TAB. TX. 4 
COMMELYNA OBLIQUA. « genuina. 
9. Commelyna i i i 
Me cis ens ee cea ines in Don Prodr. Flor. Nepal, p. 45. C. communis Roxb. Flor. Ind. I. p. 171, et 
Somat ee . ee Icones, t. 2066. Trithyrocarpus paleatus et Trithyrocarpus oligospatha Hassk 
slyna gelatinosa Edgworth, Walp. Ann. VI. p. 159. Heterocarpus? obliquus Hassk. Com 
melynaceex, p. 7. C. paludosa Kunth Enum. I 
. IV. p. 51. Miq. Flor. Ind. III. p. 53: i i 
Kunth Enum. IV. p. 58. C. paleata Miquel Flor. Ind. III. p. 534. ee al 
Folia subglabra elliptico-lanceo : n secunds et uno 
v 1 ata aut lanceolata. Spathe cucullate turbinate (at plus minus 
atere producto-acut#) subterminales adgregate (vel in 5. Mathewii solitaria). Semina equalia 3 aut 2 levia, omnia sparsa 
” iS 
Var «. genuina. Semina 3. Spathe adgregate cum foliis subglabre. 
Var £. viscida. Semina 8. Spathe ad: ii 
A gregate cum -viscido- a A . coe 
peer niettierens it um foliis rubro-viscido-flocculose : imo tota planta viscosissima 
Var 7. paludosa. Semina2. Spathe adgregate subglabre. 
Var 5. Mathewii. Semina 3. Spatha solitaria. Forma pygamma. 
Hab. «, In Bengalia ubique. 
gp. In collibus Khasia ad 3,000-5,000 ped. alt. 
y- In delta Gangetica. 
3. In jugo Himalaya ad 7,500 ped. alt. 
Distributio. Indica. Var. « et y A Zeylania ad Himalayan. In Birma et Malaya. 
Pedunculus inferior sepius obsoletus. Pedunculus superior 3-6 flores gerit quorum duo saltem inferiores porfecti. 
Planta vulgo majuscula foliis 4-6-uncialibus, sed exempla gradatim minora obvia, et in Var. 8. Mathewii tofa planta aliquando vix 4- 
uncialis. Species capsula symmetrica et inibus wqualibus distincta, 
Vidi specimina quatuor varictatum viva spontanea, varietatum a ef y numerosa. 
“Toculi 1-spermi : fructus 3- 2-spermi : semina globoso-lenticularia brunnea margine, ubi loculis adnata fuere, albido.” 
Hassk. in plante Junghuhniane, p. 140, bene. The whitening however of the edges of the seeds takes place where they are not adnate 
to, but closely pressed by, the loculi. 
Dr. Hasskarl states that his C. paludosa has the fruits 3-celled, but sometimes by abortion 2-celled. I have frequently 
met 3-celled and 2-celled fruits on the same plant : the 2-celled fruits being without a trace of the third cell. 
The spathe during inflorescence in this species is often filled with a mucilaginous substance : CO. gelatinosa Edgworth is 
untenable even as a variety. 
The series from the -most glabrous form of Var a genuina to the most viscidly hairy of Var 8 viscida is unbroken. This 
series has been all issued from Kew as 0. obliqua : and though the extreme form of Var. B viscida would appear from a solitary specimen 
to any one a good species, I believe the hand which reduced it to a'mere variety of C. obliqua to have been a very judicious one. If this 
reduction is accepted much rather will all the other synonyms quoted above be reduced also. 
T thought would make a species, but W. 
The variety 8. Mathewii is a remarkably degraded high level form which at fir 
§. Atkinson considers it a variety only. 
The figure given cpposite is copied from Roxburgh’s own figure of C. communis, so that there can be no doubt that C. 
communis Roxb. is the present plant. Roxburgh gives sections of the capsule which render the certainty more sure. CO. obliqua is a 
common weed throughout Bengal and the native gardeners of the Caleutta Botanic Garden still know it traditionally by the name C. 
communis. 
EXPLICATIO TABULA: IX. 
Planta ex tabula 102. Roxburghii exseripta. 
Spatha dimidiata cum floribus ex tabula 102. Roxburghii exscripta. 
: in pedicello semi-erecta nee omnino resupinata, 
1. Capsula matura normalis a latere duorum loculorum visa 
2, Capsula matura a tergo loculi visa. 
3. Capsule dehiscentis horizontalis sectio. 
4, Semen a facie externa visum. 
5, Semen a facie interna visum. 
G. Semen a latere visum. 
7. Seminis horizontalis sectio. 
8, Capsula matura (forma disperma) a latere visa, 
9. Capsula eadem a tergo loculi visa. 
10, Capsule ejusdem horizontalis sectio. 
