HygrophilaJ] acanthace^e. 261 



1. H. Sflicifolia, Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 92; Wight, Ic. t. 1490. A 

 slightly pubescent annual or biennial, 1 to 1^ ft. high. Leaves from oblong- 

 lanceolate to linear, \\ to 3 in. long, entire. Flowers light-blue, 2 to 6 or 

 more in each axil, surrounded by oblong leafy bracts of 3 or 4 lines. Calyx 

 oblong, more or less 5 -cleft; the segments lanceolate-subulate, pubescent. 

 Corolla about 6 lines. Capsule about 5 lines long. Seeds small, 8 or more 

 in each cell. — It. quadrivalvis, Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 89. 



Hongkong, Hance. Very common in wet swampy places throughout India and the Archi- 

 pelago, and northward to Japan; and prohably the common American and Australian Hy- 

 grophilas are again the same species under other uames. 



3. RXJELLIA, Linn. 



(Dipteracanthus, Nees.) 



Calyx more or less 5 -cleft. Corolla-lobes 5, nearly equal, spreading, con- 

 torted in the bud. Stamens 4 ; anther-cells parallel and equal. Stigma 2- 

 lobed ; the upper lobe sometimes small and tooth r like. Ovules 6 or more in 

 each cell of the ovary. Capsule flattened and seedless at the base, seed-bear- 

 ing in the middle. Eetinacula hooked, usually denticulate at the top. — Herbs 

 or rarely shrubs. Flowers mostly axillary, solitary or clustered. 



A considerable genus, distributed over the warmer regions of the New and the Old World. 



1. R. repens, Linn. Stems decumbent or with divaricate branches. 

 Leaves shortly stalked, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, entire, 1 in. long or rather 

 more, slightly hairy. Flowers solitary in the upper axils, blue, \ in. long or 

 rather more. Sepals lanceolate- subulate, about 3 lines long. Capsule near 

 £ in. long, with 4 to 6 seeds in each cell, clustered together above the middle. 

 — Dipteracanthus lanceolatm, Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 124. 



Hongkong, Wright. In the Philippines, in Java, and various parts of India, but less 

 common there than the allied R. prostrata, which has the flowers considerably larger, besides 

 other characters. 



4. STROBILANTHES, Blume. 



(Endopogon, Goldfussia, and Phlebophyllum, Nees.) 

 Sepals 5, free or united. Corolla-lobes 5, nearly equal, spreading, contorted 

 in the bud. Stamens 4 or 2. Anther-cells parallel and equal. Ovules 2 in 

 each cell of the ovary. Style subulate and entire to the top, or with a very 

 minute upper tooth. Capsule often flattened and seedless at the base, but 

 the seeds distant in each cell. Eetinacula hooked, acute. — Herbs or shrubs. 

 Flowers in axillary or terminal, sessile or pedunculate, heads or spikes. 

 A considerable genus, ranging over tropical Asia and Africa. 



Prostrate or decumbent herbs. Stamens 4. 



Mowers (2 in. long) in interrupted spikes 1. S. Championi. 



Flowers (f in. long) in short heads 2. S. radicans. 



Undershrubs, with stiff leaves, white underneath. Stamens 2 . . . 3. S. apricus. 



1. S. Championi, T. Anders. MSS. A glabrous herb. Stems pros- 

 trate or decumbent, 1 to 2 ft. long, ascending to 6 in. or rather more. Leaves 

 ovate or oblong, usually acuminate and toothed ; the larger ones above 4 in. 

 long. Flowers large, in 2 or 3 distant pairs, on axillary peduncles shorter 

 than the leaves. Sepals linear, herbaceous, 9 or 10 lines long when in fruit, 



