736 CXXA'I. SCITAMINK^. 



with narrow membranous margins. Calyx | in. lung, membranous, 

 truncate, glabrous, split half-way down. Corolla-tube 1 in. long, 

 slender, glabrous ; lobes lanceolate, the lateral 1 by | in., the dorsal 

 ] I by I in., concave. Lip suborbicular, deeply 2-lobed, nearly 1 in. in 

 diam., yellow (not spotted), with crisped margins. Stamen yellowish- 

 white, shorter than the lip, the appendix of the connective long, 

 flexuous. Style glabrous ; stigma obconic, ciliate. Capsules subglobose, 

 ^ in. long, membranous. Seeds many, verv small, purple. Fl. B. I. 

 V. 6, p. 248 ; Grab. Cat. p. 207 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 272 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyj. 

 V. 4, p. 258; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 521; 

 K. Sebum, in Engler, Pflanzenreicb, v. 4, part 46 (1904) p. 179 ; Prain, 

 Beng. PL p. 1044; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 4, p. 357.— 

 Flowers : July-Aug. Vebn. Malhdri-halad. 



Konkan: Stocksl; W. Ghats, Woodrow. S. M. Country: Londa, Woodrow. 

 Kanaka: Law\ — Distrib. Throughout India; Ceylon, Malay Peninsula; widely 

 cultivated in Tropical Asia. 



Zingiber officinale, Eoscoe, in Trans. Linn. Soc. v. 8 (1807) p. 348. 

 A herb with slender leafy stems 3-4 ft. high, which furnishes the 

 Ginger of commerce, not apparently known in the wild state, but 

 doubtless a native of Tropical Asia. It is cultivated largely throughout 

 the tropics. It rarely flowers and still more rarely produces seed 

 (Roxhurijli). It is extensively grown in the Deccan and Gujarat. — 

 Vehn. Ah, Adralc (the fresh root) ; Sunt (the dried root). Fl. B. I. 

 V. 6, p. 246 ; Grab. Cat. p. 207; Dalz. & Gibs. Suppl. p. 87 ; Woodr. 

 in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 521 ; K. Sebum, in Engler, 

 Pflanzenreicb, v. 4, part 46 (1904) p. 170; Prain, Beng. PI. p. 1044; 

 Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 4, p. 358. 



8. COSTUS, Linn. 



Herbs with long leafy stems ; rootstock tuberous, horizontal. Leaves 

 oblong, with broad sheaths. Flowers in dense globose or ovoid usually 

 terminal heads. Calyx short, funnel-shaped ; teeth 3, ovate. Corolla- 

 tube short; corolla-lobes large, oblong, subequal. Stamen 1 perfect; 

 filament forming v^'ith the connective an oblong petaloid process with 

 the contiguous linear anther-cells situated in its middle; lateral 

 staminodes minute or obsolete. Lip large, obovate, with incurved 

 margins. Ovary 3-celled ; ovules many, superposed ; placentas axile ; 

 style filiform ; stigma with a semi-linear marginally ciliate foveola. 

 Fruit a globose or ovoid capsule tardily opening on one side between 

 the ribs. Seeds obovoid or subglobose ; aril short. — Distriu. Species 

 nearly 100, in the tropics of both hemispheres. 



1. Costus speciosus, Smith, in Trans. Linn. Soc. v. 1 (1791) 

 p. 249. An erect plant 4-9 ft. high ; rootstock tuberous, insipid ; 

 stem subwoody at the base. Leaves 6-] 2 by 2^-3 in., subses-sile, 

 spirally arranged, oblong or oblanccolate-oblong, acute or acuminate, 

 often cuspidate, glabi-ous above, silky-pubescent beneath, base rounded ; 

 sheaths coriaceous ; ligule 0. Flowers white, numerous, in very dense 

 Bpikes 2-5 by L]-3 in,; bracts |-1] in. long, ovate, acuminate, often 

 puugently mucronate, bright-red ; bractcole solitary below the calyx, 



