LXXXVII. nORAGIXACE.T:. 20!J 



in Engl. & Prantl, Ptianzenf. v. 4, part 3, A, p. 93, Gc^. 38, K, L ; 

 Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1898) p. 170.— Flowers : Jau.- 

 Mar. 



In the Bombay Pi-esidency confined to Siud. Sind : JVoodrow, IV. Sfrachan !, 

 Sfoc/iS, 4C)(M, Bat-ell, 16!; Jemadar ka Landa near Karachi, SfocJiS, 46(5 .' ; Malir 

 (near Karachi), Bhola Furan I— Distrib. Behichistan, Tropical Africa. 



4. Heliotropium supinum, Linn. Sjr>. PI. (1753) p. 130. A 

 prosfrate softly villous herb ; stems numerous, spreading to G-12 

 (rarely 18) in. from the centre, thickly clothed with soft white hairs. 

 Leaves |-1 by |-| in., alternate (rarely opposite), elliptic, obtuse, 

 plicate, softly villous on both sides, more or less crenate, base acute ; 

 petioles g-| in. long, slender, villous. Flowers subsessile, in simple or 

 once-forked densely villous cymes. Calyx g-i in. long, very hairy on 

 both sides ; lobes about -^^ in. long, ciliate, the divisions between the 

 lobes marked down the calyx-tube by a thin easily tearable membrane, 

 which, if torn, makes the calyx seem 5-partite. Corolla -i--^ in. long, 

 much exserted, being pushed up by the expansion of the ovary ; lobes 

 very short (about -^ in. long), rounded. Stamens inserted a little below 

 the middle of the corolla-tube ; anthers -^-^ in. long, lanceolate, acute. 

 Style sV in. long; stigma ^ in. long, the stigmatic ring conspicuous, 

 surmounted by a small conical or subcylindric appendage which is peni- 

 cillate at the apex. Fruit of 2-3 (rarely 4) dark-brown nutlets, ovate 

 in horizontal section, rounded and obscurely tuberculate on the back, 

 usually with strong light-brown margins, the face nearly flat when the fruit 

 consists of 2 nutlets (making the nutlets plano-convex), but angled when 

 there are more than 2. Fl. B. I. v. 4, p. 149; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 171 ; 

 AVight, Icon. t. 1387 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 3, p. 199 ; Giirke, in Engl. 

 & Prantl, Pflanzenf. v. 4, part 3, A^ p. 93, fig. 38, M, N ; Woodr. in 

 Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1898) p. 170. Piptoclaina maIahnrica,G. Don, 

 Gen. Syst. v. 4, p. 364 ; Grab. Cat. p. 135.— Flowers : Mar. 



Common in rice-fields. Koukan : Gibson ! Deccan : Sinhagad, Woodroiv ; Poona, 

 Woodr ow.KanifJcarl; Mawal, -K'aw/?'/(-ar!; 'KurW. liana de \ S. M. Country : Dharwar, 

 CooJcel, Woodroiv; Belganm, Bitchie, 499! Gujarat: Kanitkar\ Sind : Slocks, 

 244! — DiSTRiB. India (Panjab, Upper Gangetie plain, VV. Peninsida); Ceylon, S. 

 Europe, N. & S. Africa, Canary Islands. 



I have found 3 nutlets as often as 2 in the Bombay specimens, and frequently, 

 when there were only 2, there was a vacant space for a third. 



Vab. malaharica , C. B. Clarke, in Fl. B. I. 1. c, the fruit of M'hich 

 consists of 4 nutlets without conspicuous margins, cannot, in my opinion, 

 stand as a variety. I have, many years ago, examined a very large 

 number of living specimens and have found 2, 3, or occasionally 4 

 nutlets on the same plant, so that the number of nutlets cannot be re- 

 garded as a distinctive character. In the case ^^■he^e there are only 2 

 nutlets the margins are large and conspicuous, but when the nutlets 

 increa-se to 4 the margins naturally dwindle in size, as they have less 

 room to expand, and sometimes almost disappear. 



5. Heliotropium rariflorunx, StocJcs, in Ken' Journ. Bot. v. 4 

 (1852) p. 174. A stiff undershrub G-18 in. high with a perennial root; 

 stems erect, branched, rigid and, as well as the branches, hoary with 

 appressed hairs. Leaves ^1 by -/jj— ^ iu., linear, subacute, with more 



VOL. II. p 



