Podostej?ion.'\ PodostemofiacecB . 4 1 7 



by a few bracts (except in P. siibidattis) and a membranous 

 spathe; perianth o; stam 2, with the fil. connate for more than 

 half way (only i in P. metzgerioides), staminodes 2, filiform ; 

 ov. 2-celled, ovules numerous, styles 2 ; capsule elevated on a 

 ped., ovoid, 2-valved, but often with only i valve deciduous. — 

 Sp. 20; 14 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Stam. 2, fil. connate. 



Fronds long, floating under water; 1. minute 

 {Dicrcea) 

 Frond slender, cylindrical . . . . i. P. elongatus. 



Frond flat, broad 2. P. ALGiEFORMIS. 



Frond filiform, creeping; 1. large . . . 3. P. SUBULATUS. 

 Frond dilated, membranous ; 1. none ? {Hy- 



drobryum) 4. P. OLIVACEUS. 



Stam. I ; frond creeping, ribbon-like {MavcElid) . 5. P. metzgerioides, 



1. P. elong'atus, Gardn. in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. vii. 188 (1846). 

 Dicraa elotigata, Tul. in Ann. Sc. Nat. 1. c. 102; Thw. Enum. 222. 



C. P. 2259. 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 65. Wight, Ic. t. 1917, f. i. Warming in Vidensk. Selsk. 

 Sk. Kiobenh. vi. 2, tt. 10, ix. 



Fronds numerous, long, 6-24 in., stem-like, often connected 

 at base, submersed, slender, cylindrical, scarcely branched, 

 coriaceous, olive-green ; 1. very small, numerous, in fascicles 

 on the upper portion of the fronds above the fl., \ in., linear- 

 setaceous ; fl. in 2 rows, distant, on lower part of the fronds or 

 on special shorter fronds, each surrounded at base with 3 or 4 

 small acute bracts and a tubular bilobed spathe, at first sessile, 

 but with ped. gradually lengthening to 1 in. in fruit, fil. connate 

 nearly to summit, staminodes as long as ov,, stigmas short, 

 thick ; capsule oblong-ovoid, strongly 8-ribbed. 



Rocks in streams and rivers, rare. Masnawatte stream, Ambagamuwa 

 (Gardner); Mahaweli River below Peradeniya Gardens; Kelani River at 

 Kitulgala. Fl. Feb., March. 



Endemic. 



Our largest species, the slender fronds forming long streaming masses 

 in the water. 



2. P. alg-aeformis, Ti-itn. i7i Joicrn. Bot. xxiii. 173 (1885). 

 Trim. Syst. Cat. Ceyl. ']})• 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 65. Bedd. in Trans. Linn. See. xxv. t. 24 {Dicrcea 



algCEformis). 



Warming, 1. c. t. 12, f. 3-29. 



Fronds 3-9 in., submerged, flattened, hard-fleshy, irre- 

 gularly cut into long linear segments which are again laciniate 

 crenate undulate and obtuse, olive-green ; 1. very few, usually 

 in pairs from little cavities at edge of upper part of frond, 

 under \ in. ; fl. rather crowded, distichous on lower part of 



PART III. E E 



