41 8 Podostemonacecs. {jPodostemon. 



frond, bracts thick, fleshy, truncate, spathe membranous, ped. 

 quickly elongating ; fil. connate j up, staminodes shorter than 

 ov,, capsule ovoid, obtuse, 8-ribbed, ped. f in. long. 



Rocks in rivers, very rare. Mahaweli River below Peradeniya, and 

 at Haragama beiow Kandy. Fl. Feb. 



Also on Anamalai Mountains, S. India. 



Remarkably like an olive seaweed, and very variable in the form of 

 the fronds. 



3. P. subulatus, Gard?i. i)t Calc. Jourji. Nat. Hist. vii. 184 (1846). 

 Tul. Mon. Podost. 135. Thw. Enum. 222. C. P. 3088, 3366. 



Fl. B. Ind. v. 65. Wight, Ic. t. 1918, f. i. Warming, 1. c. vi. 4, 

 tt. 19, 20, 



Frond filiform, slender, creeping, dichotomous, sending up 

 numerous erect thick branches which are flattened, concave 

 on one surface and convex on the other, and about \ in. high, 

 often widened at top and rarely branched ; 1. very numerous, 

 closely imbricate on the branches, long, 2-5 in., filiform, very 

 acute, cylindrical above, sheathing at base, and many hollowed 

 out there into a cavity containing the fl. ; fl, numerous, 

 crowded, bracts o, spathe tubular, lacerate; fil. much longer 

 than ov., connate for | length, staminodes as long as ov.; 

 capsule oblong-ovoid, acute, 8-ribbed, on ped. \ in. long. 



On stones and rocks in rivers, rare. Mahaweli River, near Navala- 

 pitiya (Holnicut Est.); Ambagamuwa (Gardner); Roxawa, Dolosbagie 

 (Thwaites); Mahaweli, at Hakinda below Peradeniya, abundant. Fl. 

 Jan., Feb. 



Endemic. 



Known by its tufts of long imbricate leaves (or bracts), which are, 

 however, withered before the capsules are ripe, when the plant has a 

 quite different appearance. 



4. P. olivaceus, Gardn. in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. vii. 181 (1846). 

 Hydrolnyum olivaceian, Tul. in Ann. Sc. Nat. 1. c. 104; Thw. Enum. 



223. C. P. 3065. 



Fl. B. Ind. v. 66. Wight, Ic. t. 1918, f 2. Warming, 1. c. vii. 4, 

 ff. 3^-34- 



Frond continuous, thin, closely attached to subjacent rock, 

 shining, olive-green ; 1. none (.-•) ; fl. numerous, scattered over the 

 surface of the frond, erect, bracts about 6, distichous, im- 

 bricate, spathe split down one side ; stam. exceeding ov., fil. 

 connate for 4 length, staminodes shorter than ov. ; capsule 

 ovoid, 8-ribbed, ped. short, \ in. 



On rocks in rivers and rapid streams, 150010 5000 ft.; rather rare. 

 Palagala, above the waterfall at Ramboda (Gardner); Pundalu-oya (E. 

 Green); Masnawatte River, Ambagamuwa; Mahaweli River below Pera- 

 deniya; Maskeliya River, Maskeliya. Fl. Jan.-March. 



Also in the Nilgiris, S. India. 



The fronds form a marchantia-like covering to the rocks, and seem to 



