8(; 



CXLIII. COMMELINACE^ (CLARKE.) 



[Commeliiia, 



C. asp era. 

 C. mensensis. 



54. C.firma. 



55. C. J^ogelii. 

 the dorsal cell indehiscent 



Seeds ^^ in. long, smooth .... 52. 



Seeds ^; in. long, ti-ansversely wrinkled . . 53. 



Leaves oblong or elliptic-lanceolate. 

 Mature leaves hairy on both surfaces 

 Mature leaves nearly glabrate 

 WHeteropyxis. — Capsule of 3 1-seeded cells, 2-valved ; 

 and tough, often rough. 

 Spathes all scattered, peduncled. 



Leaves narrowly oblong ..... 

 Leaves broadly elliptic ..... 



Spathes several together at the ends of the branches. 

 Petals A-^ in. broad. 



Leaves narrowed at the base; spathes 2-4 on a 

 branch. 

 Spathes hooked ; seeds large ellipsoid . . 

 Spathes slightly curved ; seeds small globose . 59. 

 Leaves not narrowed at the base ; spathes 10-20 

 on a branch ...... 



Petals I in. broad 



\\\ Spathodithyros. — Ovary 2-celled ; cells 1-ovuled 

 Leaves linear ...... 



Leaves elliptic or oblong. 



Seeds ellipsoid ; leaves ovate at the base , . 63. C. ZenJceri, 



Seeds globose ; leaves narrowed at the ba>e. 



Leaves 2-4 in. long, oblong .... ^4. 



Leaves up to 4,^ in. long, elliptic . . .65. 

 Leaves 1 to 1\ in. long 66. 



56. 

 57. 



58. 



C. Bainesii. 

 C. lagosensis. 



C. albescens. 



C. sphaerospernia. 



60. 

 61. 



C. opulens. 



C. venusta. 

 capsule 2-valved, 2- seeded. 

 . 62. C. Livingstoni. 



C. (Bthiopiea. 



C. pyrrhohlepharis. 



C. obscura. 



1. C. nudiflora, Linn. Sp. PL ed. i. 41, ed. ii. CA, not of Linn. 

 Mant. Hairy or glabrate. Stems 1-2 ft. long, difluse, decumbent at 

 tlie base, often rooting at the nodes ; roots fibrous, not thick. Leaves 

 l-'Ih by -J-j in., lanceolate, narrowed at the base, the quasi-petiole 

 very short. Spathes scattered on peduncles ^-2 in. long, simply folded 

 (the lower margins of the leaf free or hardly connate), ovate-lanceolate. 

 Kacemes in each spathe usually 2, the lower 1-3-flowered and rarely 

 maturing a capsule, the upper with ^-8 flowers usually maturing 3-1 

 capsules. Petals blue or nearly white, ovary with 2 ovules in each of 

 the two anterior cells. Capsule normally 5-seeded, the dorsal 1-seeded 

 cell dehiscing later or not at all. Seeds black, reticulated, the hexagonal 

 areoles depressed, farinose — C. B.Clarke in DC. Moncgr. Phan. iii. 144 

 incl. var. /d njerneana, and in Dyer, Fl. Cap. vii. 8 ; Schoenl. in Engl. 

 A: Prantl, Pflanzenfam. ii. iv. (14 ; Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. 

 V. 427, and Etudes Fl. Congo i. 260 ; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 369; 

 Durand 6z Wild, in Comptes-rendus Soc. bot. Belg. xxxvi. 87, and in Bull. 

 Soc. bot. Belg. xxxvii. 128 ; K. Schum. in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 134; 

 Hua in Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Par. i. 110; Rendle in Cat. Afr. PL 

 Welw. ii. 74. C. ayraria, Kunth, Enum. iv. 38 ; Webb & Berth. lies 

 Canaries, Phyt. iii. 350, t. 2;;8 ; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 541. C. 

 co)iti,nuus, Walter, Fl. Carol. OH; Kunth, Enum. iv. 36 excl. syn. ; 

 C. B. Clarke. Commel. et Cyi't. Beng. t. 1 excl. syn. C.africana ; Benth. 

 in Hook Niger. Fl. 541, cf. note. C: loerneana, Hassk. in Schweinf. 



