58 CappartdeCB. [Cratava, 



oblong, very glandular, style o, stigma capitate, flat, ovules 

 numerous ; pods 2-3 in., linear, slightly curved, somewhat 

 compressed, viscid-pubescent ; seeds helicoid-reniform, rough, 

 dark brown. 



Low country ; very common in waste and cultivated ground. 



Fl. May, June ; pet. white or very pale pink with pink claws, gyno- 

 phore and stam. purplish. 



A common weed in all tropical countries. 



Develops when bruised a very strong and peculiar scent. 



The ovaries are sometimes very small and abortive, the fl. being then 

 practically male. The internodes of the floral a.xis (gynophore) between 

 the whorls of pet., stam, and ovary are remarkably developed in this 

 plant. 



G. speciosa, DC., with large handsome rose-coloured flowers, is a 

 common garden annual, and often appears there spontaneously. It is a 

 native of Central America. 



3. MHZRUA, Forsk. 



Shrubs ; sep. 4, combined at base into a narrow tube, half 

 as long as the lobes ; pet. 4 ; stam. numerous, inserted at 

 base of long gynophore; ov. i -celled, with many ovules; fruit 

 elongated, irregularly moniliform, soft ; seeds large, strongly 

 muriculate. — Sp. 20; i in FL B. Ind. 



M. arenaria, Hk.f. and T/i., Fl. B. Ind. i. 171 (1872). 

 M. oblongifolia^ Thw. £num. 15 (non A. Rich). C. P. 1064. 

 Fl. B. Ind. i. 171 (not given for Ceylon). Hk. Ic. PI. t. 127. 



A straggling shrub, with divaricate branches, bark smooth, 

 pale ; 1. 1-2 in., oval or oblong-oval, very obtuse or retuse, 

 entire, glabrous, glaucous, somewhat fleshy, petiole \ in. ; 

 fl. few, rather large, in terminal, corymbose racemes without 

 bracts, ped. \ in., smooth ; cal. -lobes | in., lanceolate, acute 

 or obtuse, reflexed ; pet. distant, j in., ovate, acute, erect, 

 veined, green ; stam. much exceeding pet., spreading, fila- 

 ments white, anth. green ; gynophore \ in. ; ov. short, trun- 

 cate ; fruit 1-2 in. long, irregularly and interruptedly monili- 

 form, smooth. 



Dry or desert country, chiefly near the coast. Trincomalie ; Batti- 

 caloa ; Hambantota ; Puttaiam ; Jaffna. Fl. Feb.-April ; green, sweet- 

 scented. Fruit pale yellow. 



Also in Southern and Central India. 



4. CRATHIVA, /, 



Trees ; 1. deciduous ; sep. 4, inserted on the edge of a 

 large lobed disk ; pet. 4 ; stam. indef , inserted on base of 

 long gynophore ; ov. i-celled, with 2 parietal placentas, ovules 



