Chirita.] gesneriace^e. 259 



2. CHIRITA, Ham. 



Calyx 5-lobed. Corolla tubular, the limb more or less 2-lipped. Fertile 

 stamens 2 ; anther-cells divaricate, cohering laterally. Upper stamens small 

 and barren. Stigma flattened and emarginate or 2-lobed ; the lobes side by 

 side in the same plane. Capsule linear. Seeds numerous, minute, without 

 appendages. — Herbs, with a short stock or a simple leafy stem. Leaves 

 opposite. Flowers solitary or umbellate, on axillary or radical peduncles. 



A small genus, limited to tropical Asia. 



1. C. sinensis, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1844, £. 59. Stock short, thick, and 

 usually horizontal. Leaves radical, those of each pair equal, varying from 

 broadly ovate, almost cordate, and 2 to 3 in. long, to narrow-oblong 5-6 in. 

 long ; narrowed at the base into a petiole varying also from 1 to 3 in. ; all 

 more or less sprinkled or clothed with long hairs. Peduncles or scapes 6 to 

 10 in. high, hairy, bearing either 1, or more frequently an umbel of 3 to 6, 

 elegant lilac flowers about 1J in. long, on pedicels of | to 1 in., with a pair 

 of ovate or lanceolate bracts under the umbel. Calyx deeply 5-lobed, scarcely 

 2 lines long. . Anthers glabrous. Pod pubescent, 2 to 3 in. long. 



Common in ravines, Champion and others. Not found as yet out of the island. 



Order LXXXI. ACANTHACE^l. 



Flowers usually irregular. Sepals 5, free or united, or the upper one rarely 

 wanting. Corolla with a long or short tube ; the limb either 2-lipped or of 

 5 spreading lobes, imbricate or contorted in the bud, or expanded into a 

 single lower lip. Stamens 2 or 4 in pairs, inserted in the tube. Anthers 

 2 -celled, or 1 -celled by the abortion of the other. Ovary, superior, 2 -celled, 

 with 2 or more ovules or rarely a single ovule in each cell. Style simple, 

 with an entire or 2-lobed stigma. Capsule usually opening elastically in 2 

 loculicidal valves. Seeds usually flat, attached to placentary processes of the 

 dissepiment either in the shape of hooks called retinacula, or of minute 

 papillae or cup-shaped dilatations. Albumen none. Embryo usually curved. 

 Herbs, shrubs, or rarely trees. Leaves opposite, entire or toothed, without 

 stipules. Flowers axillary or terminal, in spikes, racemes, or clusters, each 

 usually with 1 subtending bract and 2 bracteoles, which are sometimes 

 large and leafy, completely enclosing the calyx. 



A large Order, diffused over both the New and the Old World, chiefly within the tropics, 

 a very few species occurring in more temperate regions either in the northern or the south- 

 ern hemisphere. 



Suborder 1. Thunbergide.e. —Corolla-lobes contorted in the bud. Seeds inserted 

 on cup-shaped dilatations of the placentas. 



Climber. Calyx small, concealed within 2 large bracts .... 1. Thunbergia. 



Suborder 2. Bx t ellide/E. — Corolla-lobes contorted in the bud. Seeds inserted on 

 hooked retinacula {or on small papilla). 



Corolla 2-lipped, the upper lip notched, lower 3-lobed. Stamens 4 2. Hygrophila. 

 Corolla- lobes 5, nearly equal, spreading. 



Ovules 6 or more in each cell. Style usually 2-lobed. Stamens 4 3. Ruellia. 



Ovules 2 in each cell. Style entire or with a minute tooth. 



Stamens 4 or 2 4. Strobilanthes. 



s 2 



