Rcellia. ] ACAXTHACF.i:. 197 



8. RUELLIA, Linn.; PI, Biir. Ind. iv, 41 1. 



Herbs or ondervhrubs. Leaves opposite, entire. "Flowers sessile 

 01 subsessilc, solitniy or in clusters or racemes ; bracts none ; bracteolcs 

 large, usually exceeding the calyx. Calyx 5-partife or 5-fid.; lobes 

 subequal, narrow, acute. Corolla more or less oblique, tube ventri- 

 OOse ; lobes sub qual, rounded, twisted to tbe left in bud, spreading 

 in flower. Stamens didyn anions ; filaments glabrous or hairy at the 

 base ; anthers subequal, 2 -celled ; cells oblong, muticous, glabrous. 

 Ovary glabrons ; ovules 3-10 in each cell ; style linear, hairy, un- 

 equally bifid. Fruit a clavate cylindric or ellipsoid capsule, seed- 

 bearing above the solid base. Seech large, thin, discoid, margined, 

 hygroscopically hairy ; retinaculu large, hooked, strong. — Species 

 about 200. in :• 11 warm regions. The above generic description refers 

 only to the section Dipteracanthus t to which all the Indian species 

 belong. 



Stema prostrate or climbing, woody ; leaves 



ovate or elliptic, acute, glabrous or slightly 



hairy ; flowers greyish- purple ; capsule 



pubescent . . . . . - . 1. B. prostrata. 

 Stems erect, woody : haves ovate, obtuse, 



rather densely pubescent on both surface- ; 



flowers greyish-purple, capsule glabrous 



below the tip . . . . . . 2. R. patula. 



Stems annual, erect from a woody rootstock ; 



leaves nrarowly elliptic, subobtuse, villous 



on both surfaces ; flowers white ; capsule 



glabrous . . . . . . . 3. B. suffrvticosa. 



1. B. prostrata, Lam 1 ;. Eneyd. vi, 349. var. dejecta, Clarice in F. B. I. 

 iv, 412; Watt E. D.; Prain Beng. PL 803; Coo/,-- Fl. Bomb, ii, 355. 

 E. ringens Rotib. Fl. Ind. Hi, 44. 



A small diffuse undershrub. Sfems 6-18 in. long, prostrate or climbing, 

 amongst bushes, much branched, internodes long, the nodes more or less 

 hairy and often tinged with purple. Leaves 3-3 in. long, ovate or elliptic, 

 acute at both ends, entire, glabrous or slightly hairy, petioles, ',-■$ in. 

 long. Flowers subsessile, solitary or few together; braoteoles similar 

 to the leave- } .nt smaller. Caly* | iu. long, divided to below the middle; 

 mentfl linear-subulate, acute, hairy. Corolla pale greyish-purple, l± in. 

 long, caducous, pubescent outside j tube narrowly cylindnc below, 

 runnel-shaped above ; lodes subequal, obovate-oblong, rounded. Cap- 

 sule f in. long, clavate. pointed, pubescent. < v ■ 16-20 subglabroue 

 but with a dense fringe of bygrosoopio hairs on the margin. 



