lonidinnt . BIX A CEA E . 49 



them gibbous or spurred at the back. Ovary ovoid ; style clavate, 

 incurved ; stigma oblique. Capsule 3-valved, subglobose, few- 

 seeded. Seeds globose ; testa crustaceous. 



Seeds conspicuously finely striate ; valves of capsule about '2 in. long ; 



undershrub, with red flowers 1 . sujf'ruticosum . 



Seeds obscurely striate ; capsule valves about *4 in. long; large shrub, 

 with pink flowers 2. travancoricum. 



1. IONIDIUM SUFFRUTICOSUM, Ging. ; F. B. I. i. 185 ; W. & A. 32; 

 Wt. 111. t. 19; Wt. Ic. t. 308. I. enneaspermum, DC.; 

 W. & A. 33. I. leptorhizum, DC. ; W. & A. 33. 



Grassy places, in fields, roadsides, and open forest lands in 

 almost all Districts. 



2. IONIDIUM TRAVANCORICUM, Bedd. Ic. t. 230. 



Hills of Tinnevelly and Travancore at 2,000 to 3,000 ft. 



3. Alsodeia. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite ; transverse 

 nervules numerous, distinct and parallel ; stipules rigid. Flowers 

 small, axillary or terminal, solitary fascicled cymose or racemose, 

 regular ; peduncles with many bracts. Sepals 5, rigid. Petals 5, 

 sessile. Stamens 5, on or within the annular disk ; connective 

 produced into a membranous appendage. Ovary ovoid ; style 

 straight ; stigma terminal ; ovules few or many. Capsule 3-valved, 

 few-seeded. Seeds glabrous. 



ALSODEIA ZEYLANICA, Thwaites ; F. B. I. i. 187. 



A large shrub or small tree with ovate-lanceolate slightly 



crenate or serrate leaves and fascicles of small white flowers 



on short axillary spurs. 



Forests of Malabar and Travancore up to 2,500 ft. 



Family XIY. BIXACEAE. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate ; stipules small or 0. 

 Inflorescence various. Floivers regular, 1-2- sexual. Sepals 3-8, 

 usually imbricate and free or connate and bursting irregularly, 

 usually deciduous. Petals 4-5 or 0, imbricate or contorted in 

 bud, deciduous. Stamens indefinite, usually hypogynous ; anthers 

 dehiscing by slits or pores. Disk thickened, often glandular. 

 Ovary 1-. or, by the intrusion of walls, multi-cellular; style and 



