242 Lxx. rubiacej: (hiern). \_Octod(m. 



■within the stipnlar sheath of the uppermost leaves and again at the 

 one or two next nodes ; bracteoles fihform, slightly clavate, purplish at 

 the apex. Calyx-teeth 8, small, dark purple. Corolla white ; lobes 4, 

 acute, bluish at the apex. Anthers white, just exserted. — Spermacoce ? 

 filifolia, Perr. et Lepr. ex DC. Prodr. iv. p. 540. 



Upper Guinea. Gold Coast, Tkonning on the Quorra, Th. Vogel! Senegambia, 

 Heudelot ! Cape Coast, Brass ! Sierra Leone, Afzdius ! 



Zrile Xiand. Djur-land, Schweinfurth ! 



2. O. setOBum, Hiern. A nearly glabrous erect annual, simple 

 or somewhat branched, about 2 feet high. Stem sulcate. Leaves 

 elongate-linear, acute, sessile, spreading, 1^-4 in. long, equalling or 

 longer than the intemodes, adnate at the base to the stipular sheath 

 which is tipped on each side with 3-5 filiform setaB of ^^ in. in length. 

 Flowers many together, crowded within the stipular sheaths of the up- 

 permost leaves ; heads terminal, solitary ; bracteoles filiform, slightly 

 clavate, fimbriate at the tip. Calyx-teeth 4, small, obtuse. Corolla 

 pale lilac ; lobes 4, lanceolate, as long as the tabe. Anthers much 

 exserted. 



Vpper Guinea. On the (XviOTtA, Barter ! at Nupe, Barter! Dahomey, Consul 

 Burton ! 



75. RTCHARDIA, Houst. ex Linn. Gen. PL, ed. i. p. .100, 

 (1787) ; non Kunth. 



(Ricardia, Houst. Rel. p. 5, t. 9 (1781). Richardsonia, Kunth in 

 Mem. Mus. Par. iv. p. 430 (1818) ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PL ii. 

 p. 147). 



Calyx- tube obovoid ; limb deeply 5-6-lobed, about as long as the 

 ovary, at length deciduous. Corolla funnel-shaped, throat glabrous ; 

 limb spreading, 5^-lobed ; lobes ovate, setulose at the back near the 

 apex, valvate in the bud. Stamens 5-4, shortly exserted, inserted on 

 the throat of the corolla ; filaments slender ; anthers oblong, glabrous, 

 fixed by the back. Disk inconspicuous. Ovary 3-celled ; style filiform, 

 shortly 3-cleft ; stigmas 3, exserted, subcapitate, bifid or expanded ; 

 ovules solitary, attached to the septum at or below the middle. Fruit 

 at length 3-coccous ; cocci indehiscent, subcrustaceous, obovoid. Seeds 

 obovoid, attached below the middle; radicle inferior. — Herbs more or 

 less hispid, with opposite subsessile leaves, shortly sheathing truncate 

 setose stipules adnate to the leaf- base, and small sessile hermaphrodite 

 flowers arranged many together in sessile terminal heads. 



A genus of a few species, wholly confined to America with the exception of the 

 following species. 



1. R. scabra, Linn. Sp. PL, ed. i. p. 330 (1735). Hirsute-hispid, 

 a few inches high ; stem erect ; branches spreading. Leaves oval or 

 obovate, obtusely pointed, wedge-shaped at the base, slightly scabrous, 

 |-1^ in. long, veins inconspicuous ; stipular sheath short, terminated 

 by 3-5 setse on each side. Flowers ^ in. long. Fruit ^ in. long. — 

 Richardsonia scahra, St. Hil. PL Us. t. 8, cum syn. 



nCozamb. Distr. Quilimane, Kirk ! 



Previously known only from tropical America. 



