312 ACANTHACE^. 



5466. A full flowering occurred on the Nilgiris in 1908 

 (Bourne). 



Strobilanthcs kunthianus T. Anders. ; F.BJ. iv 434, 

 XVIII 13. ENDOPOGON. The common Strobilanth of the 

 open hill-sides. A gregarious shrub ; stem 2 feet, reddish, 

 terete, with a ciliate ridge connecting the two opposite 

 leaf-stalks at each swollen node. Leaves i^ by M inch, 

 with stalks of i^ inch, shortly acuminate, glabrous and 

 green above, whitish below : nerves about eight pairs, 

 broad. Spikes of flowers dense, often two or three in the 

 axils or bracts, on a common axillary peduncle. Fertile 

 bracts closely imbricated in four rows, ovate acuminate. 

 Corolla about I by J^ inch, pale blue or mauve, inflated 

 above, and with only a very short narrow part below. 

 Stamens two. Pollen grains ellipsoid with ten to twenty 

 longitudinal ribs and grooves. Capsule oblong : seeds 

 four, densely hairy except on the circular basal areola on 

 each of its faces, t. 206. Wight Ic. t. 448. 



On the open hill-sides, covering large areas, on both 

 plateaus, common. Fysofi S2>2>i ^^^Z- bourne no, ^i^, loGS.^ 



Gen. Dist. Mountains of South India, Shevaroys, etc. 



In t. 206 : b. ovary on disc ; c. stamen with part of corolla. 



An occasional plant may be found in flower at all times, but at irregular 

 intervals from 7 to 12 years, the hiil-sides are blue with the blossom. One 

 such outburst of flower occurred in 1898, on the Pulneys. Another in 1910. 

 Other collections bear dates 1847 (Gardner), 1850 (Foulkes), 1851 

 (Hohenacker), 1852 (Wight) at Avalanche. 



y^ Strobilanthes cuspidatus T. Anders. ; F.B.I, iv 435, 

 XVIII 16: ENDOPOGON. Distinguished among our 

 Strobilanthes by the white underside of the leaves and 

 the slender spikes with narrow sticky bracts and sepals. 

 Shrub 2 to 5 feet : young parts, and nodes of older, 

 sticky. Leaves long-stalked l^ to 4 by I to 2^ inches, 

 ovate, acuminate at both ends, glabrous above, white 

 below ; nerves eight pairs very regularly spaced, veins 

 indistinct: stalk M to l^ inches. Spikes ij^ to 2^ 



