516 cix. ACANTHACE.E. (C. B. Clarke.) \_LepidagntUi8. 



* Spikes chiefly aggregated, globose, near the base of the stem. 



1. Zi. cristata, Willd. Sp. PI iii. 400; leaves linear or oblong 

 nearly glabrous, bracts and bracteoles elliptic ovate or obovate suddenly 

 spinose-acuminate, sepals elliptic or obovate suddenly spinulose in fruit 

 thickened very hairy upwards. Roxb. Cor. PL iii. 63, t. 267, and Fl. 

 Ind. iii. 53; Wall. Cat. 2421, chiefly; Nees Monogr. Lepidag. 25, and 

 in Wall. PL As. Ear. iii. 96, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 256, Var. a only; 

 Wight 111. t. 164 b, fig. 5, and Ic. t. 455; Dalz. Sf Gibs, Bomb. FL 191 ; 

 T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 494. L. Shuteri, T. Anders. 1. c. 

 Lepidagathis sp. n. 18, Herb. Ind. Or. H.f. $ T. 



COEOMANDEL, in the tropical region, frequent; Bottler, Wight (Herb. Propr. 

 n. 1971), &c. 



RootstocJc perennial; stems 6-18 in., branched, procumbent, quadrangular, puberu- 

 lous or slightly pubescent. Leaves 1 by ^ in., sessile, lineolate above, minutely 

 scabrid-pubescent on the nerves beneath or glabrate. Inflorescence subradical, 

 globose ; one or two smaller heads sometimes added on the lower part of the 

 leafy branches ; bracts ^ in., rigid in fruit ; bracteoles membranous, hairy, spines- 

 cent. Calyx sub- 4- partite, one segment bifid; segments upwards thickened, oblong 

 obtuse with a mucro, hairy, in fruit densely hairy. Corolla 3- in., densely hairy 

 in bud, white with brown or purple spots in the palate. Stamens glabrous ; 

 anther-cells one slightly above the other, papillose-ciliate. Ovary glabrous. Cap- 

 sule \ in. T. Anderson's specimens of L. Shuteri are merely the fruiting states of 

 L. cristata, with particularly glabrous leaves, &c. His description again appears 

 drawn up chiefly from L. mitis. The older botanists did not separate L. cristata 

 from the 2 following, and Willdenow's original description does not mention the bracts, 

 and may belong to all of the three. So Roxburgh's picture cited shows obtuse 

 bracts ; but his description says " bracts lanceolate ciliated pointed," which may 

 have been taken from L. HooJceri. 



VAB. rupestris ; stem pubescent, leaves elliptic pubescent on both surfaces. L. 

 rupt'stris, Nees in Wall. PI. As. Ear. iii. 96, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 256 ; T. Anders. 

 in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 494. Coromandel (?), Wight (Herb. Propr. u. 1970). 



2. Zi. Hamiltoniana, Wall. Cat. 2422; leaves linear or narrowly 

 oblong nearly glabrous, bracts lanceolate spinesc^nt patently ciliate up- 

 wards, calyx-lobes lanceolate spinescent not thickened upwards. Nees 

 Monogr. Lepidag. 23, and in Wall. PL As. Rar. iii. 96, and in DC. 

 Prodr. xi. 255. L. Beddomei, T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 499. 



BEHAB, alt. 1000 ft. ; R. Soue at Rotasghur, J. D. H. ; Bhagulpore, Hamil- 

 ton. BUNDKLKUND ; Edgeworth. JUBBULPOEE ; Beddome. CHOTA NAGPORE, 

 alt. 1-3000 ft., plentiful. 



Closely resembling L. cristata in habit, leaves and inflorescence. Bracts long- 

 tapering upwards, with long white hairs on their margins. Calyx-segments tough- 

 membranous. Corolla with adpressed straight white hairs, not densely furred as 

 in L. cristata. The flowers in Beddome's example are detached ; T. Anderson 

 describes them as terminal, which is certainly not the case. 



3. Zi. mitis, Dalz. in Hook. Kew Journ. iii. 226 ; leaves oblong pubes- 

 cent scabrous on the nerves beneath, flower-heads not prickly, bracts 

 softly membranous obtuse or shortly acute. Dalz. 4* G-ibs. Bomb. Fl. 191. 



W. DECCAN PENINSULA; Concan, Belgaum, Mangalore, Wight, Stocks, &c. 



Closely allied to L. cristata. Stems usually acutely quadrangular, puberulous or 

 pubescent. Leaves 1 by \-\ in., broader than in the two preceding species, often 

 distinctly scabrid-ciliate. Bracts chaft'y, purple or yellow. Seems well separated from 

 L. cristata, but the bracts pass insensibly into the following var. 



VAR. sitbarmata ; bracts lanceolate sorVor subspinescent or rigidly spinous. L. 

 cristata var. latiiblia, Nees in DC. Prodr. xi. 256 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 191. L. 



