Acanthus.'] xcviii. ACANTHACEiE (clarke). 109 



2 connate) and posticous nearly alike, J-§ by J in., round-ovate, many- 

 nerved, glabrous, with papery margin ; 2 lateral inmost segments 

 shorter, much narrowier, broad-lanceolate, subobtuse. Corolla 1:^-1 J in. 

 long, blue. Capsule 1 by J in. ; seeds large, whit^, with close brain-like 

 corrugations. — T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. vii. 36 ; Lindau in 

 Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iv. 3 B. 319 ; C. B. Clarke in Hook, 

 f. Fl. Brit. Ind. iv. 481. Dilivaria ilicifolia, Nees in Wall. PI. As. 

 Rar. iii. 98, and in DC. Prod. xi. 268 ; Wight, Ic. t. 459. 



XM^ozamb. Slst. South>east Africa, ex Lindau. 



Also in South Africa, and extending into Southern Asia and Polynesia. 



27. SCLEROCHITON, Harvey ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. 



ii. 1090. 



Calyx large, divided to the base ; segments 5, not spinous, all of 

 equal length, or the posticous larger. Corolla-limb of 5 segments on 

 one side ; tube of moderate length, nearly entire or split on the 

 posticous side down nearly to the level of insertion of the stamens, with 

 acute sinus ; middle (anticous) segment entirely without in the bud. 

 Stamens 4, subsimilar ; filaments glabrous; anthers exserted, 1 -celled, 

 from short semicircular and glabrous to long oblong and hairy on the 

 margins ; pollen globose or subquadrate (seen from the side, subtrigonous 

 in section), with 3 narrow longitudinal chinks. Ovary with 2—1 ovules 

 in each cell, glabrous ; style glabrous ; branches 2, subequal, short 

 lanceolate. Capsule ellipsoid, woody, shining brown, 2-4-seeded ; seeds 

 discoid, ridged, ridges scabrous, not hairy. — Shrubs, nearly glabrous. 

 Leaves elliptic, narrowed at both ends, entire. Flowers in short spikes 

 (in ^S'. nitidus in long spikes) ; bract ovate or ; bracteoles 2, ovate, 

 entire, shorter than calyx. 



Species 8, in Tropical and South Africa. 



A well-marked genus ; Crossandra is known at sight bj the included anthers and 

 hy the calyx. S. nitidus approximates to Acanthus by the inflorescence and the hairy 

 margin to the bracts, but on account of the calyx being in 5 separate pieces it is placed 

 here. The pollen is very uniform throughout the species ; the side view is very square 

 in S. harveyanus (the type and some other species), nearly circular in S. Vogelii and 

 S. nitidus. Lindau lays stress, as a generic character, on the 3-rayed star at the pole 

 \n Fseudohlepharis, Baillon ; in Sclerochiton Kirkii and S. Vogelii this polar star is 

 well marked, but obscure or obsolete in other species. 



Calyx -segments nearly equal in length. 

 Bracts glabrous. 



Calyx 1 in. long; leaves hardly petioled . . 1. S. KirJcii. 

 Calyx 1^ in. long ; leaves distinctly petioled . . 2. S. Prev.ssii. 



Bracts hairy on the margin ; spike long . . .3.5. nitidus. 



Posticous calyx-segment longer than the others. 



Posticous calyx-segment obovate, obtuse . . . 4:. S. Boivini. 

 Posticous calyx-segment elongate, lanceolate. 



Posticous calyx-segment -g- in. wide; internodes 



long . , • • . . . . 5. <S. Vogelii. 



