Striga.'] ScrophulariacecE. 255 



p. humifusum, Del. Fl. /Egypt. 148 (1813). 

 Thw. Enum. 426. C. P. 3789. 



Fl. B. Ind. iv. 2S7. Hook. Bot. Misc. iii. t. Supp. 29 {MicrocarpcBa 

 cochlearifolia). 



Stems elongated, filiform, rooting at nodes, often sub- 

 merged or floating, flexuose, much branched ; 1. under \ in., 

 obscurely stalked, spathulate, rounded at apex, tapering at 

 base, rather fleshy, sometimes floating, glabrous, minutely 

 punctate ; fl. small, on very short ped., 1-3 together ; cal.- 

 segm. very short, tooth-like, obtuse ; capsule \ in., enclosed 

 in enlarged membranous cal. 



In water of shallow ponds in the dry region, rare. Trincomalie 

 (Glenie) ; Mannar Dist. Fl. Jan., Feb. ; pinkish-white. 



Also in S. India, Egypt, and Australia. 



The filiform stems root at long intervals, the terminal leaves float on 

 the surface of the water just as in Callitriche verna. 



Glossostigma spathidatum, Arn., is recorded from ' Ceylon, Gardner,' 

 in Fl. B. Ind. iv. 288. I have seen no specimens. 



Scoparia diilcis, L., a Tropical American plant, is a common weed by 

 roadsides in the south of the Island. It is a recent introduction, and 

 was first noticed about Galle in 187 1 by Ferguson. It is C. P. 4014. 



Veronica polita., Fries, a common plant in temperate countries, occurs 

 as a weed in cultivated ground at Nuwara Eliya. 



13. STIIZG-A, Lour. 



Erect herbs, parasitic (? always) on roots, 1. (sometimes 

 reduced to scales) alt. or opp., fl. axillary, forming spikes, with 

 bractlets ; cal. campanulate or tubular, with 5, 10, or 15 strong 

 ribs, segm. 5, acute ; cor.-tube long, slender, curved or bent, 

 exserted, lobes 5, unequal, spreading ; stam. 4, didynamous, 

 included, anth. not connate, i -celled ; stigma simple ; capsule 

 loculicidally 2-valved ; seeds very numerous. — Sp. 18 ; 6 in 

 FL B. Ind. 



Leafless, 1. reduced to scales. . . i. S. orobanchoides. 

 With ordinary leaves. 



Cal. lo-nerved ; fl. yellow . . . 2. S. LUTEA. 



Cal. 15-nerved; fl. white . . . 3. S. euphrasioides. 



I. S. orobanchoides, Benth. in Hook. Comp. Bot. Mag. i. 361 (1835). 



Trim, in Journ. Bot. xxiii. 172. 



Fl. B. Ind. iv. 299. Wight, Ic. t. 1414. Hook. Comp. Bot. Mag. i. 1. 19. 



A leafless root-parasite, stem 6-15 in., stout, cylindrical, 

 branched, hairy-pubescent, arising from a large globose tuber 

 (attached to the root of the host), scales small, crowded and 



