56 CampamUacecB. [Lobelia. 



I. Z.OBELIA, L. 



Herbs, 1. alt, fl. solitary or in long erect racemes ; cal.- 



tube acinate to ov., segm. 5, persistent ; cor. irregular, split 



down the back to the very base, 2-lipped, upper lip 2- lower 



3-lobed ; stam. 5, epigynous, fil, distinct or connate, anth. 



connate ; ov. inferior, 2-celled, with large placentas and very 



numerous ovules, style simple, stigma 2-lobed ; fruit a capsule, 



dry, dehiscent loculicidally by 2 short valves on the top; seeds 



minute. — Sp. 200 ; 1 5 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Small prostrate herbs ; fil. distinct. 



Seeds ovoid, obtuse i. L. zeylanica. 



Seeds trigonous. 



Leaves glabrous 2. L. TRIGONA. 



Leaves more or less hairy . . . 3. L. affinis. 



Very large erect herb ; fil. connate . . 4. L. NICOTIAN^FOLIA. 



1. I<. zeylanica, L. Sp. PL 932 (i753)- 



Burm. Thes. 53. Moon Cat. 14. Z. Sebce, A. DC. Prod, vii, 386. 

 L. trigona, Thw. Enum. 169 (in part). C. P. 1776 (part). 

 FL B. Ind. iii. 425. 



Stem prostrate or erect, much branched, 4-12 in. long, 

 slightly hairy; 1. sessile, \-\ in., rounded, ovate or rhomboid, 

 narrowed to base, coarsely toothed, glabrous; fl. small, solitary, 

 axillary, ped. longer than 1.; cal.-segm. linear, shorter than 

 tube ; seeds ovoid, obtuse. 



Var. /3, Walkeri, Clarke m Fl. B. Ind. I. c. 

 Stems longer and more prostrate; 1. petiolate, ovate. 



Moist places, paddy-fields, &c., probably common in the south of the 

 island, but I have not kept notes of the distribution. Var. /^, apparently 

 commoner, extends in montane zone to 7000ft. Fl. Feb.; pale violet. 



Also in Malabar. 



Thwaitcs did not distinguish this from the two following, but the 

 shape of the seeds affords a ready distinction. Clarke has determined 

 L. zeylanica^ L., by examination of the type specimen in Linuicus's own 

 herbarium. L. Scbce is based on a very rough figure (Seba, Thesaurus, 

 1734) which does not show the seed. 



2. Zi. trig"ona, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 506 (1S32). 

 Thw. Enum. 169. C. P. 1776 (part). 



Fl. V>. Ind. iii. 423. Wight, Ic. t. 1170. 



Stems elongated, prostrate, rooting at the nodes, trigonous, 

 glabrous ; 1. sessile or shortly petioled, \-\ in., ovate, acute, 

 crenate-serrate, glabrous; ped. longer than 1.; cal. glabrous, 

 segm. longer than tube ; seeds trigonous. 



Damp ground, very common up to the highest elevations. Fl, April, 

 October ; pale violet. 



Throughout India and Burma. 



Only distinguishable from L. zcyhuiica by the form of the seed. 



