Bablebia.] ACANTJ1ACEM. 201 



Calyx-senments glabrato, Btrongly nerved and soon bocoming scarious ; 

 outer pair $ in. long : broadly ovate, acute, mueronato ; inner pail smaller, 

 lanceolate. Corolla white, hairy outside, 2\-'.\\ in. long; tube cylindrio, 

 dilated just bolow the limb ; lobes ovate, ] in long. Capsule ellipsoid, 

 glabrous, 4-secded. Seeds ,\ in. long, silky-hairy. 



Dry liills in Merwara (Duthiot (Oct. to Jan.). Distrib. Punjab, Raj- 

 putana, Sind ; extending to Baluchistan, Abyssinia, Nubia and Egypt. 



3. B. cristata, Linn. Sp. PL 636; Roxb. Fl. Ind, Hi, 37 ; Royle III. 298 ; 

 F. B. I. iv, 488 : Waif F. D.; Kanjilal For. Fl. 262 ; Gamble Man. Ind. 

 TimJ>. 582 i Colleit Fl. Siml. 374 ; Prain Be ay. PL 812 ; Cooke FL Bomb, 

 ii, 382. B. dichotoma and B. cilia ta, Roxb. L c. 3S. 



A small erect or diffuse undershrub, the branches olothed with appresscd 

 yellowish hairs, the nodes densely hairy. Leaves 2J-4 in. long, 

 elliptic-oblong, acute, tapering towards the baae, hairy on both sur- 

 faces, lineolate above, petioles W in- long. Flowers in axillary and 

 terminal ovate spikes ; bracteoles conspicuous, about i- in., linear, 

 acute, membranous and prominently veined ; margins ciliate, some- 

 times with distant teeth. Calyx hairy below ; segments £-1 in. long, 

 whitish, prominently veined and reticulate, the 2 outer segments 

 lanceolate, acuminate, mucronate, marginal teeth bristle-tipped ; inner 

 segments | in. long, linear-lanceolate, acute. Corolla blue purple or 

 white, 1-1 ^ im long, hairy outside, tube funnel-shaped in the upper 

 half ; lobes f in. obovate-oblong. Capsule j in. long, ellipsoid, 4- 

 seeded. Seeds orbicular, covered with silky hairs. 



Found chiefly in the northern portion of the area from Dehra Dun 

 eastwards along the Sub-Himalayan tracts of Rohilkhand and 

 "\Y. Oudh and in the district of Gorakhpur. It has been reported also 

 from Bundelkhand (Edgeworth) and Aierwara (Duthie). Owing to ita 

 ornamental appearance it is largely grown in gardens. In the plains' it 

 flowers mostly during the cold season. Distrib. Himalaya up to 

 6,000 ft. in Garhwal and Kumaon, also in Bengal, Khasia and Burma and 

 in the hilly parts of W„ C. and S. India. It is cultivated in gardens in 

 various parts of India and in other countries. Various parts of this 

 plant are used medicinally, and by some natives the seeds are regarded 

 as an antidote tor snake-bites. Roxburgh's B. dichotoma has white 

 flowers. It is cultivated in gardens, and U sometimes found planted 

 near Hindu temples. It is mentioned by Prain and Cooke as a 

 variety of B. cristata. There is no record of its having been met with 

 in a wild state within the area of this flora. 



4. B. strigosa, Willd. Bp. PL Hi, 319 ; F. B. I. iv, 489 ; Watt E. D. ; 

 Kanjilal For. FL 262; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 522 ; Prain Beng. PL 

 812; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 384 {under var. terminals) ; Brandis Ind. Trees 

 498. B. ccerulea, Roxb. ; FL Ind. Hi, 39. 



An unarmed shrub, 3-4 ft. high. Stems more or less strigose with 

 fulvous hairs. Leaves 4.^-6 in. long, ovate or elliptic, acute or acuminate 

 the base long-decurrent on the petiole, liueolate and sparingly fulvous 



