198 



Geraniacecs. {Biophytum. 



flat and spreading after dehiscence ; seeds strongly tuber- 

 culate. 



Low country, on banks by roadsides and as a weed ; very common. 

 Fl. throughout the year ; golden-yellow with red veins. 



Throughout the Tropics. 



I cannot distinguish B. Rcinwardtii, Hk. f., given for Ceylon in Fl. B. 

 Ind. i. 437, from the above. It is said to differ in its more slender habit 

 and smaller flowers, and the old figure in Hort. Malab. ix. t. 19 is quoted 

 for it. Specimens from Mrs. Walker (Hb. Kew) and from Fraser (Mus. 

 Brit.) appear to satisfy these characters, which are scarcely sufficient for 

 specific difference. Part of C. P. 2787 ought perhaps to be referred ta 

 this. 



2. S. nervifolium, Thiij. Eniim. 64 (1858). 

 C. P. 2787 (part). 



Annual, with a very short, erect, unbranched stem ; 

 1. numerous, forming a crowded rosette almost on the ground^ 

 i|— 4 in., Iflts, 8-14 (usually 12) pair, generally overlapping, 

 broadly oblong, apiculate, glabrous, paler beneath, with the 

 lat. veins very prominent, terminal ones the largest ; fl. % in.,, 

 umbels dense, crowded, ped. shorter than sep., bracts hairy, 

 peduncles stiff, with adpressed hairs, longer or shorter than 1. ; 

 sep. long, lanceolate -linear, attenuate, very acute, with 7 

 prominent parallel veins ; pet. much exceeding sep. ; styles 

 hairy ; capsule ovoid, shorter than sep. ; seeds strongly, trans- 

 versely (? spirally) ribbed, not tubercled. 



Sandy ground in the dry region ; rather common. Jaffna ; Puttalam ; 

 Chilaw ; Anuradhapura ; Batticaloa. Fl. Dec-March ; orange, brownish 

 or pale-pink. 



Endemic (.'') 



This is reduced to B. sensitivum in Fl. B. Ind., but the dwarf habit, 

 long narrow sepals, and very different seeds seem to easily distinguish it, 

 as well as the different colour of the flowers. It is strictly confined to the 

 dry region. 



\B. Candolleajium, Wight, figured in Wight, 111. t. 62, is given in Fl. 

 B. Ind. i. 437 for Ceylon. It is a Nilgiri montane plant, and I have seen 

 nothing like it here. I doubt if it can be referred to B. sensitivum as ia 

 Fl. B. Ind.] 



3. B. nudum, IVii^hf, III. i. 161 (1840). 



Oralis 7!iulti^ Arn. Pug. 8. I'hw. Enum. 64, 409. C. P. 464. 

 Fl. B. Ind. i. 438. 



Perennial, semi-woody, stem 6 in.-2 ft,, erect, simple or 

 with whorled branches, pilose or nearly glabrous ; I. 1^-3^ in., 

 Iflts. 10-20 pair, oblong, truncate at base, slightly falcate^ 

 strongly cuspidate, faintly hairy, glaucous or whitish beneath 

 with prominent veins, lower ones smaller ; fl. few, umbels 

 small, ped. slender, about as long as sep., hairy, bracts very 

 mnnerous, lanceolate, crowd jd, peduncles exceeding the 1.^ 



