CoMMELINA.] COMMELINACEZ. 273 
late or ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate ; sheaths loose, glabrous, 
usually with ciliate margins. Peduncles }-§ in. long. spreading or 
erect. Spathes } or 1} long; base rounded or cordate, with rounded 
lobes. Cymes usually two, 1-3 fid. Flowers }-% in. across, the two 
interior petals obovate with long claws, dark blue; the exterior 
one subsessile, orbicular, pale blue or white, sometimes obsolete. 
Ovary 3-celled, of which two cells are 2-ovuled and the third l-ovuled. 
Capsule } in. long, broadly oblong, acuminate, coriaceous, 5-seeded. 
Seeds oblong-cylindric, brown, tubercled and reticulate. 
Abundant within the area. Distris.: Throughout the hotter parts 
of India from the Punjab to Ceylon, extending to China, 8. Africa 
and other tropical and subtropical countries. 
2.C. salicifolia, Roxb.;: Fl. Ind. i, 172 ; Clarke in DC. Mon. 
vii, 157 ; F. B. I. vi, 370 ; Watt E.D.; Prain Beng. Pl. 1082 ; Cooke 
Fl. Bomb. ti, 781. 
Stems slender, glabrous, decumbent, sometimes rooting from the 
nodes. Leaves 3-6 in. long, linear-lanceolate, glabrous or nearly 
so; sheaths 2 in. to 1 in., ciliolate. Spathes 1-2 in., axillary ovate- 
lanceolate, acute or acuminate, rounded at base. Peduncles }-1} in. 
long, slender. Flowers polygamous; branches of cyme equal, 
usually 1-2-fld. Sepals free, ovate, obtuse, the two inner connate 
below, larger than the outer. Petals dark blue, the two larger ovate 
with undulate margins and long claws, the smaller one broadly ovate, 
entire, subsessile or with a very short claw. Staminodes 3, clavate. 
Capsule } in. long, quadrate, membranous. Seeds } in. long, black, 
powdered with white. smooth, ovoid or subglobose, with a whitish 
membranous appendage at one end. 
Dehra Dun, on the Siwalik range; Sub-Himalayan tracts of N. 
Oudh ; Merwara in Rajputana; Bundelkand. Dusrris. : Eastwards 
to Assam, Burma and Bengal and southwards to the Konkan and 
S. India, extending to Java. 
3. C. Hasskarili, Clarke Comm. and Cyrt. Beng. 13, t. 3; in 
DC. Mon. iii, 157 ; F. B. I. w, 370 ; Prawn. Beng. Pl. 1082 ; Cooke 
Fl. Bomb. ii, 781. 
Stem much branched, glabrous or pubescent, sometimes scaberulous. 
Leaves 1-3 in. long, narrowly lanceolate, subacute; sheaths } in. 
long, with a broad base, ciliate. Spathes } in. long, axillary, ovate- 
lanceolate, cordate at the base and with rounded lobes, glabrous 
seabrid or hispid; peduncles 3-1 in. long. Flowers in pubescent 
unequal cymes, the uppermost branch 2-4-fid., the lower 1-2-fld. 
Capsule } in. long, quadrate, apiculate, membranous, Seeds }-} in. 
