3o6 CommelinacecB. [AnetVema,. 



Rootstock very short, with tufted fibrous roots ; stem o ; 

 1, 4-9 by i-ih in., sessile, broadly ensiform or oblanceolate, 

 acuminate, thin, margins undulate, glabrous, veins many, 

 parallel, base J-, in. broad, sheath o ; scapes many, shorter 

 than the 1., slender, erect ; fl. in a widely spreading terminal 

 panicle 8-12 in. long, with very slender branches often from 

 the base upwards, lax-fid.; bracts at the axils of the branches 

 small, not sheathing ; bracteoles minute, ovate, persistent ;. 

 pedicels about i in. ; fl. h in. broad, sep. ovate, acute ; pet. 

 subequal ; fertile stam. 3, anth. subsimilar, fil. bearded below 

 the middle ; staminodes 2 ; ov. subequally 3-celled, cells 5- or 

 more-ovuled ; capsule I in. long, subclavate, trigonous, acute, 

 subequally 3-celled, seeds 5-8 in each cell, superposed in one 

 series, angular, smooth, white, with a minutely reticulate 

 epidermis, the central ones in each row depressed. 



Moist low country ; very rare. Potupitiya, Kukul Korale (Thwaites). 

 Fl. July; pale»pinkish-violet. 

 Also in Travancore. 



2. A. esculentum, JVa!/. Cat. n. 5208 (1828). 

 Clarke, Mon. 206. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 377. 



Stem 6-18 in., subsimple, erect, glabrous, leafy, with a 

 thickened stoloniferous rootstock giving off clusters of fleshy, 

 stout root-fibres, with thickened extremities ; 1. 3-4 by \-\ in., 

 chiefly radical, linear, obtuse or acute, recurved, nearly 

 glabrous, coriaceous, many-veined, base narrowed into a short 

 sheath ; panicle 1-3 in. long and broad, glabrous, branches 

 alt., spreading, lower bracts i in., ovate, and small obtuse 

 bracteoles persistent ; pedicels tV"^ '"•> A- about ^ in. broad ; 

 stam. 3, fil. bearded ; ov. 3-celled, cells several-ovuled ; capsule 

 ellipsoid-oblong, 5—;^ in. long, acute, cells 3-5-secded, valves 

 thin ; seeds ^V in. diam., superposed in one series, cubical, 

 dark brown, obscurely scabrid or pitted. 



Ceylon (Walker in Herb. Kew). 



Also in S. India, China, and Australia. 



3. A. zeylanlcum, Clarke, Monogr. 20\{\ZZ\). 



A. diiiiorp/iinii, 'Ihvv. Enum. 322 {1 Dalz.). C. P. 2035. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 376. 



Stem 6-12 in., erect, stout or slender, simi:)ie or branched 

 from the base, leafy, glabrous or jiuberulous ; root-fibres 

 capillary; 1. 1-6 by i-iA in., narrowly oblong, narrowed at 

 both ends, acute or acuminate, glabrous or pubescent on 

 both surfaces, uppermost rounded at the base, veins parallel,, 

 margins sometimes crisped, base narrowed into the short 

 pubescent sheath; panicle glabrous, 2-4 in. long and broad,. 



