NeSOBd.] LVIII. LYTHBACE^ (HIERN). 471 



Flowers cymose. Cornua usually short. 



Leaves auriculate-sagittate, hairy 1. N. lythroide*. 



Leaves exauriculate, glabrous. 



Cornua shorter than calyx-lobes, glabrous. Stamens 8-21. 

 Cornua very small or inconspicuous. 



Leaves never whorled. Stamens 18-21 2. N. icosandra. 



Leaves often whorled. Stamens 16-14 3. N. linifolia. 



Cornua manifest. 



Peduncles longer than the flowers 4. N. heptamera. 



Peduncles not (or scarcely) longer than the flowers. 



Flowers tetramerous ; pedicels long 5. N. pediceUata 



Flowers usually hexamerous ; pedicels short . . . . 6. N. CandoUii. ( 



Cornua long, ciliate. Stamens 4 7. 2T. andongensis. 



Flowers capitate. Cornua long. (Tolypeuma.) 

 Bracteoles linear. Heads stalked. 

 Leaves not cordate at the base. 



Bracteoles glabrous. Bracts usually 3 8. N. radicans. 



Bracteoles ciliate. Bracts 2. 



Leaves oval. Branches terete 9. N.jloribunda. 



Leaves linear-lanceolate. Branches quadrangular . . 10. N. erecta. 



Leaves cordate at the base 1 1 . N. cordata. 



Bracteoles wide. Heads sessile 12. N. linearis. 



1. N. lythroides, Welw. mss. Annual. Rhizome densely fibrous. 

 Stems ascending-, terete, with stringy cuticle, reddish at the base, 

 covered as well as the cymes and branches with pale patent pubescence ; 

 lateral shoots frequently barren, 1-4 ft. high. Leaves lanceolate acute 

 auriculate-sagittate, those on the barren shoots wider ; scabrid espe- 

 cially on the margins with white scaly hairs ; sessile, alternate oppo- 

 site and in whorls of 3, J— f in. long. Internodes shorter, than the 

 leaves except near the base. Cymes in nearly every axil of the flower- 

 ing shoots, often partially or wholly without developed flowers, few or 

 many-flowered. Common peduncles distinct or long, with opposite 

 leaf- like bracts at the apex j pedicels equalling the calyx, furnished 

 with bracteoles. Flowers rose-coloured, dimorphous according to the 

 relative lengths of the stamens and style. Calyx campanulate, nar- 

 rowly so in bud, widely in fruit, pubescent, 4-cornered in bud, 4-lobed 

 and cornuate ; lobes shortly deltoid, pointed j cornua patent, shorter 

 than the lobes. Petals exceeding the calyx, widely obovate, veined. 

 Stamens 4, opposite the petals, inserted near the base of the calyx, 

 exserted especially in short-styled plants ; anthers yellow. Ovary 2- 

 celled, sessile ; style exserted, especially in short- stamened plants. 

 Capsule 2-celled, with septa in perpendicular plane to the somewhat 

 compressed placenta, slightly exceeding the calyx, parting with its 

 apex which breaks "off attached to the style, valvular below (?). 



Lower Guinea. Angola, Mossamedes, littoral, fl. and fri Sept.. Dr. Welwitsch J 

 Very like Lythrum sag ittce folium, Sond. in Linnaea xxiii. 41, which occurs in S. 



Africa; in specimens of the latter plant there are 8 stamens inserted at the same level, 



the 4 longer ones alternating with the petals. 



2. N. icosandra, Kot. et Peyr. in PI. Tinn. 16, t. V. A, Glabrous. 

 Stem somewhat woody at base, erect, 3-6 in. high, quadrangular. 

 Leaves oblong or lanceolate, opposite or lower ones often alternate, 



