796 CXXXX. COMMELINACEJE. 



4. FLOSCOPA, Lour. 



Erector subscaiideut herbs. Leaves lanceolate. Flowers in terminal 

 or axillary panicles of seciind but not scorpioid cymes ; bracts minute. 

 Sepals 3, oblong, free. Petals 3, obovate, tree. tStaiuens 6, all perfect, 

 or 1 im])erfect, hypogynous ; filaments filiform, glabrous. Ovary 2- 

 celled ; ovules solitary in each cell. Fruit a con)pressed or didymous 

 loculicidal 2-celled capside. Seed solitary in each cell, hemispheric. — 

 DiSTBiB. Species about 11, tropical. 



1. Floscopa scandens. Lour. Fl. Cochinch. (1790) p. 193. Root 

 fibrous; stem rather slender, rooting below; internodes long; branches 

 ascending, leafy above, glabi'oiis or pubescent. Leaves 2-4 by ^-1 hi., 

 elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, much narrowed at the base, subsessile or 

 shortly petiolate, scaberulous above, glabrous or pubescent beneath ; 

 sheaths loose, short, glabrous or villous, the mouth fringed with long 

 hairs. Flowers iu terminal, sessile or shortly pedunculate villous or 

 hirsute panicles, the flo\A-ers I'acemosely arranged along the long erect or 

 ascending many-flowered branches of the panicle, pedicellate, small, sub- 

 globose, the lower flowers braeteate, the upper ebracteate ; bracteoles 

 minute. Sepals yq-^ in. long, rotund-ellipsoid, concave, villous. Petals 

 slightly longer than the sepals, broadly obovate, \\liite, lilac or pink. 

 Filaments longer than the petals, e(pial, purplisli ; anthers golden- 

 yellow. Ovary glabrous. Capsules rather broader than long, j'q— g in. 

 in diam., suborbicular, abruptly subacute at both ends, shining. Seeds 

 -Jg in. long, pale glaucous, dorsally transversely wrinkled. Fl. B. 1. v. 6, 

 p. 390 ; Clarke, in DC. Monog. Phau. v. 3 (1881) p. 265 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. 

 v. 4, p. 316 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 525 ; Prain, 

 Beng. PI. p. 1086. Dlthyrocarpus panicuhdas, Kunth, Enum. v. 4 

 (1843) p. 79; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 256. Dithiirocarpus petiolatus, D. liothii 

 and D. uudu/atus, Wight, Icon. v. 6 (1853) p. 32, tt. 2079, 2080.— 

 I'lowers : Oct.-Nov. 



KoNKAN : on the Glials, Dalzell ^- Gibson. S. M. Country: Londa, Cookel 

 G'astlerock, Woodrow. Kanaka: Woodrow; Jagalbet, Jiitcliic, 7471; Kala uaddi, 

 Ritchie, 747! — Distrib. Tbroughout Tropical ludia in swampy places ; Ceylon, East 

 Asia, Tropical Australia. 



The following plants o£ the Order are commonly grown in gardens :— 



Rhoeo discolor. Fiance, in AValp. Ann. v. 3 (1853) p. 659. Leaves 

 large, upright, much imbricated, narrowly lanceolate, acute, sheathed at 

 the base, green above and purple beneath. Flowers blue or purple, 

 almost included within the bracts. A native of Central America. 

 "When grown in a rich soil and regularly watered it is a striking plant 

 easily propagated by cuttings. Common in gardens and in pots about 

 bungtdov\s, usually known as Tradescantia. Tnuhscantla discolor, 

 L'llerit. Sert. Aiigl.(1788) p. 8, t. 12 ; Grab. Cat. p. 223; Dalz. &Gibs. 

 Suppl. p. 94 ; Woodr. Gard. in Ind. ed. 5, p. 517. 



Zehrina pendula, Schnizl. in Bot. Zeit. v. 7 (1849) p. 870. A decum- 

 bent herb of creeping habit. It has green leaves 1^ by f in., striped 

 (Zebra-like) with white above and purple beneath. It forms a good 

 basket plant and is also useful for covering the earth in large pots or 



