Pupalia?[ Aniarantacecs. 399 



hairy, purplish; 1. i|-3 in., rhomboid-oval, acute at both 

 ends, entire, slightly hairy on both sides, thin, rather bullate, 

 paler and often pinkish beneath, petiole very short ; fl.- 

 clusters small, solitary, shortly stalked, drooping, very laxly 

 arranged in long, very slender, stalked terminal spicate infl., 

 imperfect fl. several, pubescent, with the per.-leaves termi- 

 nating in short recurved and hooked awns ; per.-leaves of 

 perfect fl. lanceolate, acute, not awned, pubescent with white 

 hair; staminodes 3- or 4-fid. ; seed pale brown, highly 

 polished. 



Low country, in grassy places ; a very common weed. Fl. October- 

 December; greenish, awns pink. 



Throughout the Tropics. 



Slightly purgative and digestive, used for dysentery in native medicine. 



Loureiro's name, C. genicidata (1790), ought to be adopted by the 

 rules of priority. A small erect slender variety (var. debilis^ Moq.) is 

 given for Ceylon in DC. Prod. xiii. 2, 326. 



6. PUPAl.lA,/2^-f-5-. 



Perennial, sometimes semi-shrubby at base, 1. opp., entire, 

 fl. sessile, in clusters, i or 2 perfect, the rest reduced to stiff 

 subulate awns elongating and spreading with fruit, often 

 branched and ending in a very sharp hooked point ; per.- 

 leaves 5, acuminate, woolly outside ; stam. 5, distinct, stami- 

 nodes o ; ovule pendulous from a basal funicle ; fruit inde- 

 hiscent. — Sp. 3 ; all in Fl. B. Ind. 



L. over 2 in., ovate, acuminate . . . . i. P. atropurpurea. 

 L. under i in., rotundate, very obtuse . . . 2. P. orbiculata. 



I. P. atropurpurea, Moq. in DC. Prod. xiii. 2, 331 (1849). 

 ^Vel-karal-hdba, 5. 



Herm. Mus. i. Burm. Thes. 47. Fl. Zeyl. n. 103. Achyra7ithes 

 lappacea, L., Sp. PI. 204; Moon Cat. i8. Thw. Enum. 249. C. P. 2237. 



Fl. B. Ind. iv. 723. Burm. Thes. t. 18, f. i. Wight, Ic. t. 731 

 (JDesmochcete atropurpurea). 



Stem 2-5 ft., straggling or semi-scandent, cylindrical, 

 swollen at nodes, glabrous or slightly rough, often tinged 

 with purple ; 1. 2-4 in., ovate or ovate-lanceolate, suddenly 

 contracted at base, acuminate, sharply apiculate, glabrous, 

 petiole short ; fl.-clusters sessile, in rather lax, stalked, ter- 

 minal, spicate infl., bracts small, acuminate, persistent, im- 

 perfect fl. reduced to mere awns, glabrous ; per.-leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, acute, with long cottony wool outside. 



Dry region, rather common. Dambulla; Kurunegala; Uma-oya; 

 Mineri; Jaffna. Fl. Jan.-March, August; green, awns purplish-pink. 

 Also in India, Malaya, Philippines, Madagascar, S. Africa. 



