478 lviii. lythrace^ (hiern). [Ammannia. 



Museum, the flowers are in several cases monstrous, in consequence of having been at- 

 tacked by insects. 



This species occurs also in Natal. 



3. A. baccifera, Linn. Sp. 175. Glabrous annual with erect stem 

 and spreading; tetragonal branches, 2-14 in. high, reddish at base. 

 Leaves linear-lanceolate, attenuate to base, subsessile, usually patent, 

 often shining, ^-2\ in. long. Cymes 3-7-flowered, pedicelled, with 

 small bracteoles at base of pedicels similar to the leaves. Calyx with 

 4 deltoid lobes, 8-veined ; cornua small. Petals 4, small, caducous or 

 wanting. Stamens 4, inserted below the middle of the calyx-tube, 

 about equalling the calyx. Ovary sessile, enclosed in calyx-tube ; 

 style very short. Capsule globular, exceeding the calyx, dehiscing 

 transversely about the middle, 1- or imperfectly 2-celled; placenta 

 compressed. Rarely a flower is pentamerous. — A. vesicatoria, Roxb. 

 Fl. Ind. i. 426. A. indica, Lam. Illust. n. 1555. A. attenuata, Hochst. 



The fresh leaves are used in the East Indies to raise blisters. Grows in marshy 

 places. 



Nile Land. Khartoum, Dr. Bromfield! between Dongolaand Korti, Dr. Brom- 

 field! banks of White Nile, Petherick! Kordofan, Kotschy! Abyssinia, Schimper ! 778. 



Lower Guinea. Angola, Mossamedes, and Pungo Andongo, 2400-3800 ft. alt., 

 Dr. Welwit8ch! 



Occurs also in India and Madagascar. 



4. A. salicifolia, Monti in Comment. Bonon. i. 112, cum tab,. (1767). 

 Glabrous annual, 4-18 in. high. Stem erect, terete at base, with long 

 quadrangular spreading branches. Leaves lanceolate, narrowing 

 gently from above middle towards base, sessile, sometimes auricled at 

 base, not amplexicaul, opposite, patent at the flowering parts deflected 

 at the fruiting parts, 1 -veined, J-l§ in. long. Flowers in axillary 

 sessile cymes with very short pedicels, densely verticilled especially in 

 fruit, 4-9 in each axil. Calyx with a short four-cornered spreading 

 limb at top of a tube campanulate in flower and hemispherical in fruit ; 

 lobes of calyx 4, deltoid, incurved in flower, usually with short patent 

 cornua. Petals wanting or caducous. Stamens 4, not exceeding the 

 calyx, arising from near the base of its tube. Ovary when young ob- 

 ovoid, with 4 external longitudinal lines ; style very short. Capsule 1- 

 celled. Seeds attached to a placenta which in middle of capsule is 

 compressed horizontally in a peltate manner and at top and bottom con- 

 sists of a central axis, somewhat triangular in outline, concave, very 

 minutely punctate. — A. cegyptiaca, Willd. Hort. Berol. t. 6. A. verti- 

 cillata, Lam. Illust. 1554, t. 77, f. 3. A. glauca, Wall. Cat. 2100. 



Affile Land. Abyssinia, Ehreriberg ! Nubia, Dr. Bromfield! 

 Lower Guinea. Congo, Chr. Smith! Angola, Pungo Andongo, 2400-3800 ft. alt., 

 Mossamedes, Dr. Welwitsch! 



Grows by river banks and in marshes. Extends to India, and is naturalized in Italy. 



5. A* tirceolata, Hiern. An erect simple or branched annual, 4-8 

 in. high. Branches spreading, quadrangular, hispidulous. Leaves 

 linear, bluntish or acutish at apex, gently narrowing from middle to- 



