^nea.] AmarantacecB . 401 



Perennial herb, stems numerous, 1-2 ft, cylindrical, hairy, 

 1. numerous, nearly sessile, 15-if in., ovate-oblong or -lanceo- 

 late, acute at base, subacute, apiculate, often obscurely crenate, 

 very sparingly hairy and ciliate ; spikes axillary, sessile or 

 peduncled, bracts ovate, acute, reflexed, persistent, bractlets 

 very broad, short, per.-leaves ovate, acute, green with a broad 

 white scarious margin, hairy on back; seed broadly ovoid, 

 chestnut-brown. 



Dry country, rare. Miner! ; Anuradhapura ; Mantai ; Jafifna. Fl. 

 Jan. -March ; pale green. 

 Also in S. India. 

 The Fl. B. Ind. gives Moon as collector of this in Ceylon. 



8. N0TK0SS:RVA, Wight. 



Annual, erect, 1. opp., fl. minute, in very numerous, dense, 

 axillary spikes; per.-leaves 4 or 5, hyaline, woolly outside; 

 stam. 2 (or i), no staminodes ; stigma capitellate, ovule solitary, 

 pendulous from basal funicle; utricle indehiscent; seed lenti- 

 cular. — Monotypic. 



N. brachiata, Wight., Ic. vi. i (1853). Tampala, S. Chiru- 

 pilai, T. 



Thw. Enum. 248. C. P. 2254. 



Fl. B. Ind. iv. 726. Wight, Ic. t. 1776 (excl. analyses) {ALruaflori- 

 btinda), and t. 1776 bis f. B (analyses) {Psetidanthus brachiatus). 



Stem \-2 ft., erect, with many spreading branches, glabrous 

 or nearly so, 1. small, f-ii in. on main stem, much smaller on 

 branches, lanceolate-oblong, tapering to base, acute, apiculate, 

 glabrous or minutely puberulous, very thin ; fl. sessile, densely 

 crowded, spikes \-\ in., sessile, solitary or clustered, bracts and 

 bractlets acute, glabrous, white and scarious; per.-l. lanceolate, 

 acute or obtuse; seeds minute, black, highly polished. 



Cultivated and waste sandy ground, seashore, &c., in the dry region, 

 very common, Fl. Feb., Sept., &c.; white, shining. 



Throughout India, Burma, Mauritius, Trop. Africa. 



This is very like A£r-ua lanata, and Wight has increased the difficulty 

 of distinguishing them by placing the analysis of the former to the figure 

 of the latter. But, apart from the staminal characters, this has a more 

 slender, erect habit, narrower and more membranous leaves, and much 

 smaller flowers. 



9. HIRUA,-^ Forsk. 



Herbs or undershrubs, 1. alt. or opp., fl. small or minute, 



sometimes unisexual, in dense spikes, bracts and bractlets not 



spinous; per.-leaves 4 or 5, membranous or papery, more or 



less woolly outside; stam. 4 or 5, connate at base, with inter- 



* Often printed Aerva. Derived from an Arabic name. 

 P.\RT III. D D 



