92 ElahneCB. {Bergia. 



XVII.— ELATINEyE. 



Annual herbs ; 1. opposite, stipulate ; fl, regular, bisexual, 

 in axillary fascicles ; sep. and pet. 3 or 5, distinct, imbricate; 

 stam. 3 or 10, distinct ; ov. 3- or 5-celled, with many ovules 

 on axile placentas ; fruit a septicidally 3- or 5-valved capsule ; 

 seeds numerous, without endosperm. 



BERGIA, L. 



For characters, see Order. — Sp. 14; 4 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Stam. 3 I. B. AMMANIOIDES. 



Stam. 10 2. B. VERTICILLATA. 



1. B. amxnanioides, Roxb. Hort. Beng. 34 (1814). 

 Thw. Enum. 23. C. P. 1543. 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 251. Hook. Bot. Misc. iii. t, supp. 28. Wight, 111. i. t. 25 A. 



Annual, 6-10 in. high, erect, with many long, often decum- 

 bent branches from the base, more or less glandular-pubescent ; 

 1. \-\ in., spathulate-lanceolate, acute, tapering to long base, 

 slightly serrate, stip. lanceolate, serrate, membranous ; fl. small, 

 shortly pedicellate, in dense, axillary, sub-verticiilatc fascicles ; 

 sep. 3, acute ; pet. 3, obtuse, a little longer ; stam. 3 ; capsule 

 globular, apiculate, valves 3-4, very acute, with inflexed mar- 

 gins, to which the numerous barrel-shaped seeds are attached. 



Dry region, in wet and marshy places ; common. Jaffna ; Mineri ; 

 near BaduUa. Fl. March. 



Throughout tropical Asia, Africa, and Australia, and extends into 

 Persia. The Ceylon plant has the flower nearly always trimerous, and is 

 the var. iriandra, Wight {trimera, Fisch. and Mey.). 



Very like Ammannia lanceolata in habit and appearance. 



2. B. vertlcillata, Willd. Sp. PL ii. 770 (1799). 

 Moon Cat. 36. Thw. Enum. 23. C. P. 3551. 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 252. Roxb. PI. Cor. ii. t. 142 {B. aqiiaticd). 



Annual, aquatic, i ft. or more high, with very succulent, 

 glabrous, pink, branched stems, decumbent and rooting at the 

 lower nodes; 1. i-i^in., nearly sessile, lanceolate, tapering at 

 both ends, subacute, finely serrate, glabrous, stip. triangular, 

 acute, serrate, soon falling ; fl. on short pcd., crowded in 

 axillary, subvcrticillatc fascicles ; sep. 5, lanceolate ; pet. 5, 

 oblong, rather longer than sep.; stam. 10; capsule globose, 

 valves 5, broad, apiculate. 



Wet places, chiefly on the coast in the dry districts ; rather rare. 

 Trincomalie ; Batticaloa; Kalutara; Anuradhapura. Fl. March; greenish- 

 white. 



Widely spread throughout the tropics. 



