XCVIII. LABTAT.E, 445 



5. PLATYSTOMA, Beauv. (Platostoma). 



Small annuals. Flowers minute in terminal slender spicate racemes ; 

 whorls 6-10-riowered ; bracts small, caducous. Calyx ovoid-campauu- 

 late, deflexed in fruit, 2-lipped, the lips separated bj a broad sinus ; 

 upper lip ovate, not decurrent, with a tooth at each side near the base ; 

 lower lip ovate, entire, obtuse or subtruncate, inflexed. Corolla-tube 

 very short, widely campanulate at the mouth ; upper lip broad, 4-fid ; 

 lower lip scarcely longer, entire, slightly concave. Stamens 4, declinate, 

 included ; filaments free, dilated at the base, inappendieulate ; anther- 

 cells conHuent. Disk swollen, gibbous. Ovary 4-partite ; style shortly 

 2-fid at the apex. Fruit of 4 ovoid nutlets. — Distrib. India and 

 Tropical Africa ; species 2. 



1. Platystoma africanum, Beauv. Fl. Ow. 4' Ben. v. 2 (1808) 

 p. 61, t. 95, fig. 2 (Platostoma). An erect annual (3-12 in. high; stems 

 weak, quadrangular, glabrous or shghtly pubescent, simple or branched. 

 Leaves g-l^ by |-| in., ovate, acute, serrate, glabrous or nearly so, 

 base tapering into the petiole. Flowers in moderately dense racemes 

 2-5 in. long, about 10 in a whorl ; bracts J^ in. long, deltoid-ovate, 

 acute ; pedicels about -^^ ^^- ^ong. Fruiting calyx -^ in. long ; upper 

 lip rounded, sometimes apiculate at the apex, with an obtuse tooth 

 at each side near the base ; lower lip shorter and narrower than the 

 upper, obovate-oblong, rounded or subtruncate, inflexed. Corolla 

 scarcely longer than the calyx, pale-lilac. Nutlets -^-^ in. long, ovoid, 

 black when ripe, minutelv reticulate. Baker, in Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. v. 5, 

 p. 349 ; Briquet, in Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenf. v. 4, 3 A, p. 370, fig. lOH, 

 O, P, Q. Platystoma flaccidum, Benth.in Benth. & Hook. Gen. PL v. 2, 

 p. 1173; Hook. f. Fl. B. I. v. 4, p. 611 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. 

 V. 12 (1899) p. 360. 



Rare. Konkan : Stocks^ ! Kanaka : Mulas, Balzell ! ; on the Kala naddi, Ritchie, 

 1973 ! ; Birchi forest, Talbot, 1311 ! — Distrib. India (W. Peninsula) ; Tropical Africa. 



6. MOSCHOSMA, Eeichb. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves petiolate, crenate. Flowers 

 small, in subsecund 6-10-flowered whorls in axillary and terminal 

 paniculate rncemes ; bracts small. Calyx ovoid or campanulate ; upper 

 tooth or 3 upper teeth larger than the 4 or 2 lower, not decurrent ; 

 throat naked. Corolla 2-lipped ; upper lip 4-lobed, the lobes subequal 

 or the 2 middle ones rather longer ; 1o\a er lip entire, longer than the 

 upper. Stamens 4, didynamous, declinate ; filaments filiform, free, 

 inappendieulate; anther-cells confluent. Disk uniform or somewhat 

 swollen in fruit. Ovary 4-partite; style clavate-capitate, 2-fid at the 

 tip. Fruit of 4 compressed smooth dry nutlets ; basal scar small. — 

 Distrib. Tropical Asia, Africa and Australia ; species 6. 



1. Moschosma polystachyum, Benth. in Wall. PI. As. Bar. v. 2 



(1831) p. 13. Annual ; stem erect, 2-3 ft. high, much branched, 

 sharply quadrangular', glabrous. Leaves |-1| by |-1 in., ovate, 

 acuminate, obtuse or subacute, apiculate, irregularly crenate-serrate, 

 glabrous, base rounded or subcordate, narrowed into a slender petiole 

 as long as the blade. Flowers shortly pedicellate, in numerous whorls 

 closely placed and forming slender shortly pedunculate spicate racemes 



