A?ieilema.] commelynace^e. 377 



loose ciliate sheaths. Panicle of few irregular slender branches, each bearing 

 a short raceme of 3 to 1 small flowers. Stamens 2 fertile and 2 small and 

 barren. Filaments hairy. Capsule about 1^ lines long, with 2 seeds in each 

 cell. — A. debile, Wall. Catal. n. 5215. A. diandrum, Ham. in Wall. Catal. 

 n. 5210. A. compressum, Dalz. in Kew Journ. Bot. iii. 138. 



Common in marshy places about Victoria, WiJford. Widely spread over India, from 

 Ceylon and the Peninsula to the Archipelago, extending to Australia, and northward to Loo- 

 choo. The 3 ovules in each cell seen by Dalzell must have been in an accidentally abnormal 

 flower. I find 2 only in his own specimens. 



Var. ? rigidior. More tufted at the base, taller and stiffer. Leaves longer, sometimes 

 pubescent underneath and on the sheaths. Flowers rather larger. 



Hongkong, Wright. 



3. PLOSCOPA, Lour. 



(Dithyrocarpus, Kunth.) 



Flowers nearly regular. Perianth-segments free, one petal usually narrower. 

 Stamens 6, all fertile. Ovary contracted at the base or stalked, 2-celled, with 

 1 ovule in each cell. Capsule flattened, didymous, 2-valved. Seed laterally 

 attached by the broad truncate base. — Erect or ascending herbs, usually creep- 

 ing at the base. Flowers small, in terminal panicles. Bracts small. 



A small tropical genus, common to the New and the Old World. 



1. P. paniculata, Hassle. ; Miq. Fl. Ned. Ind. iii. 542. Stems ascend- 

 ing to 1 or 2 ft., usually glabrous. Leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, 2 to 4 in. long, scabrous on the upper side ; the sheath fringed with 

 long hairs, at least at the top. Flowers small, in a dense terminal ovate hir- 

 sute panicle 1^- to 2 in. long; sometimes leafy at the base ; the branches sim- 

 ple or the lower ones forked. Sepals very hairy, 1 line long or rather more. 

 Petals bright blue, scarcely longer. Stamens exserted. — F. rufa, Hassk., 

 with the synonyms quoted by Miq. Fl. Ned. Ind. iii. 542. Tradescantia 

 paniculata, Roxb. PI. Corom. t. 109. Dithyrocarpus capensis, D. Meyenianus, 

 D. paniculatus, and D. rufus, Kunth, Enum. iv. 78 and 79. D. petiolatus, D. 

 Eothii, and D. undulaius, Wight, Ic. t. 2079 and 2080. Aneilema hispidum, 

 Don. ; Kunth, Enum. iv. 70; and probably also Floscopa scandens, Lour. Fl. 

 Cochinch. 193 ; and Dithyrocarpus h'wsutus, Kunth, Enum. iv. 77. 



Hongkong, Harland. Widely diffused over India, from the Peninsula to the Himalaya, 

 the Malayan Peninsula, and the Archipelago, and northward to the Philippines and S. China. 

 Also in S. Africa and Brazil, for I can discover no difference whatever between specimens 

 from thence and the Indian ones. 



4. POLLIA, Thunb. 

 (Aclisia, E. Mey) 



Flowers nearly regular. Perianth-segments free, one petal rather narrower. 

 Stamens 6 ; anthers all with 2 parallel cells, but 3 usually barren. Ovary 3- 

 celled, with numerous ovules in each cell. Fruit globular, slightly succulent, 

 indehiscent, shining and brittle when dry. Seeds angular. — Stems ascending 

 or erect. Leaves large. Flowers in terminal panicles. Bracts small. 



A small tropical or subtropical Asiatic genus. 



1 . P* sorzogonensis, Endl. ; Miq. Fl. Ned. hid. iii. 541 . Glabrous or 



