Avt'cenma.] Verbeiiacecs. 363 



S. involucratum, Roxb. Cor. PL ii. 46 (1798). 



Thw. Enum. 242. C. P. 3645. 



Fl. B. Ind. iv. 599. Wight, Ic. t. 362. 



Shrubby, stems scandent, slender, young parts stellately- 

 pubescent; 1. small, \-i\ in., oval, rounded at base, subacute, 

 coarsely crenate-serrate, nearly glabrous above (when mature), 

 white, with close stellate-pubescence beneath, petiole very 

 short; fl. crowded, bracts about f in., lanceolate-oblong, semi- 

 membranous, veiny, pubescent; cal. under \ in., ribbed, teeth 

 oval, subacute; cor.-lobes as long as tube, linear, acute, 

 reflexed; fruit \ in., glabrous. 



Dry region ; very rare. The C. P. specimens were collected near 

 TrincomaHe by Glenie ; I have seen no others. Fl. white. 

 Also in Peninsular India. 



13. AVZCEXNZA,^/,. 



Small tree, 1. opp., entire, fl, moderate-sized, sessile, in 

 small heads of 3 or 4, on short spikes arranged in terminal 

 panicles, bracts small, ovate; cal. shallow, segm. 4, cut almost 

 to base, much imbricate; cor.-tube short, cylindrical, lobes 4, 

 spreading; stam. 4, inserted at mouth of tube; ov. imperfectly 

 4-celled, with 4 pendulous ovules, stigma bifid; fruit a soft 

 capsule, dehiscent into 2 valves; seed solitary (rarely 2), quite 

 without coats, radicle large, blunt, covered with long, fulvous, 

 woolly hair, cotyledons very large, thick, and fleshy, folded 

 together, one conduplicate, the other reduplicate. — Sp. 3 ; i in 

 FL B. Ind. 



A. officinalis, L. Sp. PI. no (1753). Kanna, T. 



Fl. Zeyl. n. 57. A. tomentosa, L. Gen. PI. ed. 6, 579 (1764). Thw. 

 Enum. 244. C. P. 1961. 



Fl. B. Ind. iv. 604. Wall. PI. As. Ran iii. t. 271. Wight, Ic. t. 1481. 



A bush or small tree, with smooth, white bark, young 

 twigs quadrangular, white with fine pubescence; 1, 2-3 J in., 

 oval or oblong-oval, usually acute at base, rounded or sub- 

 acute at apex, entire, glabrous and bright green above, paler 

 and with a thin, dense felt of very fine pubescence beneath, 

 coriaceous; fl. sessile, bracts shorter than cal; cal. -segm, 

 ovate, very obtuse, ciliate, concave; cor. \ in. diam., lobes 

 oval, acute; fil. short, spreading; capsule about i in., obliquely 

 ovoid, compressed, glabrous, pale greenish-yellow; seed com- 



* Commemorates Abu Ben Sina (Avicenna), the celebrated Arab 

 physician of Bokhara, who died .A-D. 1037. 



