26G ACANTHACEiE. [liungia. 



turned upwards with the retinacula. — Herbs usually prostrate, or decumbent. 

 Flowers small, in terminal spikes. Bracts often broad and imbricate. 



A small tropical Asiatic genus, with the habit and flowers of Rostellaria, and the capsule 

 of Dic/iptera. 



1. R. chinensis, Benth. n. sp. Stems decumbent, slightly pubescent. 

 Leaves broadly ovate, acuminate, 1 to \\ in. long, on a petiole of 4 to 6 lines, 

 sprinkled with a few small hairs. Spikes 1 in. or rather longer. Outer bracts 

 ovate, obtuse, or scarcely acute, ciliate, but only slightly scarious at the edges. 

 Bracteoles similar but smaller. Sepals narrow. Capsules about 3 lines long, 

 shortly acuminate. Corolla not seen. 



On Mount Parker, Champion. Not in any other collection. Allied to R. repens, but 

 with a very different foliage. 



12. DICLIPTERA, Juss. 



Flowers usually surrounded by 4 bracts, of which 2 larger. Sepals 5. 

 Corolla 2-lipped, the tube twisted so that the upper entire or 2-toothed lip 

 becomes the lowest, and the lower 3-lobed one is uppermost. Stamens 2. 

 Anther-cells 2, similar, but one inserted below the other. Ovules 2 in each 

 cell of the ovary. Capsule short, the dissepiment separating from the valves 

 and turned upwards with the retinacula. Seeds disk-shaped. — Herbs. Leaves 

 entire. Flowers in axillary clusters or short cymes. 



A considerable genus, dispersed over the tropical and subtropical regions of the New and 

 the Old World. 



1. D. chinensis, Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 477. A. decumbent or ascend- 

 ing annual or biennial, usually minutely pubescent. Leaves stalked, ovate or 

 ovate-lanceolate, 1 to 2 in. long. Flowers in rather loose axillary clusters or 

 shortly pedunculate cymes, the lowest pair of bracts usually (not always) very 

 narrow and pointed. Outer bracts of each flower from obovate to nearly or- 

 bicular, 3 or 4 lines long, shortly mucronate or very obtuse, ciliate on the 

 edge. Bracteoles and sepals very narrow. Corolla pale pink, 6 or 7 lines 

 long. Capsule small, orbicular, pubescent. — D. Roxburghiana, and J). Bur- 

 manni, Nees, I.e. 483. 



On roadsides, Champion, Hance, Wright ; at Little Hongkong, Wilford. In Java, on the 

 Chinese continent, and in Loochoo. The Assam locality given in the Prodromus is again a 

 mistake : the specimen was from the Calcutta Botanic Garden, introduced from China. The 

 precise shape of the bracts is very variable even on the same specimen ; and the name of 

 Justicia chinensis has been misapplied to several Indian plants, the synonymy of which still 

 remains much confused. There is little doubt however that the Chinese plant originally de- 

 scribed by LinnEeus (B. chinensis, Nees), the one figured by Burmann (D. Burmanni, Nees), 

 notwithstanding its more mucronate bracts, and Roxburgh's Calcutta garden plant, intro- 

 duced from China (D. Roxburghiana, Nees), all belong to one species. 



13. CODON ACANTHUS, Nees. 



Calyx 5 -cleft. Corolla obliquely campanulate, with a very short tube, 5- 

 lobed, imbricate in the bud, with the lower lobe outermost. Stamens 2. 

 Anther-cells parallel, not spurred. Ovules 2 in each cell of the ovary. Stig- 

 ma minutely 2-lobed. Capsule laterally compressed below the seed-bearing 

 part. Retinacula hooked. 



A genus limited to a single species. 



