488 Lix. ONAGRARiEiE (oliver). [Jussiaa. 



2. JTXSSIiEA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 788. 



Calyx-tube elongate cylindrical or prismatic, not produced above the 

 ovary j limb 4-5-partite. Petals as many as calyx-lobes. Stamens 

 twice as many as petals. Ovary 4— 5-celled ; ovules oo. Capsule de- 

 hiscing septicidally or the thin pericarp irregularly rupturing. Seeds 

 oo , in some species singlv enclosed in free at length dehiscing segments 

 of the dry endocarp. — -Herbs or frutescent. Leaves alternate, usually 

 entire. Flowers yellow or whitish, axillary, solitary, sessile or pedun- 

 culate. 



A considerable genus, affecting wet localities throughout tropical and subtropical 

 countries. Many of the species are very widely diffused, and their synonymy is much 

 entangled. I have not attempted to unravel this for the present purpose. The 

 synonymy of some of the species is treated of by G-risebach (Flora British W. Indies), 

 Bentham (Flora Australiensis, Hi. 307), and Wright (in Journ. Linn. Soc. x. 476). 



Creeping or floating herb 1. J. diffusa. 



Erect or ascending, not rooting at the nodes. 



Flowers 5-merou8, usually hirsute above. Leaves lanceolate . . 2. J.pilosa. 

 Flowers 4-merous. 



Glabrous. Seeds singly enclosed in dehiscent segments of 



endocarp 3. J. acuminata. 



Usually hirsute above. Capsule §-l£ in. Seeds free, nearly 



round, compressed ^ ^ in. diameter A. J. villosa. 



Glabrous. Capsule £-§ in. Seeds free, oblong, T V in. long . 5. J.linifolia. 



1. J. diffusa, Forsk. Fl. 2Eg.-Arab. 210. Creeping or floating herb, 

 copiously rooting, frequently with cylindrical float-vesicles and aerial 

 roots at the nodes, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves varying from linear- 

 oval to lanceolate, obtuse or subacute, entire or obscurely sinuate, 1-3 

 in. long, narrowed into the petiole of variable length. Flowers pedun- 

 culate, usually 5-merous, f-1^ in. in diameter, yellow. Calyx-lobes 

 linear-lanceolate, \-\ in. Petals exceeding the lobes. Capsule cylin- 

 drical, sulcate, f-li in. long on a peduncle as long or longer, with a 

 pair of minute bracteoles near the junction. — /. stolanifera, Guill. et 

 Perr. Fl. Seneg. i. 292. J.Juitans, Hochst., Harv. et Sond. Fl. Cap. 

 ii. 504. /. alternifolia, E. Mey. in Hb. Drege. 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Perrottet. 



Nile Land. White Nile, Dr. Brownell ! Kaze, 5° S. lat. (as /. repens), Speke 

 and Chant! Abyssinia, Schimper I 



Mozamb. Distr. Zambesi, Dr. Peters! 



The true /. repens (of which this may be but a variety) with the upper leaves from 

 oblanceolate to obovate, rounded at the apex, I have not seen from Tropical Africa. 



2. J. pilosa, H. B. K. Nov. Gen. vi. 101, t. 532a. Branching herb 

 or woody below, erect ascending or diffuse, attaining 3 ft. Stem at 

 least towards the leafy extremities more or less hirsute, more rarely gla- 

 brate. Leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, subacute or narrowed to 

 an obtuse apex, gradually narrowed below into the petiole, usually more 

 or less hirsute-pubescent at first, at length subscabrid-puberulous or 

 glabrate above, 1^-5 in. long. Flowers yellow, shortly pedunculate, 

 ^-| in. diameter, 5-merous. Capsule cylindrical, 1-1 J in. long, on a 



