248 ScitaminecB. {Alpinia. 



\-\\ in. long; bracts small, cupular ; cal.-tube \-\ in., sub- 

 campanulate, pubescent, mouth oblique, obtusely 2-3-toothed ; 

 cor.-tube as long as the cal., segm. longer than the tube, 

 linear-oblong, cymbiform, dorsally pubescent, shortly spurred 

 below the hooded tip ; lip i in. long, including the slender 

 claw, cuneiform or nearly orbicular, bifid, margins waved and 

 erose, claw as long as the limb, base with 2 fleshy teeth ; fil. 

 nearly as long as the anth., cells distant, glabrous, connective 

 produced into a small lobed crest ; style glabrous, stigma 

 small ; fr. globose, | in. diam., pericarp black, fragile ; seeds 

 small, black. 



Tn wet places in the low country; rather common. Fl. Jan. -March; 

 pink. 



All India and Malaya, wild or cultivated. 



There being no specimens in Herb. Hermann Linnaeus left this un- 

 named. Kcenig's specimens, on which Retzius founded the species, are 

 in Brit. Mus. 



Rootstock used as a medicine. 



2. A. nutans, Roscoe in Trans. Li7m. Soc. viii. 346 (1807), var. 

 sericea. Moon, Cat. i (sp.). Ran-kiriya, .S". 

 Thw. Enum. 320. C. P. 3312. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 256. Bot. Mag. t. 1093. Wight, Ic. t. 2027. 



Rootstock tuberous; stem 8,-10 ft, leafy; 1. bifarious, sub- 

 sessile or petioled, 1-2 ft. by 3-6 in., linear-oblong, cuspidately 

 acuminate, glabrous, smooth, shining, base acute or obtuse, 

 petiole up to 2 in., sheath smooth, ligule oblong, coriaceous, 

 hairy ; panicle narrow, racemiform, inclined or decurved, villous, 

 rhachis very stout, 1 ft. long; branches short, simple, termi- 

 nated by very shortly pedicelled bracteate fls. ; bracts i^ in. 

 long, cymbiform, enveloping the buds, often bifid, deciduous; 

 cal.-tube i in. long, campanulate, inflated, broadly 3-lobed, 

 lobes acute; cor.-tube shorter than the cal., dorsal segm. 

 much largest, ovate-oblong, entire or obscurely 3-lobed, lateral 

 linear-oblong, tips rounded; lip large, i^, in. long, sessile, 

 broadly ovate-cordate, obtuse or 2-fid, sides incurved, margins 

 crisped, base with 2 short spurs embracing the base of the 

 style; fil. short, anth.-cells glabrous, connective not produced 

 beyond the cells; style hairy; fr. globose, f in. diam., pedi- 

 celled, tomentose; seeds angular. 



Low country; very rare. In a forest between Xegombo and Kurune- 

 gala (Thwaites). Fl. June; white, the lip yellow, veined and speckled 

 with vinous red. 



Our variety endemic ; the type is Malayan and common m Ceylon 

 Gardens ; has larger fl., bracts tipped with red, and a longer infl. 

 — Trimen. 



A very common and variable plant. The Ceylon form seems to me 

 hardly to constitute a marked variety. — J. D. H. 



