200 LXXV. RUBIACEJI. (J. D. Hooker.) \_Spermacoce. 



Stamens 4, on the throat or tube of the corolla, filaments short or long ; anthers 

 linear or oblong. ' Ovary 2-celled ; style filiform with 2 short arms or a capi- 

 tate stigma ; ovules 1 in each cell, on the middle of the septum, amphitropus. 

 Fruit of 2 coriaceous or crustaceous mericarps which dehisce variously. Seeds 

 oblong, grooved ventrally, testa thin often granulate; cotyledons thin, broad; 

 radicle inferior. DISTRIB. Species about 150, tropical and subtropical. 



* Capsule dehiscing septicidally, both mericarps then dehiscing ventrally. 



1. S. stricta, Linn.J,; DC. Prodr. iv. 554; annual, stem usually erect 

 and leaves more or less scabrid, leaves from linear to ovate acute, calyx hispid 

 or pubescent, teeth slender, seeds linear-oblong highly polished. Roxb. FL 2nd. 

 i. 370 ; Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. 1877, ii. 137. S. lasiocarpa, JBr. in Wall. Cat. 

 832. S. pusilla, Wall, in Roxb. FL Ind., ed. Carey Sf Wall. i. 379 ; Cat. 823 ; 

 Don Prodr. 134. S. filina, Qardneri, and angustifolia, Wall Cat. 830, 834, 835. 

 S. triandra, Ham. in Don Prodr. I. c. Bigelovia stricta, Blume Bijd. 945. 

 B. lasiocarpa, Roxburghiana, and Kleinii, W. fy A. Prodr. 437. B. myriantha, 

 Miq. FL Ind. Bat. ii. 334. Borreria pusilla, DC. I. c. 543. B. gracilis, Mia. 

 in PL Hohen. No. 705. 



TROPICAL HIMALAYA from Kashmir eastwards, ascending to 5500 ft., and through- 

 out India to SINGAPORE and CEYLON. DISTRIB. Tropical Asia and Africa. 



Stem 6-14 in., simple or branched from the base, angles more or less scabrid. 

 Leaves subsessile, 1-2 by - in., green when dry, narrowed at both ends, horizontal 

 or deflexed, more or less coriaceous, glabrous or with scabrid nerves beneath. H<ails 

 globose, usually very many- and dense-flowered; bracteoles filiform, exceeding the 

 calyx. Corolla ^ in. long, white. Stigma subglobose. Capsule narrowed at the 

 base, glabrous below, rather membranous. The two most prominent forms of this 

 variable plant are small fruited ones with globose heads and very narrow leaves, the 

 S. pusilla, DC., and B. myriantha, Miq., and a large coarser plant, S. lasiocarpa, Br. ; 

 but there are no limits between these forms. 



2. S. ocymoides, Burm. FL Ind. 34, t. 13, f. 1 ; perennial, glabrous or 

 nearly so, stems branched from the base decumbent and ascending, leaves ovate 

 elliptic or lanceolate acute glabrous or scabrid above, calyx glabrous or glabrate, 

 teeth lanceolate, seeds oblong black granulate opaque. S. stricta, Schlecht. in 

 PL Hohen. No. 998. S. ramosa, tenera, ocymoides, and Roxburghiana, WalL 

 Cat. 831, 833, 6l85, 6186 excl. B. Borreria ocymoides, DC. Prodr. iv. 544. 

 Bigelowia Roxburghiana, Wight Cat. 1360 (not of W. $ A. Prodr.). B. Isevi- 

 caulis and setidens, Miq. FL Ind. Bat. ii. 334, 336. 



WESTERN PENINSULA; from MALABAR and the NILGHERRY HILLS southwards, 

 Heyne, &c. MALACCA, Griffith; CEYLON, Gardner, &c. DISTRIB. Malay Islands, 

 Mauritius, Trop. Africa. 



Hoot more or less woody (except in seedlings). Branches 4-16 in., stout or more 

 often slender, rarely scabrid on the angles and only beneath the leaves. Leaves much 

 broader than in S. stricta, often membranous, quite glabrous or scabrid above, some- 

 times petioled. Flowers fewer and in smaller heads than 8. stricta, with usually 

 shorter bracteoles. Calyx rarely puberulous, teeth often unequal. Seeds usually 

 broader and shorter than in 8. stricta. I follow Wallich in referring this to Bur-' 

 mann's plant. Wight & Arnott's B. Roxburghiana is not Wallich's 6186 of that 

 name, nor is it Wight's plant of that name, nor is Wight & Arnott's B. Kleinii 

 Wallich's S. ocymoides, No. 6185, as cited ; both these plants of W. & A. having hispid 

 calyces are referable to S. stricta. J 



* Capsule septicidal, one' mericarp remaining closed by the septum (which 

 finally separates as a membranous plate}, the other dehiscing ventrally. 



3. S. hispida, Linn.; -DC. Prodr. iv. 555; procumbent, scabrid hirsute 

 or hispid, leaves obovate spathulate oblong or elliptic obtuse or acute margins 



