553 



DicUj)iera.] Lxxxviii. acanthace^. 



rigid linear-subulate spreading or recurved outer bracts or spines. Flowers, 

 within tlie bracts solitary or rarely 2 or 3, witli minute bracteoles. Calyx 1 

 to li Hues long, divided to below the middle into linear-lanceolate lobes. 

 Corolla shortly "exceeding the bracteoles, the lips nearly as long as the tube, 

 the upper one*^ ovate and notched, the lower one broad and 3-toothed. Cap- 

 sule very small, flat, nearly orbicular, usually 2 -seeded.— Nees in DC. Prod, 

 xi. 476 ; Brocliosip/ioii australis, Nees, 1. c. 492 ; DicUjJtera armata, P. 

 Miiell. Fragin. vi. 88. 



• N. Australia. Glenelg river, N.W. coast, Marlon ; Upper Victoria rirer and Stir- 

 ling Ci-eek, F. Mueller; S. Goulbiira island, A. Cunningham. The specimeus agree per- 

 fectly with DecaisQe's character as well as with Cuiuiiugham's Timor specimeus. 



2. D. spicata. Bene. Herb. Tim. 56. An erect paniculately branched 

 annual of 1 to 2 ft., the stem and leaves glabrous or minutely pubescent. 

 Leaves landeolate or almost linear, very acute and mucroaatc, almost anstate, 

 narrowed into a petiole, 1 to 2 in. long, the floral ones narrower and shorter. 

 Involucres usually 3 on a common peduncle in the axil of each floral leaf and 

 sometimes a second shorter peduncle in the same axil with a single mvolucre, 

 the clusters of involucres numerous in terminal racemes leafy at the base, 

 the upper floral leaves reduced to subulate bracts. Involucral bracts ovate, 

 acute and aristate, the margins recurved, the upper or inner surface convex 

 and hirsute, the larger one of each pair 3 to 4 lines long, with an external 

 pair of subulate bracts. Corolla slender, shorter than the bracts, the lips as 

 lono- as the tube. Stamens 3. Capsule elavate, ovate. Seeds 2, muncate. 



DC. Prod. xi. 479 ; D. racemifera, F. Muell. Fragra. vi. 89. 



Queensland. Cape York, Baemel. Also in Timor ; the typical specimens received 

 from Decaisiie, as well as others in the Banksian Herbarium, agree precisely with the Aus- 



tralian ones. 



10. HYPOESTES, E. Br. 



* 



Calyx more or less deeply divided into 5 lobes or segments. Corolla with 

 a slender tube, deeply 2-lipped, the upper lip narrow entire or rarely notched, 

 the lower 3-lobed. Stamens 2, often nearly as long as the coroUa ; anther, 

 linear, 1-celled. Ovules 2 in each ceU of the ovary. Style bifid at the top. 

 Capsule compressed and seedless at the base, oblong or elavate Seeds flat ; 

 retinacula subulate.-Herbs shrubs or small trees. Flowers solitarj' or 2 or 

 3 together, within a cylindrical or elavate involucre of 2 pairs of bracts often 

 united to the middle, the inner pair alternatingwith the outer, tlie involucres 

 in axillary clusters or spikes or in terminal panicles. 



The genus is dispcrscdover Africa and tropical Asia. The Australian vfcties or specif 

 appear to be endemic, but require further compansou with some forms from the Eastern 



Archipelago 



An erect brancTiing perennial. 



attaining 2 or 3 ft. and usually glabrous except the minutely glandular-pu- 

 bescent^ inflorescence. Leaves ovate-lanceolate or almost bn ear, acutely 



descent inflorescence. Jjeaves ovaie-umucuutic wi a^.^^.. .--- , - 



acuminate, contracted into a rather long petiole, usually thm and "leinbranons 



and 2 to 4 in. long, but occasionally much larger. Involucres ^J^^^f ^^"^^- 



rous in dense axillary clusters or racemes or loose termmal pamcles each m- 



