506 LTIII. LYTHRACE.!;. 



Capsule not wholly covered by the calyx. 



Calyx striate with 8 vei'lical lines 9. A. mv.lt i flora. 



Calyx not striate with vertical lines. 



Leaves narrowed at the base 10. A. haccifera. 



Leaves rounded or cordate at the base IL A. salicifolia. 



1. Ammannia peploides, Spreng. Sj/st. Veg. v. 1 (1825) p. 444. 

 Stems 3-12 in., usually decumbent at the base and rooting at the lower 

 nodes ; branches ascending, 4-gouous. Leaves opposite ; those on the 

 main stem |-| by j-g in., sessile or nearly so, elliptic-spathulate, rounded 

 at tlie apex, narrowetl at the base, the midrib and lateral nerves promi- 

 nent beneath ; the leaves on the floriferous branches much smaller, 

 linear-oblong, bract-like. Flowers very small, solitary in the axils of 

 reduced leaves which are more or less approximated so that the branch- 

 lets appear like spikes ; bracteoles 2, linear, acute, scarious, ^'^ in. long. 

 Calyx campanulate, -^ in. long ; teeth 4, acutely triangular ; accessory 

 teeth minute or 0. Petals 4, very small or 0. Stamens 4. Caj)sule 

 ellipsoid, longer than broad, opening by 2 valves from the apex. Seeds 

 very^ minute, narrowly ellipsoid, red. Fl. B. I. v. 2, p. 5G6 ; Trim. Fl. 

 Ceyl. V. 2, p. 223 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1898) p. 638. 

 Ameldia indicct, DC. in Mem. Soc. Hist. Kat. Genev. v. 3 (1825) part 2, 

 p. 82 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 96. — Flowers : Nov.-Jan. 



A common weed in wet places. Konkan : Malw^n, iu rice-fields, Woodrow. 

 Gujarat: Surat, Kanithnr, 48!; Cliikli near Siirat, i?/;/t'« ! — Distrib. Throughout 

 India in rice-fields and damp places ; Ceylon, Malaya, Philippines, China, Aighanistan, 

 Persia. 



2. Ammannia tenuis, C. B. Clarke, in Hool-.f. Fl B. I. v. 2 (1879) 

 p. 507. Stems often numerous, csespitose, somewhat procumbent at 

 the base, afterwards erect, simple, 3-4 iu. long, or sometimes very com- 

 pound, reaching 8-10 in. long, very slender (almost filiform), terete, 

 shining, red. Leaves opposite, subsessile, broadly ovate or elliptic (the 

 lower sometimes orbicular), obtuse or acute ; latei'al nerves inconspicuous. 

 Flowers in dense terminal blender racemes (almost spikes) ^-1 in. long 

 on filiform peduncles ; pedicels very short ; bracts 1 to each flower, 

 YTTa ^^' ^^^E^ oblong-lanceolate, acute ; bracteoles J^ in. long, linear- 

 lanceolate, acute, herbaceous. Calyx jV-^ in. long, urceolate-campanu- 

 late, constricted at the top of the tube below the teeth ; teeth J-g- in. 

 long, triangular, acute ; accessory teeth 0. Petnls obovate, as long as 

 the calyx-teeth, pink. Capsule narrowly ellipsoid, much longer than 

 broad. Seeds narrowly ellipsoid, pink or yellow. Woodr. in Journ. 

 Bomb. Nat. V. 11 (1898) p. 638. Ameletia tenuis, Wight, Icon. t. 257 ; 

 Dalz. & Gibs. p. 96. — Flowers : Oct.-Dec. 



Konkan: in beds of rivers, Law\, Woodrow I; Sayu, Gangaraml; banks of Pea 

 river, not common, Dalzell ^- Gibson. Deccan: Kolapur, Ritehie, 1068! Gujarat: 

 Dan^s, on rocks, Woodrovt, 19! S. M. Cou-ntry: Belgaum hills, Ritchie, 1068! — 

 DisTRiB. India (Behar, Central India, E. Bengal, W. Peninsula). 



3. Ammannia floribunda, C B. Clarice, in Hoolc. f. Fl. B. I. v. 2 



(1879) p. 567. Erect or shortly creeping at the base, 6-15 in. high ; 

 stems reddish, ofJ^en much branched, the lower portion more or less 

 angular, the upper terete and very slender. Leaves alternate, sessile, 

 1 -nerved ; the lower 1-2 by jV-i '^^•■> oblong, obtuse or acute ; the upper 

 \-h in. long, often only J- in. broad, narrow-linear, acute. Flowers 



