394 cix. ACANTHACE^!. (C. B. Clarke.) \Elytraria. 



II. ELYTRARIA, Vahl. 



Herbs, nearly stemless. Leaves alternate, crowded, subradical. Scapes 

 covered "by imbricated bracts ; spikes close, rigid, simple or divided ; bracts 

 spirally imbricate, not opposite ; bracteoles' smaller than the bracts. Calyx 

 sub-4-partite, segments unequal, the largest sometimes 2-fid. Corolla small, 

 white or blueish ; tube linear, limb 2-lipped ; lobes 5, oblong, imbricate in 

 bud. Stamens 2 perfect, attache'd in the corolla-throat ; anthers elliptic, 

 acute ; cells 2, parallel, with or without a minute spur at the base. Style 

 shortly 2-lobed ; ovules 6-10 in each cell, superimposed. Capsule ellipsoid, 

 acute. Seeds minute, ovoid, reticulated, minutely papillose, attached at a 

 minute point without retinacula. Species 3-4, American, whereof 1 is 

 widely spread in tropical Africa and Asia. 



E. crenata, VahlFnum.i. 106 ; leaves obovate or elliptic obtuse crenate, 

 bracts elliptic acuminabe to a single sharp point. Wall. Cat. 2420; Nees 

 in Wall. PI. As. Ear. iii. 79, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 63 ; T. Anders, in Journ. 

 Linn. Soc. ix. 449 ; Dalz. $ Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 183. E. lyrata, Vahl I. c. E. 

 virgata, Vahl I. c.; Nees -in DC. Prodr. xi. 63. E. marginata, Beauv. Fl. 

 Owar. ii. 58, t. 93 ; Nees in DC. L c. 63. E. indica, Pers. Syn. i. 23. E. 

 Yahliana, Michx Fl. Bor. Am. i. 9, t. 1. Justicia acaulis, Linn. f. Suppl. 

 84 ; Boxb. Cor. PL ii. 15, t. 127, and Fl. Ind. i. 119. 



DECCAN PENINSULA and CEYLON, common southwards; extending north to Delhi, 

 and to the E. Himalaya, Griffith. DISTEIB. Tropical and S. Africa ; tropical and N. 

 America. 



Stem 0-2 in., woolly. Leaves 2-5 in., sometimes obtusely lobed, pubescent at 

 least on the nerves beneath, sessile or narrowed into a petiole. Scapes several, 

 3-10 in., clothed with bract-like scales. Spikes -4 in., harsh, simple or branched; 

 bracts | in., margins scarious, ciliate ; bracteoles g- in., scarious, ciliate. Calyx ^ in. ; 

 segments lanceolate, scarious, ciliate, the -broad one -entire at the apex. Corolla 

 - in., white or blueish. Anthers muticous at the base; rudiments of 2 barren 

 stamens sometimes (at least) present. Capsule | in,, rigid ; valves resilient. The 

 stem is in African examples sometimes considerably elongate branched, and in 

 American examples the scape is sometimes very tall. 



III. NEXiSONXA, E. Br. 



A diffuse, softly villous herb. Leaves opposite, elliptic, entire. SpiJces 

 ovate or cylindric ; bracts ovate, glandular-villous, closely imbricate, alter- 

 nate or spirally scattered; bracteoles 0. Sepals 4, unequal, lanceolate, the larger 

 often bifid. Corolla very small, purplish rose or white ; tube slender, limb 

 2-lipped ; lobes 5, obtuse, patent. Stamens 2, attached above the middle of 

 the tube ; anthers 2-celled, subincluded ; cells broadly ellipsoid, distinct, 

 more or less divergent, glabrous or ciliate, muticous or minutely spurred. 

 Stigma very shortly 2-lobed; ovules in each cell 8-10. Capsule oblong, 

 acute, bearing seeds from the base, barren upwards. Seeds small, roundly 

 ellipsoid, smooth with granular marks, attached on minute points without 

 retinacula. 



N. campestris, Br. Prod. 481 ; Endl. Iconogr. t. 79 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Austral, iv. 543. N. tomentosa, Nees in Wall. PL As. Rar. iii. 79, and in 

 DC. Prodr. xi. 65; Griff. Notul. iv. 132; Dalz. $ Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 183; 

 T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 450. N. origanoides, Roem. Sf Sch. Syst. i. 

 173. 1ST. lamiifolia, Spreng. Syst. i. 42. N. canescens, Nees in DC. I. c. 67. 



