ACANTHACE^ 95 



cylindrical, in the upper axils or in dense racemes, bracts 

 Vz inch ovate acuminate, closely imbricate in furrows. 

 Corolla blue, I inch or more, pubescent outside and in 

 lower part enclosed in the bracts. 



Nijgiris : on the downs, Fir. July 1904. Bourne 4603. 



BARLERIA. 



Shrubs with opposite leaves and showy flowers. 

 Sepals four, two outer larger than the two inner. Corolla 

 lobes imbricate in bud. Stamens two perfect, two small 

 and rudimentary, sometimes a fifth (also rudimentary) 

 present. Ovary with two ovules in each cell only. 



Species 100, mostly in the warm parts of the Old World. 

 Some of the species flower only when several years old and 

 then die, so flower profusely at long intervals, as with Stro- 



BILANTHES. 



Barlcria involucrata Nees.\ F.BJ. iv 483, XXII 10. A 



small shrub or herb. Leaves elliptic, narrowed to the 



base, with scattered hairs and raphids on the upper 



surface, and hairy on the nerves of the lower. No 



bracts; bracteoles 2, lanceolate acute, much shorter than 



the two large lanceolate acute sepals which are an inch 



or more long and densely covered with yellow hairs. 



Corolla blue, tube 1%. inch, lobes as long. t. 454. 



Pulneys : Tiger shola 5,500 feet. Fyson 4750. Nilgiris 

 height. 



ASYSTASIA. 



Weak stemmed shurbs with opposite leaves, and 

 terminal one-sided racemes of flowers. Corolla lobes 

 imbricate in bud. Stamens four. Capsule with four 

 seeds only. 



Species about 20, in the tropics of the Old World. 



Asystasia crispata Benth.\ F.B.I, iv 494, XXV 5. 

 Leaves elliptic, ovate or oblong, acute. Corolla ^ inch 

 white with pink or purple marks on the palate, t. 455. 



