Aneiiema?^ CommeliuacecE. 309 



short ; sep. oblong, acute ; pet. suborbicular ; stam. 3 perfect, 

 fil. all of equal length, and bearded ; ov. 3-celled, cells 2-ovuled, 

 style naked ; capsule \ in. long, ellipsoid or oblong, mucronate, 

 cells 2-seeded, valves hard, polished ; seeds irregularly shaped, 

 compressed, brown, echinulate or rough. 



Moist low country below 1000 ft. ; rather rare. Pasdun Korale ; 

 Kalawane, S. Prov. Fl. Sept., Dec, March ; pale purplish-blue. 



Also in India, Malaya, China, Africa, Australia. 



8. A. vag-inatum, Br. Prod. Fl. Nov. Holl. 271 (1810). 

 Thw. Enum. 322. Clarke, Mon. 216. C. P. 2328. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 381. Wight, Ic. t. 2076. 



Stem 6-18 in., very slender, flaccid, rooting at the lower 

 nodes, flg. branches ending in filiform peduncles, with distant 

 flg. bracts ; root-fibres stout, almost fleshy ; 1. 3-6 by \-\ in., 

 elongate-linear, acuminate, flat, glabrous or sparsely hairy, 

 veins faint, base forming a short open ciliate sheath ; fl. small, 

 fascicled in distant bracts along the filiform, very slender 

 terminations of the branches, long-pedicelled ; bracts \~\ in., 

 erect, narrowly oblong, obtuse, sheathing, strongly ribbed ; 

 pedicels \-\ in., very slender, puberulous, 1-2-jointed ; 

 bracteoles at the bases of the pedicels, linear, hyaline ; sep. 

 \ in., ovate-oblong, obtuse, glabrous or pubescent ; pet. 

 orbicular ; stam. 2 perfect, fil. bearded, staminodes 3, ov. 

 2-celled, cells i-ovuled ; capsule To-g i'^- diam., globose, 

 cuspidate, shining, 3-celled, 1-3-seeded; seeds trigonously 

 conic, nearly black, one end abruptly truncate, flat, the other 

 narrowed, obtuse, containing the embryo, two of the sides each 

 with two large superposed pits. 



Low country in both regions; common. Fl. Feb., May, July; blue. 



Also throughout India, China. 



Habit and infl. very different from the other Ceylon species. The 

 panicle is reduced to a long filiform rhachis with very distant bracteate 

 clusters of fl. 



9. A. montanum, Wight., m Wall. Cat. n. 5203 (1828). 

 Thw. Enum. 322. Clarke, Mon. 217. C. P. 2325. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 381. Wight, Ic. t. 2069 {Dictyospermum montanum). 

 Stem 12-18 in., erect or suberect, creeping and rooting 

 below, simple or sparingly branched, glabrous or puberulous 

 above, roots of tortuous fibres; 1. petioled, 3-6 by i|-2 in., 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate or caudate, thin, glabrous or 

 puberulous, costate, veins slender, base narrowed into a broad 

 cuneiform petiole, \-^ in. long, sheath ^-i\ in.; panicle 

 terminal, erect, branches few, long, very slender, spreading, 

 distantly scarred, glandular, flg. at the tips ; fl. few, about 

 ^ in. broad, pedicels tV-to in-> bracteoles hemispheric, cadu- 

 cous ; sep. ovate, subacute ; pet. broadly oval ; stam. 3, fil. 



