XCVI. ACANTIIACE-E. 415 



ovules 2 iu each cell ; style filiform ; stigma minutely 2-fid. Capsule 

 clavate, contracted below into a long cylindric stalk, -l-seeded. fcJeeds 

 ovoid or suborbicular, compressed, glabrous, obscurely rugose or tuber- 

 culate. — DiSTBiB, ludia and Africa ; species 4. 



1. Rhinacanthus communisy Nees, in Wall. PI. As. liar. y. 3 

 (1832) p. 109. An uuJershrub 3-5 ft. high; stems subterete or 

 obscurely angled, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves 2-4 by |-2 in. 

 (occasionally larger), elliptic-lanceolate, acute, entire, lineolate, glabrous 

 or nearly so, base tapering ; main nerves 8-10 pairs ; petioles g-^ in. 

 long, often obscure. Elowers sessile or shortly pedicellate, solitary or 

 2 or 3 together, distant on the divaricate branches of very large lax 

 terminal panicles ; bracts and braeteoles j^ ^^^- ^^^g) ovate-lanceolate, 

 glandular-pubescent. Calyx ^ in. long, glandular-pubescent ; segments 

 ^ in. long, subequal, linear, subacute. Corolla 1-1| in. long, white, 

 hairy outside ; tube |-| by j^ in. ; upper lip f in. long by j-^ in. broad 

 at the base and about -^ in. broad at top, bifid ; lower lip ^ in. long ; 

 lobes oblong, obtuse. Pilaments glabrous ; lower anther-cells mutico as. 

 0\ary glabrous; style pubescent. Capsules |-g in. long, narrow, 

 ponited, velvety-pubescent, not much swollen above the solid stalk which 

 is more than half the length of the capsule. Seeds -^^ in. in diain., 

 tuberculate, glabrous, black. El. B. I. v. 4, p. 541 ; Dalz. & Gibs. 

 p. 194 ; Wight, Icon. t. 464 ; Trim. M. Ceyl. v. 3, p. 339 ; Talb. Trees, 

 Bomb. ed. 2, p. 265 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 358 ; 

 Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 1, p. 488. Justicia nasuta, Linn. 

 Sp. PL (1753) p. 16; Grab. Cat. p. 164.— Flowers : Oct.-Jan. A'erx. 

 Gajkarni ; Kdgamalli. 



Deccan : Maliableshwar hills, Balzell tj- Gibson, Ralph !, Cooke !, Wooclrow ; Kliandala, 

 Cooke\ S. M. Country: arid hills N.E. of Belgauin, Ritchie, 9231 — Distiub. 

 Throughout India, cultivated, perhaps wild in the Deccan Peninsula ; Ceylon (wild, 

 not culti7ated,/<fe Triinen), Straits Settlements, Java, Madagascar (cultivated). Tropical 

 Africa. 



The plant is employed medicinally by the natives of India. Tbe fresh root and 

 leaves bruised and mixed with lime-juice and pepper are employed as an external 

 application iu the variety of ringworm known as Dhobis itch. See Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. 1. c. 



36. PERISTROPHE, Nees. 



Erect spreading herbs. Leaves entire. Elowers purple or rose-colored, 

 solitary or iu small cymose heads, often arranged in large lax panicles ; 

 bracts in pairs, longer than the calyx, often unequal, linear or ovate ; 

 braeteoles in pairs, shorter than the bracts, linear or lanceolate. Calyx 

 small, 5-partite ; segments subequal, linear-lanceolate. Corolla 2-lipped ; 

 tube slender ; upper lip subentire ; lower lip shortly 3-lobed. Stamens 

 2 ; filaments pubescent below ; anthers 2-celled, the cells one above the 

 other, muticous. Disk cupular. Ovary 2-celled ; ovules 2 in each cell ; 

 style filiform ; stigma shortly 2-lobed. Capsule ellipsoid, with a cylindric 

 stalk, 4-seeded ; placentas not rising elastically from the base of the 

 capsule. Seeds discoid, glabrous, minutely glandular-papillose. — Diistbib. 

 Warmer regions of the Old World; species 20. 



1. Peristrophe bicalyculata, Nees, in Wall. PI. As. liar. v. 3 

 (1832) p. 113. Herbaceous, 3-4 ft. high ; stems and branches usually 



