304 ACANTHACE^. [ Lepidagathis. 



Found usually in dry situations as in the Jumna ravines near Ftawah 

 and Agra; also in Bundelkhand, Ajmer and in the Uonda district of 

 N. Oudh. Flowers during the cold season. Disteib. Behar, Chota 

 Nagpur and southwards to Chan da in the C. Provinces. 



2. L. trinervis, Nees in Wall. PI. As. Bar. Hi, 96; F. B. I. iv, 517 ; 



Brain beng. PI. 815; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 393. — Vera. Pattar-phor 

 (Merwara). 



A diffuse perennial herb, woody below ; branches many, 5-10 in. long, 

 slender, 4-angled. Leaves sessile, 1-lf in. long, linear, subacute, entire, 

 nearly glabrous, 3-nerved from a tapering base, margins scabrous. 

 Flowers in axillary ovoid spikes |-§ in. long, usually 2 or more spikes 

 closely packed together and forming what appears to be a single head ; 

 bracts under h in. long, ovate or obovate, tipped with a long recurved, 

 spine ; bracte^les as long as the bracts, oblong-lanceolate, aristate, 

 softly membranous. Calyx membranous, § in. long ; 3 outer segments 

 nearly equal in length, lanceolate, acute, not spine-pointed, nearly gla- 

 brous outside, very hairy within ; the 2 inner lateral segments shorter 

 and narrower, hairy on both siJes. Corolla white with yellow brown or 

 purple spots, \-^ in. long. Capsule 2-seeded, | in. long, ovoid-lanceolate,, 

 subacute, thin and bursting irregularly. Seeds covered with long hairs. 



Frequent in Merwara in dry rocky or sandy ground. Flowers in the 

 cold season. Disteib. N.-TV. Himalaya? (Herb. Falconer), Chota 

 Nagpur and at the base of the Sikkim Hills, extending to Central W. 

 and S. India. 



3. L. cuspidata, Nees in Wall. PI. As. Bar. Hi, 97 ; F. B. I. iv, 519 ; 



Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 396. 



An erect undershrub. Stems 1-3 ft. high ; branches 4 angled, often gland- 

 pubescent upwards. Leaves of main stem 3-H in. long, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, acute or acuminate, usually mucronate, glabrous or nearly so, 

 tapering at the base and decurrent into the petiole ; leaves of the 

 branches subsessile and much smaller, elliptic lanceolate, spinous 

 pointed, softly hairy. Spikes terminal or terminating short axillary 

 branches, varying in length according as the flowers are densely or 

 loosely arranged, and if the latter, the flowers are distinctly in opposite 

 pairs ; bracts about ^ in. long, elliptic or obovate, acute, spine-tipped, 

 3-5-nerved, gland-hairy ; bracteoles smaller, 1-3-nerved. Calyx about; 

 i in long, glandular-hairy ; outer segments longer, broader than the 

 inner, spine- tipped ; the 2 inner lateral segments linear acute. Corolla 

 white streaked with purple ; upper lip ovat, acutee ; lower lip with 

 rounded lobes, palate glabrous. Capsule 4-seeded, | in. long, ovoid- 

 lanceoiate, acute, glabrous. Steds clothed with short hairs, especially 

 along the margins. 



Dehra Dun and Siwalik Eange, Hardwar (TVallich), and along the Sub- 

 Himalayan tracts eastwards to Gonda and the Nepal Terai. Flowers 

 March-May. Disteib. TV. Himalaya up to 5,000 ft. in Kumaon,. 

 extending to C. and TV. India. 



