Lepidagathis.] cix. ACANTHACE^;. (C. B. Clarke.) 521 



20. Zi. hyalina, Nees in Wall. PI. As. Rar. iii. 95, and Monogr. 

 Lepidag. 16, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 252 ; leaves petioled ovate or oblong 

 minutely viscid-pubescent, spikes oblong very dense axillary and terminal 

 often clustered ciliate often softly hairy, bracts lanceolate acuminate 

 mucronate, calyx sub-5-partite, segments linear-lanceolate mucronate 

 outer larger, corolla in. T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 498. L. 

 incurva, Don Prodr. 119. Euellia dependens, Roxb. Fl. Lid. iii. 49 ; 

 Wall. Cat. 2365. 



Throughout N. INDIA, alt. 0-4000 ft., very common ; from Jamu to Upper Assam 

 and Chittagong. BEHAR and CHOTA NAGPORE, frequent. PEGU and TENASSERIM, 

 common. DISTRIB. Burma, S. China. 



A perennial herb, 1-2 ft. Leaves 3 by 1| in., uppermost often narrower, pendent, 

 undulate ; petiole | in. Spikes ^-1^ in., erect, 1-sided ; bracts nearly ^ in. ; brac- 

 teoles ^ in., linear-lanceolate, mucronate. Sepals in., ciliate, sometimes softly hairy. 

 Corolla white with brown spots in the palate. Capsule in., 4-seeded. Of this plant 

 so universal in N. India there is no plate extant; nor is there any example of the 

 typical form at Kew collected in the Deccan. Roxburgh says his Ruellia dependens 

 is native in Mysore; but the examples in his collections under that name are all the 

 common Bengal form. 



VAR. mollis leaves all ovate hairy on both surfaces, heads very softly hairy. 

 Himalaya Terai, frequent. 



VAR. ustulata ; plant 1-5 in., leaves 1 in., spikes ^-1 in. ovoid, bracts rather 

 larger than in L. hyalina type. L. ustulata, Nees in Wall. PL As. Rar. iii. 95, and 

 Monogr. Lepidag. 18, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 253. Ruellia mucronata, Wall. Cat. 

 2366, letters 7, 6. Kashmir and N.W. Himalaya, alt. 2-4000 ft., Thomson, 

 Strachey fy Winterbottom, &c. A very local and easily separable form. 



VAR. mucronata ; leaves ovate pubescent beneath, spikes and heads small or large, 

 bracts in. L. mucronata, Nees in Wall. PI. As. Rar. iii. 95, and Monogr, Lepidag. 

 11, and in DC. Prodr. xi. 250. L. neurophylla, T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 

 497. Ruellia mucronata, Wall. Cat. 2366, type sheet. Concan, Canara, Nilgherries, 

 &c., Stocks, Wight, Dalzell, &c. Nees founded this species on Wight's plant (Herb. 

 Propr. n. 1968), which has small leaves ; subsequently he (in DC. Prodr.) added such 

 specimens from Mergui as had small leaves : these, however, having bracts ^-\ in. are 

 nearer L. purpuricaulis, though their stems are not very purple. T. Anderson's 

 L. neurophylla has full-sized leaves; the bracts are nearly the same as in Var. 

 mucronata. 



VAR. lophostachyoides, Nees in DC. Prodr. xi. 252 ; leaves large, spikes 2^ by in. 

 1 -sided, bracts as in L. hyalina type. -Ceylon; Gardner, Walker, &c. Bababoodun 

 Hills; Cleghorn. This variety in habit and in details runs very near L. chloro- 

 stachya, but has the spikes rather slenderer, the bracts rather smaller. 



VAR. semiherbacea ; leaves linear-lanceolate often shining. L. semiherbacea, 

 Nees in Wall. PI. As. Ear. iii. 96, and Cat. 7164, and Monogr. Lepidag. 20, and in 

 DC. Prodr. xi. 253; Wall. Cat. 7164. L. iridescens, T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. 

 Soc. ix. 496. Lepidagathis sp., Griff". Notul. iv. 137. From Sikkim and Assam to 

 Burma, very common in the Terai and adjacent Tropical Valleys. Stems often elon- 

 gate, diffuse, with long nodes ; the lower stem leaves (in the extreme form of the 

 variety) 7 by f in. But intermediate forms are more common, having the lower 

 leaves ovate, the upper or uppermost oblong or linear, large or small. Some of the 

 examples only differ from L. simplex, T. Anders., in having numerous heads. 



VAR. riparia; leaves large ovate, heads large softly ciliate, bracts \ in. (or some- 

 times longer) acuminate long aristate. L. riparia, *Nees in DC. Prodr. xi. 253. 

 L. aristata, Nees in Wall. PI. As. Rar. iii. 95, and Monogr. Lepidag. 19 ; Wall. Cat. 

 7163 (not Ruellia aristata, Vahl). Rangoon; M'Lelland. Pegu Yomah ; Kurz. 

 Tenasserim ; Beddome. Siamese Hills; Parish. Kurz and Beddome have noted on 

 their specimens that this is probably a distinct species ; and it seems more distinct 

 from L. hyalina, to which T. Anderson reduced it, than some usually admitted 

 species. 



21. Ii. linearis, T. Anders, in Cat. Sort. Calc. 43, and in Journ. 



