I 10 BtirmanniaceCB . {Burmanma. 



parietal placentas, style short, stigmas various, ovules many; 

 fr. a loculicidal many-seeded capsule; seeds very minute, testa 

 thin, reticulate, nucleus hard, homogeneous. 



Stamens 3, ov. 3-celled i. Burmannia. 



Stamens 6, ov. i -celled 2. Thismia. 



I. BURMANNIA,* L. 



Annual herbs; stem simple or forked; 1. linear, subulate, 

 or reduced to scales, or o; fl. solitary or secund on the 

 branches of a forked cyme; cal.-tube compressed, winged, limb 

 superior, persistent, tubular, shortly 3-lobed ; pet. 3, smaller 

 than the cal. -lobes; anth. 3, sessile or subsessile, opposite the 

 pet., cells short, broad, separated by a dorsally crested con- 

 nective, dehiscence transverse ; ov. inferior, 3-celled, style 

 short, 3-lobed ; capsule 3-\vinged, dehiscing between the 

 wings ; seeds very minute, testa thin, striate or reticulate. — 

 Sp. about 20 ; 8 in Fl. B. Ind. (probably reducible to 6). 



L. ensiform i. B. disticha. 



L. subulate or reduced to scales. 



Perianth-tube much shorter than the ov. . . 2. B. CCELE.STIS. 



Perianth-tube much longer than the ov. . . 3. B. Championii. 



I. B. disticha, L. Sp. PI. iZ-j (1753). Itta-diya-j awala, S. 



Herm. Mus. 7, 52. Burm. Thes. 50. Kl. Zeyl. n. 12S. .Moon, Cat. 24. 

 /). distachya, Br., Thw. Enum. 325. C. P. 2313. 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 664. Burm. Thes. t. 20, f. i. Roxb. Cor. PI. t. 242. 



Stem with infl. i-i| ft., stout or slender; roots fibrous ; 

 1. at the base of the stem, 1-4 in. by \-^ in. broad, sessile, 

 ensiform, subfalcate, finely acuminate, midrib obscure, veins 

 parallel with transverse venules, cauline narrower, sheathing; 

 fl. ■|-f in. long, secund, crowded and subsessile on the 1-3 in. 

 long branches of a forked cyme, oblong or oval in outline; 

 bracts \-\ in. ; cal.-tube above the ov. very short, lobes ovate, 

 concave, dorsally keeled ; pet. shorter, linear-oblong ; capsule 

 with the withered perianth ^-| in., wings 3, truncate or 

 rounded at the top. 



Low country in moist region ap to 2000 ft. or more, in wet places; 

 rather common. Fl. March, September; bright blue. 



S. India, i\cj)al, Khasia, China, Australia. 



A beautiful plant. A drawing in Herb. Peraden. represents the bracts 

 and flowers as vinous purple with yellowish lobes. — J. I). H. 



* Dedicated to John Burmann, Professor of Botany at Amsterdam 

 and author of 'Thesaurus zeylanicus,' 1737. Died in 1779. 



