j'Floscopa.'] Co7nmelinacecs. 315 



both surfaces, margins naked or silkily villous, base narrowed 

 into a broad sacciform sheath ^-i in. long; cymes chiefly 

 terminal, capitate, \-\ in. diam., sessile or shortly peduncled, 

 glabrous or villous ; bracts broadly ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 hardly exceeding the bracteoles which are \ in. long, dimidiate- 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate ; sep. oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, hirsute; cor.-tube about as long as the sep., lobes 

 rounded ; fil. not thickened towards the tip ; style naked ; 

 capsule shortly oblong, obtuse, hispid ; seeds obconic, sub- 

 rugose. 



Among grass on the patanas in montane zone; very common. Fl. all 

 the year; brilliant pale blue. 



Also on the Nilgiri Mts. 



Wight's C.pilosa (Ic. PI. Ind. or t. 2083) cited for this by Thwaites, is 

 a species with cobwebby white pubescence, and has a bearded style. 

 Clarke cites it under his C. arachnoidea. — J. D. H. 



8. C. axillaris, Schiiltesf. Syst. vii. 11 54 (1830). 



TradescMitia axillaris, L. Moon, Cat. 24. Thw. Enum. 323. C. P. 

 2330. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 388. Roxb. Cor. PI. t. 107. 



Stem 6-18 in., stout or slender, diffusely branched, leafy, 

 branches suberect and creeping below, or prostrate, glabrous 

 •or sparsely hairy, internodes 1-3 in.; roots fibrous; 1. sessile, 

 2-6 by \-\ in., narrowly linear or linear-lanceolate, acute or 

 acuminate, flat, glabrous or hairy, sheath \-\ in., mouth 

 ciliate; cymes reduced to axillary fascicles of flowers with the 

 small linear or linear-lanceolate bracteoles almost concealed 

 in the l.-sheaths; sep. \ in. long, spathulately lanceolate, 

 acuminate, sparingly hairy; cor.-tube \ in. long, lobes small, 

 rounded; fil. fusiform below the tip; style bearded; capsule 

 \-\ in. long, shortly stipitate, long-beaked, quite glabrous, 

 beak half as long as the body; seeds large, up to -jV in. long, 

 oblong, compressed, or ventrally concave, brown, shining, 

 • cancellate, with shallow pits. 



Low country in both regions; common. Fl. March, October; bright 

 ■ violet-blue. 



Throughout E. Asia, Australia. 



5. FI.OSCOPA, Lour. 

 Erect or subscandent herbs; 1. lanceolate; fl. secund, in 

 terminal or axillary thyrsiform panicled cymes; sep. 3, oblong, 

 membranous, concave, persistent; pet. free, unequal, marces- 

 cent, one narrower than the others; stam. 6, all perfect, fil. 

 filiform, naked; ov. shortly stipitate, 2-celled, cells i-ovuled, 

 style filiform, stigma minute; capsule very shortly stipitate, 



