108. AMABANTACE^. [7. ^rua. 



nearly free below ; anthers 2-celled. Ovary ovoid, with slender style 

 and capitellate stigma. Ovule 1, pendulous from a long basal funicle. 

 Utricle membranous ovoid, compressed, indehiscent, top areolate. 

 Herbaceous. L. nearly glabrous. Hds. small under -5" . . I. afropurpurea. 

 Undershrub. Leaves tomentose. Fruiting hds. '5 ' . . .2. lappacea. 



1. P. atropurpurea, Moq. 



A herb with long straggling branches, distant pairs of petioled 

 shining leaves 1-4" long and about 2 perfect flowers in a cluster 

 •25--3 diam. in fruit, together with imperfect flowers developing in 

 fruit into stellately spreading red hooked bristles. 



Waste ground, edges of fields and grassy jungles, common. Puriieah ! Chota 

 Nagpur, all districts! Pari, Hooper \ Probably in all districts but not often 

 collected. Fl., Fr. Nov.-Jan. 



Stems often decumbent and rooting. 



Branches glabrous or roughly pubescent. L, ovate, rhomboid or elliptic acute, 

 apiculate, narrowed into the •2-l"-long petiole, shining both sides, often thmly 

 hairy above; sec. n, 4-6 slender and reticulate. Spikes with woolly rhachis, 

 reaching 1 ft. in fruit, bracts pungent. Short pedicels and base of sepals woolly. 

 Sepals also woolly at sides, sparsely hairy on back, pungent, 3-nerved ovate- 

 lanceolate •17-'2" long. Seeds "l", oblong-ellipsoid with sub-truucate ends. 



2. P. lappacea, 2Ioq. 



A pubescent or tomentose, scarcely woody, undershrub with long 

 straggling branches, softly pubescent or tomentose ovate, ovate- 

 oblong or lanceolate leaves 1-4" long. Conspicuous in fruit from the 

 barbed heads attaining -5" diam. which tenaciously adhere to the 

 clothes and consist of few perfect flowers and about 3 imperfect with 

 stalked stellate spines, the whole on a tough pedicel in the axil of a 

 bract. Imperfect flowers yellowish. 



Chiefly in rocky places. Monghyr Hills, Karz\ Santal Parg. ! Palamau ! 

 Fl. Sept.-Oct. Fr. Nov.-Dec. 



Branches tomentose. L. acute, obtuse or rounded, often apiculate, mature 

 usuallj' thinly hairy above but persistently sub-tomentose beneath, sec. n. about 

 4 or 5. Petiole •l-''25" only. Spikes tomentose 2-8" long, with ovate aristate 

 bracts persistent after the fall of the cy mules (clusters). Imperfect flowers with 

 about 4-7 spines in a whorl. Tepals -2" lanceolate, aristate, 3-nerved, woolly. 

 Seed •!" ellipsoid compressed, smooth, shining, black. 



7. -ERUA, For sic. 



Woolly herbs or undershrubs with alternate or opposite leaves and 

 small or minute flowers in woolly solitary clustered or panicled spikes, 

 2-sexual or often polygamous. Tepals -4-5 short membranous, all 

 or the inner only woolly. Stamens 4-5, connate below together with 

 alternate staminodes into a cup ; anthers 2-celled. Style with capi- 

 tellate or 2-fid stigma. Ovule 1 pendulous from a long basal funicle. 

 Utricle indehiscent or the coriaceous crown circumsciss. Seed 

 inverse, testa coriaceous, embryo annular. 

 Spikes axillary and terminal, often panicled. L. 1-6" long . . \. scandent. 



Spikes all axillary. L. -5-1" long. Broad 2. lanata. _ 



Spikes all short terminal. L. acicular -5-1" Z. Momonia. 



1. M, scandens, Wall. Naria, Beng. ; Silwari, Khariv. 



A straggling, scarcely scandent herb or undershrub, rarely more 

 than 4 ft. high. Leaves mostly alternate, membranous, attaining in 



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