COG cxT. EUPnonBTACB.i:. 



24. CHROZOPHORA, Neck. 



Diffuse densely hispid or steilately toiiu-ntose lierbs. Leaves alternate, 

 sinuate-toothed or lobed, wavy or plicate, j!-glandiilar at the base. 

 Flowers monoecious, in axillary bracteate i-acemes, the males crowded in 

 the upper part ot the raceme, the ieu)ales solitary, pedicellate, in tlie 

 lower part. Male flowers : Calyx globose or ovoid, splitting into 5 

 valvate segments. Petals 5, shoi't. Disk obscure. Stamens 5-15 ; 

 filaments connate below in a column in l-IJ series ; anthers oblong, the 

 cells parallel, contiguous. Pistillode 0. Female flowers : Sepals 5, 

 narrow. Petals 5, very narrow, souietimes setaceous or obsolete. Disk 

 of 5 short broad glands alternating with the petals. Ovary 3-celled ; 

 ovule solitary in i-ach cell ; styles erect or spreading, '2-fid. Capsule of 

 3 hispid, lomentose or lepidote, 2-valved, almost fleshy cocci. Seeds 

 estropliiolate ; t(>sta shining ; albumen fleshy ; cotyledons broad, flat. — 

 DiSTRiB. S]iecies 4-6, Mediterranean, Asiatic, and African. 



Ovary and capsule with stellate tomeutum and silvery scales. 



A prostrate herb; stamens 15 in 2 whorls 1. C. tinctoria. 



Shrubby erect ; stamens 6 2. C. obligua. 



Ovary and capsule with stellate tomentum but without silvery 

 scales. 



An erect steilately iiaii-y herb ; lower part of stem usually 

 without branches; leave^^ pale, reaching 4 in. long ; sepals 



of female flowers triangular 3. C. plicata. 



A prostrate steilately wi.olly herb, diffusely branched from the 

 root; leaves dark-brown, less than 1^ in. in diam. ; sepals 

 of foniah' (lowers linear .". 4. C. prflsirata. 



1. Chrozophora tinctoria, A. Jnas. Tent. Enphorh. (1824) p. 28, 

 t. 7, fig. 25. An animal prostrate herb, the whole plant densely clothed 

 with stellate tometitum ; stems about 1 ft. long, branched, not stout. 

 Leaves thick, softly steilately tomentose on both surfaces, li-2| by 

 ll_2.i ill., from ovate and sinuate-toothed or entire; to rounded and 

 obtusely lobed ; petioles ^-Ih in. long. Flowers in short racemes 

 lentfthening in fruit, th(> males numerous, crowded and sessile at the 

 top of the raceme, the females pedicellate in the lower part, solitary ; 

 bracts narrowly linear, tV'iV^'^' long, hairy. Male flowers: Calyx 

 A_JL in. long, densely st(;llately tomentose. Petals 5, thin, membranous, 

 elliptic-lanceolate, y\, in. long. Stamens about 15 in 1 whorls. Female 

 flowers: Pedicels often elongating in fruit. Calyx divided almost to 

 the base, densely steilately tomentose; sepals 5, triangular, acute, ^„ in. 

 long by ^jV '"• ^^'•'''^ '^' ^'^*^ base. Petals like the sepals but narrower 

 and shorter, densely steilately tomimtose. Ovary steilately tommtose 

 and clothed with silvery scales ; styles 3, each deeply 2-rid, usually 

 spreading. Cap^ul(>s | | in. in diam., clothed with stellate lomentiiin 

 and silvery si;ales. Seeds ^1 in. long, shining with a silvery sheen, 

 slightly tuberculate. Fl. B. \. v. 5, p. 408; VVoodr. in Journ. Bomb. 

 Nat. V. 12 (18i)9) p. 371 ; Watt, Diet. Ecou. Prod. v. 2, p. ()21.— 

 Flowers : Nov. Veen. Okhirdda. 



Deccan : Stocks\ Gujauat: widely. Woodmw. Sind : Buheff I -Distrib. India 

 (PanjAb) ; Af>ihnnistan and castw.-inl.x to the Mcdilirrnnoan region. 



The iilant is cultivated in the south of ['"ranco for the dye it yields. See Watt, 

 Diet. Econ. I 'rod. 1. c. 



