128 FLORA OF JAMAICA Celosia 



1. C. argrentea L. Sp. PL 205 (1753); stem herbaceous; 

 leaves lanceolate to linear ; spikes showy, compact, cylindrical 

 or ovate, long-stalked, silvery ; style filiform with 2 or 3 minute 

 stigmas. — Moq. in DC. Prodr. xiii. pt. 2, 242 ; Oriseh. Fl. Br. 

 W. Ind. 62 ; Urh. Symh. Ant. iv. 217. (Fig. 38.) 



Distin\ Bath, Prior \ River courses, Fort Stewart, Metcalfe \ Rio 

 Grande, 200 ft.; Bath; Harris \ near Morant Bay, Fawcettl Fl. Jam. 

 6029, 8247. — West Indies, tropics in America, Africa and Asia. 



Stem 1-3 ft. high. Leaves 2-10 cm. 1. Spikes 2-12 cm. 1. Floweis 

 rose-coloured, fading to white, about -75 cm. 1. Perianth-leayes thin, 

 transparent. 



2. C. nitida Vahl Symh. it. 44 (1791) ; stem shrubby ; leaves 

 deltoid, ovate to lanceolate ; spikes short and dense or elongated 

 and lax ; flowers yellowish-white ; style trifid. — Griseh. loc. cit. ; 

 Urh. loc. cit. C. paniculata Moq. torn. cit. 240 (1849). Ama- 

 rantus fruticosus &c. Sloane Cat. 48 & Hist. i. 142, t. 91,/. 1. 



Rio Cobre, near Spanish Town, Sloane Herb. ii. 1091 Brownel 

 Broughton ! Rook Fort, Campbell 1 Palisadoes ; near Alligator Pond, 

 300 ft. ; Great Goat Is. ; Long Acre Point, west of Black River ; between 

 Portland Point and Rocky Point ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 5715, 6754, 7233, 

 9303, 9870, 10,194.— Florida, Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, 

 St. Cruz, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Central America, 

 Calif, peninsula. 



A straggling shrubby plant. Leaves 2-5 cm. 1. Spikes 2-7 cm. 1. 

 Flmoers -5 cm. 1. Perianf/i-segments tough, striated. The specimen of 

 this plant from Browne in Linuseus's Herbarium is labelled by Linnseus 

 Celosia paniculata. The C. paniculata L. of Sp. PI. (1753) is Iresinc 

 paniculata Kuntze, of the second edition Chamissoa altissima H. B. & K. 



2. CHAMISSOA H. B. k K. 



Climbing shrub. Leaves alternate. Flowers hermaphrodite, 

 with persistent bracts in paniculate spikes, white or greenish. 

 Perianth scarious. Stamens 5, united below into a cup ; anthers 

 2-celled ; staminodes none. Ovary with 1 ovule, erect with 

 short stalk. Utricle circumsciss. Seed erect, testa crustaceous. 



Species 4, natives of tropical America and subtropical South 

 America. 



C. altissima H. B. d K. Nov. Gen. d- Sp. ii. 197, t. 125 

 (1818); Wright Mem. 257; Moq. in DC. Prodr. xiii.pt. 2, 250; 

 Griseh. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 62 ; Urh. Symh. Ant. iv. 218. Blitum 

 album majus scandens Sloane Cat. 49 &, Hist. i. 142, /. 91, Jig. 2. 

 Achyranthes altis.sima Jacq. Enum. 17 (1760); Sto. Fl. Ind. Occ. 

 r>22. Celosia paniculata L. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 298 (1762) (non ed. 1, 

 206). (Fig, 39.) 



BasketWithe. 



Near Spanish Town, Sloane Herb. ii. 117! Houstoun] Wrightl Brough- 

 ton\ Shakspear\ Distinl McNabl Lane I St. Mary, Harttveg \ Moneague, 



