73 GENTIANAOE^ [EXACUM. 



tent in fruit ; tube short, globose ; lobes 4-5, ovate or oblong. 

 Stamens 5-4, on the throat of the corolla ; filaments short, 

 dilated at the base ; anthers exserted, opening by terminal pores 

 which usually extend into lateral slits. Ovary 2-celled; style long, 

 curved ; stigma small, subcapitate, ovules many. Capsule globose. 

 Seeds reticulate. Species 20, mostly Indian, a few extending to 

 Malaya, China and Africa. 



Steins stout, up to 4 feet, leaves 5-nerved . 1. E. tetragonum. 

 Stems slender, up to 1 foot, leaves 3-nerved . 2. E. pedunculatum. 



1. E. tetragonum, Roxb. Hort. Beng. 10; Fl. Ind. i, 398 ; Don. Prod. 

 128; Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii,53l; Royle III. 276; F. B. I. iv 95; Watt. E. 

 D. ; C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc, wiv, 424; Prain Beng. PI. 706; 

 Collett. Fl. Siml. 323; E. roseum, Royle III 276. V ern. Uda chiretta. 



.Stems erect, stout, 1-4 ft. high, 4 angled. Leaves sessile, about 5 in. long, 

 lanceolate, acute, usually 5-n.erved. Flowers azure-blue, 1 in. in diam., 

 usually 4-merous, arranged in many-flowered" terminal panicles. Calyx- 

 lobes % % in. long, ovate, acuminate, keeled but hardly winged. Corolla- 

 lobes ^-f in. long, broadly elliptic, acute. Style ^ in. long. Capsule 

 subglobose, J in. long. 



Fairly abundant within the area in damp ground, especially in Bundel- 

 khand and in the Sub-Himalayan tracts from Dehra Dun eastwards. 

 DISTRIB. Himalaya from Simla to Bhutan ascending to 5,000 ft., and from 

 Bengal and Chota Nagpur to the Central Provinces ; also on the Khasia 

 Hills, extending to Burma, China, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo and 

 the Philippines. The plant' is used medicinally as a substitute for 

 chiretta. 



2. E. pedunculatum, Linn. Sp. PL 112; Clarke in Journ. Linn. Sec. 

 xiv, 427 ; P. B. I. iv, 97; Watt E. D. ; Prain Beng. PI 706; Cooke Fl. Bomb, 

 ii, 188. E. sulcatum, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 400. 



Stems erect, slender, 3-18 in. high, 4-angled, much branched above. Leaves 

 subsessile, 1^-2 in. long, elliptic or lanceolate, tapering to the base, 

 glabrous, usually 3-nerved. Flowers many, in terminal much branched 

 panicled' cymes, 4-merous, blue ; peduncles and pedicels long, rigid, 

 lower bracts leaf like. Calyx ' in. long ; lobes ovate, acuminate, 

 distinctly winged on the back. Corolla - in. long, lobes lanceolate, 

 acute. Capsule globose, ^ in. in diam., smooth and shining. 



Plentiful in Bundelkhand and along the base of the Himalaya from Dehra 

 Dun eastwards. Flowers in December. DISTRIB. Throughout the greater 

 portion of India and in Ceylon, ascending to 6,000 ft. on the Himalaya ; 

 it is found also in Burma and in the Malay Peninsula. This plant 

 possesses the tonic properties of chiretta and gentian, and is much 

 used by the natives for fever. 



