286 A canthacecB. 



often deeply cut (even to midribj at the base into 2 or more 

 serrate segm., glabrous above, puberulous beneath with 

 minute scaly hairs; fl. on very short, erect, puberulous ped.; 

 cal. pubescent ; cor. pubescent outside, glabrous within ; 

 capsule f in., oblong, bluntly quadrangular, shortly beaked, 

 pubescent, valves separating for about half way down, gaping; 

 seeds oblong, slightly compressed, glabrous, black or white. 



A weed in waste <(rounds and by roadsides, but generally the result of 

 cultivation, and not, I think, indigenous to Ceylon. Much cultivated in 

 the dry region. Fl. pale pinkish-purple. 



In all hot countries; native in Trop. Africa (?). 



The seeds afford Gingelly oil, and the plant is much cultivated in the 

 dry region. S. orientale, L., differs only from S. indzcum, L., in having 

 all the leaves entire— a quite trifling distinction. 



S. occidentale, Heer & Kegel, is a common weed in waste places about 

 Colombo and elsewhere. It is C. P. 3852, and given in Thvv. Enum. 442. 

 In Fl. B. Ind. this is made a synonym oi S. indictan, but seems a distinct 

 species or a well-marked race, no doubt spread from the Botanic 

 Gardens. Its origin is said to be S. American, but this may be doubted. 



XCVIIL— ACANTHACEyE. 



Herbs or shrubs (stem twining in T/mnbergia), 1. opp., simple, 

 without stip. ; fl. bisexual, irregular, large or small, axillary 

 or in heads or spikes, each usually with a bract and 2 bractlets 

 at base ; cal. free, segm. or sep. 4 or 5 (numerous in 

 TJmnbergia) sometimes unequal ; cor. usually 2-lippcd (upper 

 lip wanting in 12 and 13), tube long or short, lobes 5, imbri- 

 cate or contorted in bud ; stam. 4 or 2, anth. 2-celled (i-cclled 

 in Monothccmin), cells sometimes superposed ; ov. superior, 

 2-celled, with 2 or numerous ovules in each cell, style usually 

 bifid ; fruit a loculicidal 2-valved capsule, often with a solid 

 base ; seeds hard, usually compressed, often covered with fine 

 white adpressed hairs which become erect when wetted, 

 usually supported on erect often curved and sharp processes 

 [rctinacula). 



Of this very large Tropical family we possess 93 species, of which the 

 large proportion of 38 are endemic. The majority of the Ceylon genera 

 arc confined to the low country, and are especially noticeable in the dry 

 region, where arc found 50 species, 23 of them restricted to it. But a 



