4 NYCTAGINACEA. 
& 
met with as an escape. The structure of the flowers is very similar 
to that of Boerhaavia. The leaves and flowers are used in native — 
medicine under the name of gul-abbas. 
BovuGAINVILLEA SPECTABILIS, Willd. A robust thorny extensively 
climbing shrub with softly pubescent branches and leaves. It 
bears masses of flowers during the hot season, and at that time be- 
comes a very beautiful and conspicuous object by reason of its large 
and brilliant purple-coloured bracts. A very handsome variety 
known as B. lateritia, with crimson or brick-red bracts, was introduced 
into India about 30 years ago, and from the two original plants, now 
at Saharanpur, the gardens in other parts of India have been sup- 
plied. 
B. GLABRA, Choisy is also largely cultivated in gardens. It is less 
robust as a climber, and almost devoid of thorns; the branches and 
leaves are glabrous and the bracts are magenta-coloured. It flowers 
more or less throughout the year. 
XC.—-AMARANTACEZ. 
Herbs, rarely undershrubs, erect or with climbing branches. 
Leaves opposite or alternate, exstipulate. Flowers small, usually 
2-sexual, (rarely dicecious or polygamous), arranged in terminal 
simple or panicled spikes cymes cor clusters, the outer flowers of a 
cluster sometimes deformed : bracts hyaline or scarious, never leai- 
like bracteoles 2, scarious. Perianth dry, persistent, usually of 
§ free or slightly connate hyaline or scarious segments, imbricate 
in bud. Stamens 1-5, opposite the perianth-segments ; filaments 
usually connate below or united with intervening membranous 
staminodes in a hypogynous cup; anthers 1-or-2-celled. Ovary 
1-celled ; style sometimes simple or obsolete and with a capitellate 
or'small stigma, or 2-3-fid. with acute stigmas, or styles 2-3, erect 
or recurved and stigmatic on the lower face: ovules 1 or more, 
amphitropous, erect or suspended from free basal funicles. Fruit 
a membranous utricle, rarely a circumscissile or irregularly bursting 
capsule, very rarely a berry enclosed in or supported by the persis- 
tent perianth. Seed inverted or erect, orbicular ovate or reniform, 
compressed, testa crustaceous ; embryo horseshoe-shaped or 
annular, surrounding the floury albumen.—Species about 500, 
