820 LX. LYTHRACE^. [Ammannia. 



numerous. Species 275, in the tropics chiefly in South America, 

 and in temperate regions. [King, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. Ixvii. i.) 



The Pomegranate [Ptmica granatum L.) DeUma of the Malays, 

 often cultivated by the Chinese, belongs to this Order. 



Herbs in wet spots with minute axillary flowers . i. Ammannia 



Trees or shrubs ; flowers moderate or large (minute in 

 Crypteronia). 

 Stamens not more than 12. 



Shrub; calyx 6-toothed ; petals 6 ; stamens 12 . 2. Pemphis 

 Tree ; calyx 5-toothed ; petals o ; stamens 4 or 5 ; 



flowers minute, unisexual . . . • 3- Crypteronia 



Stamens indefinite ; trees. 



Stamens in 2 or more rows ; capsule 3- to 6-celled ; 



seed winged . . . . . . •4- Lagerstrcemia 



Stamens in i row ; capsule 4- to 8-celled ; seeds 



minute ....... 5. Duabanga 



Fruit baccate, 10- to 15-celled ; sea trees . . 6. Sonneratia 



Ovary quite inferior ; stamens 10; flowers small. 7. Axinandra 



1. AMMANNIA, Linn. 



Annual glabrous herbs in wet spots. Leaves opposite or 

 alternate, entire. Flowers very small axillary and sub-sessile or 

 in small trichotomous cymes. Calyx campanulate, 3- to 5-toothed. 

 Petals 3 to 5 or often none. Stamens 2 to 8 on the calyx-tube. 

 Ovary enclosed in the tube, i- to 5-celled. Capsule membranous, 

 globose or ellipsoid, 2- to 3-valved, irregularly breaking up or 

 circumscissile. Seeds many, minute. (Koehne, in Pflanzenreich, 

 separates these two species into two genera Rotala and Ammannia, 

 on what appears to be somewhat insufficient grounds.) Species 30, 

 whole of the warmer parts of the world. 



Flowers sessile ; capsule ellipsoid ; seed narrow, oblong . (i) A. peploides 

 Flowers pedicelled ; capsule hemispheric ; seed hemi- 

 spheric , (2) A. baccifera 



(i) A. peploides Spreng. Syst. i. 444 ; Clarke, in Hook. fil. F.B.I. 

 ii. 566; King, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. Ixvii. (2), 3. Rotala indica, 

 Koehne, Pflanzenreich 40. 



Erect or decumbent, 4 to 14 in. tall. Leaves 4 in. long, oblanceo- 

 late obtuse, narrowed to base. Flowers very small sessile, solitary 

 in axils of reduced leaves. Bracts in pairs, filiform. Calyx 

 2-valved, elhpsoid. Seeds narrow oblong, sub-falcate, pink, 

 angled. Hab. Damp spots, rice-fields and marshes in the north. 

 Perils, Ginting Kabok. Lankawi, Kwah in marshes. Kelantan, 

 Kota Bharu, rice-fields (Ridley). Distrih. India, Java, China, 

 Persia. 



(2) A. baccifera Linn. Sp. PL 120; Clarke, I.e. ii. 569; 

 King, I.e. 3. 



A dull red herb. Stem erect 8 to 12 in. or more tall branched. 

 Leaves opposite, linear-oblong sub-acute or blunt, narrowed at 

 base 2 to 5 in. long, 2 in. or less wide, upper ones small. Flowers 



