ERIOCAULACEiE. 43I 



Eriocaulcn christophcri Fyson ; I 45. Stems tufted : 

 scapes several 4 to 7 inches, stout : sheaths I inch, with 

 bifid mouth. Leaves I to I finches, firm about nine- 

 nerved, thick and channelled above. Heads J^ to 

 % inch. Lowest bracts brown, glabrous ; inner black, 

 acuminate. Receptacle villous- Floral bracts fringed 

 with thick white hairs. Male flowers : — Sepals united into 

 a spathe split in front, fringed with thick white hairs. 

 Corolla tube slender ; lobes unequal very long, with small 

 glands, and fringed w^ith long white hairs. Anthers 

 black. Female flowers - — Sepal black, boat-shaped, with 

 scattered hairs along the margin and keel. Petals white, 

 oblanceolate, with long hairs and small glands, t. 275. 



In damp ground. Nilgiri : at Pykara, flowering May. Fyson 

 2718. 



Perhaps Schmidt left hand plant on sheet marked E. trilobum from 

 Kaity, etc., in cover of E. coUinum at Kew. Not known elsewhere. 



The male petals are unusually long and the hair fringing 

 them and on the female petal are also long. 



Eriocaulcn olivcri Fyson ; I 46 ; White-headed Hatpin- 

 flower. Similar in habit to E. geofreyi, but larger and 

 the involucral bracts white : male sepals not black. 



Scapes solitary, very slender, 4 to 6 inches: sheath 

 % to I inch, with enlarged bifid mouth. Leaves as long 

 acute, glabrous nine-nerved. Heads % inch, white. 

 Involucral bracts white, glabrous. Floral bracts with 

 numerous thick white hairs. Receptacle villous. Afale 

 flowers '% inch. Sepals united into a spathe split in front ; 

 light coloured below, darker above but not black, with 

 white hairs upwards on the back. Corolla tube tapering 

 downwards ; petals unequal with long fringing hairs and 

 large glands. Anthers black. Female flowers as long. 

 Sepals black. Petals with a few thick white hairs above 

 and long white slender ones to the base. t. 276. 



In damp places. Pulneys 7,500 feet. Fyson 2994. 



