BUCHNERA. ] SCROPHULABIACJS&. 155 



solitary, about as long as the leaves, decurved in fruit- Sepals $ in. 

 long, ovate, obtuse, ciliate. Corolla shorter or longer than the sepals, 

 blue or white. Capsule % in. in diam.; lobes globose, 4-10-seeded. 

 A common weed within the area, appearing during the cold season in 

 gardens and cultivated ground. DISTBIB. : Punjab Plain and W. 

 Himalaya from Kashmir and Baltistan to Kumaon up to 9,000 ft., also 

 in C. Bengal, extending to Europe, N. Africa, China, Japan and the 

 Loochoo Islands. 



19. BUCHNERA, Linn.; Fl. Brit. Ind. iv, 297. 



Rigid annual herbs, black when dry. Leaves, the lower ones, oppo- 

 site and broad, upper alternate and narrow. Flowers sessile, axillary 

 or in bracteate spikes, 2-bracteolate. Calyx tubular, 5-toothed, 10- 

 nerved and sometimes 5-ribbed. Corolla-tube straight or nearly so,, 

 slender; lobes 5, flat, subequal, spreading, 2 upper inside in bud. 

 Stamens didynamous, included ; anthers 1-celled, vertical, dorsifixed, 

 bases obtuse, connective sometimes mucronate. Ovary 2-celled, style 

 thickened or clavate upwards, stigooa entire or notched. Fruit an 

 oblong loculicidal capsule ; valves coriaceous, entire, septiferons, 

 separating from the placentas. Seeds many, obovoid or oblong, 

 reticulated. Species about 78, in the warmer regions of both 

 hemispheres. 



B. hispida, Buch.-Ham in Don Prod. 91; F.B.L iv, 298 ; Coll ett Fl. 

 8iml. 358 ; Prain Beng. PL 774 ; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 301. 



An erect hispid herb, 6-18 in. high. Stem slender, often branched above. 

 Leaves sessile or obscurely petioled ; the lower crowded, 1-2 in. long, 

 obovate or oblong ; the upper usually longer and narrower. Flowers 

 distant, sessile in the axils of narrow bracts and forming terminal spikes 

 6-10 in. long ; bracteoles small, subulate. Calyx -5 in long, tubular, 

 hispid ; teeth lanceolate, acute. Corolla pale-purple or white ; tube, 

 slender, cylindrie, longer than the calyx, hairy within. Capsule oblong, 

 shorter than the calyx. 



Frequent in grassy places on the Siwalik range and throughout the sub- 

 Himalayan tracts eastwards. Flowers July-Get. DISTRIB. : W. and 



C. Himalaya from Kashmir to E. Nepal, up to 9,000 ft., and from Chota 

 Nagpur, C. India and the Konkan to S. India ; also in Madagascar and 

 Trop. Africa. 



20. STRIGA, Lour. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. iv, 298. 



Usually scabrid herbs, turning blackish when dry. Leaves, the 

 lower, opposite ; upper alternate, linear, entire, rarely toothed, some- 

 times reduced to scales. Flowers axillary or the upper in bracteate- 



