116 



springing from a tlcsliy, lobed, glandular torus. Ovary 2-5-celled, cells 

 2-ovuled ; style filiform, stigma 5-tootlied. Fruit globose or obloug, spiny 

 or bristly, indebisceut or 3-6-valved. Seeds 1-2 in eacb cell, pendulous, 

 albuminous embryo straight, cotyledons flat. Distrib. A genus of about 

 40 very variable species, mostly tropical weeds. 



Fruit tomentose, bristles shorter than itself ... 1. T. rliomboidea. 

 ,, villous „ longer „ ... 2. T. pilosa. 



„ glabrous „ „ „ ... 3. T. annua. 



1. Triumfetta rhomboidea, Jacq. DC. Prod. i. 507 Erect, her- 

 baceous or shrubby, annual, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves polymor- 

 phous, but usually rhomljoid, 3-lobed, coarsely and unequally serrate, 

 the upper more or less lanceolate; length 1"75 to 3 in., breadth nearly 

 as much in the rhomboid, much less in the lanceolate forms ; petioles 

 •25 to 1'25 in. Peduncles short, 4 to 6-flowered. Flowers about '15 in. 

 long, the buds clavate. Sepals apiculate : petals oblong, ciliate at the 

 base. Stamens 8 to 15. Fruit about "2 in. in diam., globose, tomentose, 

 covered with short glabrous or pubescent hooked spines. Masters in 

 Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. i. 395. T. angulata, Lam. Diet. iii. 41 ; Wight 

 Ic. t. 320 ; W. & A. Prodr. i. 74 ; Thwaites Euum. 31 ; Dalz. & Gibs. 

 Bomb. Fl. 25 ; Wall. Cat. 1075, 2, C ; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. pt. i. 197. 

 T. angulata, j8. acuminata, Wall. Cat. 1075 ^. T. Bartramia, Roxb. 

 Fl. Ind. ii. 463; Wall. Cat. 1075, D, E. T. trilocularis, Roxb. Fl. Ind. 

 ii. 462 ; Wall. Cat. 1083. T. vestita, Wall. Cat. 1078, in part. 



In all the provinces : a weed. Distrib. British India, Ceylon, 

 Malacca, Archipelago, China, Africa. 



2. Tridmfetta pilosa, Roth Nov. Sp., 233. Erect, herbaceous 

 or shrubby, annual; the whole plant, but especially the young branches 

 and the under surface of the leaves, villous, stellate -tomentose. Leaves ; 

 the lower broadly ovate, sometimes 3-lobed ; the upper ovate to ovate- 

 lanceolate, acute or acuminate, unequally and rather coarsely serrate or 

 dentate ; length 2 to 45 in., breadth 1 to 1 '75 in ; petiole "5 to 1 in. 

 Stipules linear-subulate. Peduncles many-flowered, usually shorter than 

 the petiole. Calyx "25 in. long, sparsely hairy. Petals spathulate- 

 oblong, nearly as long as the calyx. Fruit globular, about '25 in. in 

 diaiii., villous, densely covered with spines longer than itself which are 

 hispid below, glabrous above, and usually hooked at the apex. W. & A. 

 Prodr. i. 74; Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. i. 394. T. pilosa, var. /3, Thwaites 

 Enum. 31 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 25 T. tomentosa, Wall. Cat. 1078 

 0. T. rjlandulosa, Heyne Herb. ; Wall. Cat. 1077, 5. T. polycarpa, 

 Wall. Cat. 1079. 1\ oblongata. Link Enum. PI. Hort. Ber. ii. 5 ; Wall. 



225 



