. 
COMMELINACEAE 139 
In open grasslands, waste places, etc., common, fl. all the year; through- 
out the Philippines. India to China, and Malaya. 
2. A. versicolor Dalz. 
A succulent, spreading, branched plant, the stems 10 to 40 cm long, 
often ascending, glabrous or sparingly hairy. Leaves ovate to oblong-ovate, 
1 to 4 cm long, base broad and cordate, somewhat clasping the stems, the 
sheaths usually short, hairy. Flowers solitary or in pairs, in the upper 
axils, their pedicles 1.5 to 2 cm long. Sepals green, oblong-elliptic, obtuse, 
4 to 5 mm long. Petals orbicular-ovate to broadly elliptic, 5 to 6 mm 
long, yellowish- or russet-brown, turning purple in drying. Filaments 
clothed with weak yellowish-brown hairs. Capsule oblong, 5 mm long, 
inclosed by the sepals. Capsule about 4 mm long, the seeds 1-seriate, pitted. 
In open wet grasslands, Caloocan to Masambong, ete., fl. Oct.—Dec.; 
very local in the Philippines. India. 
38. RHOEO Hance 
A stout, erect or ascending, unbranched herb. Leaves large, alternate, 
base sheathing. Peduncles axillary, short, terminated by 2, large, com- 
pressed, somewhat boat-shaped, subopposite bracts that inclose the inflores- 
cence. Flowers very numerous, congested, their pedicels with sheathing 
basal bracteoles. Sepals 3, free, petaloid. Petals 3, free. Stamens 6, all 
fertile; filaments bearded. Ovary Sessile, ovoid, 3-celled, the cells 1-ovuled. 
Capsule 3- or 2-celled, loculicidally dehiscent. 
A monotypic American genus, with us only cultivated and not spontaneous. 
*1. R. piscoLtor (L’Hér.) Hance. 
A stout, perennial, herbaceous, somewhat fleshy plant 0.5 m high or less, 
the stem thick, unbranched. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, 30 to 40 cm 
long, 4 to 6 em wide, fleshy, the upper surface dark-green, the lower 
purple. Inflorescence axillary, short-peduncled, the flowers surrounded by 
two, large, imbricate, laterally compressed, distichous, 3 to 4 cm long, 
purplish bracts. Flowers numerous in each inflorescence, fascicled, white, 
about 1 cm in diameter. (FI. Filip. pl. 84, Tradescantia discolor.) 
Cultivated-for ornamental purposes, fi. most of the year. A native of 
tropical America. 
4. CYANOTIS Don 
Prostrate or ascending, usually branched herbs. Flowers in axillary and 
terminal cymes formed of large, imbricated, leafy, biseriate, falcate brac- 
teoles, or in axillary clusters with small bracts. Sepals unequal, free or 
connate below. Petals 3, subequal. Stamens 6, all perfect, the filaments 
usually bearded. Ovary 3-celled, cells 2-ovuled. Capsule 3-celled, loculi- 
cidal. (Greek “blue” and “ear” from the color and form of the petals.) 
Species about 35 in the tropics of the Old World, 4 or 5 in the Philippines. 
BIGWers solitary, telminals fe t= oo As aS es es 1. C. moluccana 
Flowers enclosed in large, biseriate, falcate, imbricate bracteoles. 
2. C. cristata 
Flowers fascicled in the leaf-axils, the bracteoles small, not imbricate and 
BiGe GRICIOMIN Lite TOW esd aes sene een tiga an sapive 3. C. axillaris 
1. C. moluccana (Roxb.) Merr. (C. uniflora Hassk.). 
A slender, prostrate plant, the stems branched, rooting at the nodes, 
10 to 30 cm in length. Leaves oblong, acute, 2 to 4 cm long, the upper 
