396 oix. ACANTHACE.E. (C. B. Clarke.) [Ebermaiera. 



Leaves 2 by in., obtuse, base attenuate, sligbtly viscous-pubescent or glabrate, entire 

 or sinuate ; petiole \ in. Spikes 2-6 in. ; lowest bracts altogether leaf-like (whence 

 T. Anderson says " flowers solitary axillary ") ; tip of the spike often dense with 

 short bracts resembling the spike of neighbouring species ; bracteoles linear, obtuse, 

 shorter than the calyx. Sepals 4 subsimilar, in., linear-subulate, sparsely glandu- 

 lar-hairy ; the fifth longer, much broader, linear-oblong, obtuse. Corolla straight, 

 slightly pubescent without, purplish with rose or yellow stripes. Anther-cells 

 muticous or minutely mucronate at base. Capsule in. Described from Nees' type 

 specimen ; Wight's figure is taken from a form having a much denser more glandular- 

 pubescent spike. The Australian species referred here by T. Anderson and Bentham 

 differs in its hairy ovary and capsule, and many other minute points ; but it might be 

 better to unite it, and make a wholesale reduction of species here. 



VAR. spatulata ; leaves very spathulate, spikes denser only a few of the lowest 

 elongate, calyx and bracteoles very glandular-hairy, corolla scarcely | in. Adenosma 

 spatulatum, Blume Bijd. 757. Ebermaiera spatulata, HassJc. ; Nees in DC. Prodr. 

 xi. 74, partly?. Pegu; Kurz. Tenasserim; Seddome. Bengal; Pubna, Clarke. 

 Distrib. Java. Growing in rice-swamps; stems erect, thick, quadrangular or 

 striate ; man}'' or nearly all the leaves alternate. Ebermaiera spatulata, Nees, is 

 described from a Philippine plant of Cuming's, which widely differs from Kurz's Pegu 

 specimens. 



2. E. polybotrya, Nees in DC. Prodr. xi. 74 ; stems erect adpressedly 

 grey-pubescent upwards, leaves elliptic subobtuse at both, ends, spikes 

 cylindric not lax downwards, bracts narrowly oblong scarcely exceeding the 

 calyx, corolla in. 



BENGAL ; frequent in Terai swamps in Sikkim and Silhet, J. D. H., &c. MOTJL- 

 MEIN and MEEGTJI ; Griffith. 



Stems 6-8 in., often branched from the base. Leaves all opposite, even at the 

 base of the spike, 1 by ^ in., subentire, minutely pubescent on the nerves beneath or 

 glabrous; petiole or in the lower leaves scarcely | in. Spikes 1| in.; bracts 

 \-jl in. ;. bracteoles linear, shorter than the calyx. Sepals 4 subsimilar, narrow- 

 linear, subobtuse ; the fifth rather longer, much broader, oblong, obtuse. Corolla, 

 stamens,, and capsule nearly as of JEJ. glauca. 



3. E. humilis, Nees in Wall. PI. As. Rar. iii. 80, and in DC. Prodr. 



xi. 74; stem erect branched adpressed white-pubescent upwards, leaves 

 opposite subsessile narrowly elliptic, heads terminal small globose, bracts 

 oblong sessile hardly so long as the calyx, corolla in. and upwards. Wall. 

 Cat. 7148 ; T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. $oc..ix. 450. 



BURMA ; Prome Hills, Wallich. 



Stem 6-8 in., branched from near the base ;. branches ascending, shorter than the 

 central stem. Leaves. 1% by ^ in., obtusely rhomboid at both ends, nearly glabrous, 

 adpressediy white-pubescent on the nerves beneath ; petiole hardly -^ in. diam. Heads 

 sessile, - in. diam. ; bracts and bracteoles in. Sepals, 4 linear, subobtuse : the 

 fifth slightly larger, oblong obtuse. Nearly allied to E. polybotrya, but the heads 

 are not elongate cylindric, the bracteoles and sepals are less acute, the corolla is 

 larger. 



4. E. grlutinosa, Wall.. Cat. 9087 ; stem trailing rooting pubescent, 

 leaves elliptic, base attenuate, heads subspherical on short branches and 

 quasi-axillary, bracts elliptic sessile hardly so long as the calyx, corolla |in. 

 Ebermaiera sp., Wall. Cat. 9085.. E. glauca, T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. 

 Soc. ix. 450 r in great part. 



CENTRAL INDIA, N. W. PROVINCES, and BENGAL, frequent ; Moradabad, Thom- 

 son ; Behar, J. _ZX H. ;, Bundelcund, Edgeworth ; Silhet, Wallich, &c. 



Stems numerous, 12-18 in. ; nodes in the trailing branches distant. Leaves all 

 (or nearly all) opposite, 1| by f in., subobtuse, entire, minutely pubescent or glabrous; 



