swertia, calling the only one he knew Swertia corniculata, in allusion to the horns or spurs of 
the corolla. The flowers, though far from conspicuous, are rather pretty from the interblending of blue and ~ 
red with the yellowish ground colour of the corolla, points not well brought out in the plate. 
Pulney and Neilgherry Mountains, common among 
Griseb.), stem erect, ra- 4 
Bae Pn ee long grass and about the outskirts of woods in both 
mous: leaves ovato-lanceolate acute, 5-nerved, sub- 
sessile: pedicels axillary and terminal, unequal, fili- 
rm: segments of the calyx lanceolate, acute: spurs 
places. : ; : 
0 This plant often attains a considerable size, two 
thickish, half the length ahe- 
or three feet high, and very ramous, becoming alto 
annual, The specimen figured was 
obtuse, spreading and ascending at the point: corolla 
pale blue: lobes ovate mucronate, stigmas small, 
distinct at the apex. 
ether a large 
aa 
selected on account of its small size, as better suit- 
ing the space allowed in these plates. 
