Allmania.] cxvi. AMARANTACE^E. (J. D. Hooker.) 717- 



dichotomously branched, leaves short or long from linear or oblong to 

 spathulate and orbicular, heads sessile axillary and terminal globose. 



SIKKIM TEEAI, Clarke. MYSOEE and the CARNATIC, MALACCA, SINGAPORE and 

 CEYLON. DISTRIB. China, Malay Islands. 



Rootstock sometimes woody ; branches rigid or flaccid, 6-12 in., glabrous or 

 hispidly h.iiry. Leaves excessively variable, membranous or rigid. Heads ^1 in. 

 diam. white or brown. Seeds turgidly lenticular, opaque or shining. The following 

 forms are certuinlv varieties of no great constancy. 



VAK. angustifoUa ; glabrous, rarely with a few scattered hairs, often tall, leaves 

 1-3 in. oblong or linear-oblong or elongate obovate-oblong obtuse or acute, heads 

 usually large. A. nodiiiora, Wall. Cat. 6980 A. C. E in part. Chamissoa angusti- 

 folia, Herb. Ham. C. javanica, Hussk. PI. Jav. Bar. 434. -Mysore, Ceylon, widely 

 diffused. Java, Sumatra. A tall slender unbranched form of this occurs, apparently 

 drawn up amongst grass, &c. 



VAR. dichotoma; glabrous or nearly so, leaves shortly petioled f-lj in. elliptic 

 acute, heads -\ in. A. nodiflora, Wall. Cat. 6890 'E. in parf. A. dichotoma, 

 Wight Ic. t. 1771. Celosia dichotoma, Heyne in Roth Nov. Sp. 172. Courtallum, 

 Wight. 



VAR. Roxlurghii glabrous or pubescent, leaves 1-2 in. spathulate or orbicular- 

 spathulate often apiculate. A. nodiflora, Wight in Hook. Journ. Hot. i. (1834), 226, 

 t. 128; Wall. Cat. 6890 E in part. Achyranthes nodiflora, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 678. 

 Celosia nodiflora, Linn. Sp. PL 205 ; Roth Nov. Sp. 17 j urm. Fl. Zeyl. 16, t. 5, f. 2. 

 Mysore, the Carnatic and Ceylon. 



VAR. aspera ; hispidly hairy, other characters of Var. angustifolia. A. aspera, 

 Wight Ic. t. 1770. Celosia aspera, Roth Nov. Sp. 173 ; Moq. I. c. 244. Chamissoa 

 dichotoma, Moq. I. c. 249. Corn-fields, Coimbatore and Mysore. 



VAR. procumbens ; diffuse, branches prostrate often several feet long from a slender 

 or stout (perennial ?) woody branched stock, glabrous or scabrid, leaves small ^-| in. 

 spathulate or linear mucronate, heads small 35 in. Wall. Cat. 6980 E in part. 

 A. procumbens, Wight mss. A. nodiflora, Wight Ic. t. 1770. Sands and Red Hills 

 at Madras. DISTRIB. Java. 



VAR. esculenta, ; flaccid, glabrous, leaves 12 in. very narrow linear, heads usually 

 small sometimes pedicelled. A. esculenta, Br. in Wall. Cat. 6892 ; Moq. I. c. 249. 

 Chamissoa Brownii, Steudel Nomencl. Eel. i. 344. Malacca and Singapore. 



2. A. albida, Br. in Wall. Cat. 6981 ; annual, erect or suberect, 

 leaves short or long from linear to spathulate or obcordafce, heads ovoid or 

 oblong rarely globose peduncled. Chamissoa albida, Mart. Beitr. Amarant. 

 79 ; Wight Ic. t. 1769. C. pyramidalis, Moq. 1. c. Celosia pyramidalis, 

 Burm. Fl. Ind. 65, t. 25. C. albida, Willd. Sp. PI i. 1197. C. nodiflora, 

 Wall. Cat. 6890 B. 



The CARNATIC ; in sandy soil near the coast, Wight, &c. CEYLON, common. 

 Java, Philippines. 



Usually tall, erect, 1-2 ft. high, with erect branches, and foliage simulating many 

 of the forms of A. nodiflora, of which Thwaites regards it as a form, but I can scarcely 

 agree with him. 



6. DIGERA, ForsJc. 



An annual herb. Leaves alternate. Floivers spicate, 3-nate, the 2 outer 

 reduced to crested scales. Sepals 4-5, oblong, outer larger 5-9-nerved, 

 inner 2-4-nerved. Stamens 5, free ; anthers 2-celled ; staminodes 0. Ovary 

 oblong, truncate ; style filiform, stigmas 2 recurved; ovule 1, erect. Nut 

 subglobose, compressed, rngulose. Seed globose, erect, testa thin crus- 

 taceous, adhering to the albumen ; embryo annular, cotyledons linear. 



3>. arvensis, ForsJc. FL JEg. Arab. 65; Moq. in DC. Prodr. xiii. 2, 



