158 SCROFKTJLARIACEM. [ Centeantheba. 



Punjab and Bengal, Hinalaya up to 4,000 ft. in Kumaon ; also on the- 

 Khasia Hills and in Burma, in W. C. and S. India to Ceylou extending 

 to Java Very injurious as a parasite to sugar cane in the Central 

 Provinces. 



21. CENTRANTHERA, K. Br., Fl. Brit, iv, 300. 



Annual rigid scabrid herbs. Leave* opposite or the upper alternate, 

 oblong or linear, obtuse, entire or toothed. Flowers axillary or in 

 bracteate spikes or racemes, bracteoles 2. Calyx compressed, spatk- 

 aceous, split on one side, entire or shortly S-5-lobed. Corolla-tube 

 long, incurved and dilated above, limb oblique ; lobes 5, broad, sub- 

 equal, spreading, tbe two upper inside in bud. Stamens didynarcous, 

 included ; anthers meeting in pairs, cells transverse, bases spurred cr 

 mucronate, one cell often empty ; stigma tongue-shaped, acute. 

 Fruit an ovoid or subglobose loculicidal capsule ; valves entire, carry- 

 ing away the placentas. Seeds very many, oblong, cimeate ; testa 

 lax, reticulate. — Species 4, in tropical and sub-tropical Asia, the 

 Malay Archipel. and in Australia. 



C. hispida, R. Br. Prod. 438 ; Royle III. 291; F.B.L iv, 301; Collett 

 FL Bind. 359; Prain Beng^ PI. 776; Coole Fl. Bomb, ii, 308. C 

 nepalensis, Don Prod. 88. Digitalis stricta, Roxb. Fl. Ind. Hi, 99. 



An erect hispid and somewhat hoary herb, 1-2 ft. high. Stem stout 

 simple or more or less branched above. Leaves sessile or nearly so, ^-1^-in. 

 long, linear or elliptic-oblong, the lower opposite, the upper alternate, 

 passing into floral bracts, hispid on both surfaces with tubercled 

 hairs. Flowers rather large for the size of the plant, arranged in 

 terminal bracteate spikes. Calyx -j in. long ovate, inflated, narrowed 

 towards the mouth. Corolla § in. long or more, funnel-shaped, purplish 

 or white, lobes rounded. Filaments softly hairy. Capsule £-■§■ in. long, 

 broadly ovoid-oblong, grooved, aubrugose. 



Grassy places in Dehra Dun and in the sub-Himalayan tracts of 

 EohilkUand and N. Oudh. Flowers June-Oct. Distuib. : Throughout 

 India and in Ceylon, ascending to 4,000 ft. on the W. Himalaya ; also 

 in Burma, Java, China, the Philippines and Australia. 



22. SOPUBIA, Buch.-Ham. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. iv, 302. 



Erect herbs. Leaves opposite, or the upper alternate, narrow, 

 often laciniate. Flowers in spikes or racemes, bracts leafy, bracteoles- 

 2. Calyx campanulate ; lobes 5, narrow, valvate. Corolla funnel- 

 shaped ; tube short, dilated at the throat ; lobes 5, broad, spreading,. 



