XC'VI. ACANTIIACE.IC. 359 



3. Hemigraphis elegans, Nees, in DC. Prodr. v. 11 (1847) p. 722, 

 TAR. crenata, 0. B. Clarl-e, in Hook. f. Fl. B. I. v. 4 (1884) p. 425. 

 Diffuse ; stems subquadrangular, viscidly pubescent. Leaves 1-1| by 

 |-1| in., ovate or elliptic, subobtuse, crenate, hairy, base shortly 

 cuneate ; petioles |-| in. long, l^lowers in glandular-hairy beads ; 

 bracts elliptic-oblong, subobtuse, those of tlie inner flowers longer than 

 the calyx, glandular-hairy and strongly ciliate ; bracteoles 0. Calyx to 

 top of longest segment reaching ^^ in. long, divided nearly to the base, 

 one of the segments longer than the other 4; segments linear, sub- 

 obtuse, glandular-hairy and ciliate. Corolla \ in. long ; tube whitish ; 

 limb blue, with obovate rounded lobes ^ in. long. Longer filaments of 

 the stamens bearded in the upper part. Capsules i in. long, pubescent, 

 8-10-seeded. Seeds yV ^^- ^^ diam., densely clothed with hygroscopic 

 \^'hite hairs. RueUia crenata., Benth. ex Hohenhack. in Plora, v. 32 

 (1849) p. 558.— Flowers : Dec. 



Konkan: Law], Sfocksl S. M. Country: Belgaum, Eitchie, 586! Kanaka: 

 Hohe.nhacker, 737! — Distrib. India (W. Peninsula). 



13. PETALIDIUM, Nees. 



TJndershrubs. Leaves usually entire. Flowers shortly pedicellate, in 

 contracted cymes sometimes reduced to single flowers, often crowded on 

 shortened lateral branches ; bracts small, narrow^ or ; bracteoles 2, 

 large, ovate, concave, reticulately veined, ultimately more or less 

 scarious. Calyx divided into 5 unequal narrow-lanceolate segments. 

 Corolla straight or curved ; tube dilated in the upper half or infundibu- 

 liform only at the very top ; lobes 5, subequal, twisted to the left in bud. 

 Stamens 4, didynamous ; anthers subsimilar, 2-celled, the cells parallel, 

 shortly spurred or muticous at the base; pollen ellipsoid, few-ribbed, 

 stopples 3 with (nearly always) 1 tubercle above and 1 below each stopple. 

 Ovary 2-celled ; ovules 2 in each cell ; style long ; stigma with 2 unequal 

 lobes. Capsule clavate, compressed. Seeds 2 or 4, discoid, hvgro- 

 scopically hairy, on placentas that separate elastically from the bottom 

 of the capsule carrying the seeds with them. — Distrib. Species 18, of 

 which 1 is in India, the rest in Africa and the Mascarene Islands. 



1. Petalidium barlerioides, Nees, in Wall. PI. As. Bar. v. 3 

 (1832) p. 82. Shrubby, 2-4 ft. high ; stems numerous, subterete, 

 glabrous. Leaves on the main stems 2-4 by ^k-^k in., broadly ovate, 

 acuminate, crenate-serrate, glabrous or nearly so except on the nerves 

 beneath, base usually rounded ; main nerves 6-8 pairs, prominent, with 

 reticulate veins bet^^"een them ; petioles |— | in. long : leaves on the 

 short flower-bearing branches smaller, g-lg in. long. Flowers solitary, 

 usually crowded on abbreviated lateral branches ; bracteoles |-1 in. 

 long, foliaceous, ovate, acuminate, strongly nerved and reticulately 

 veined, green at first, becoming pale-brown and scarious in age, cilio- 

 late ; pedicels ^-^ in. long. Calyx glandular-hairy, reaching | in. long 

 to top of longest segment; tube ^ in. long; segments lanceolate- 

 subulate, one of them longer than the others. Corolla white, reaching 

 1^ in. long, pubescent outside, strongly nerved, the palate with long 

 deflexed hairs within ; tube ventricose upwards ; lobes i in. long, 

 obovate, obtuse, with irregularly crenate margins. Filaments hairy at 



