NELSONIA.] ACANTHACEJE. 18t 



none. Calyx small, 4-partile; segments unequal, lanceolate, the 

 larger often bifid. Corolla very small, purplish-rose or white, tube 

 slender, limb 2-lippefl; lobes 5, obtusp, spreading. Stamens 2, 

 attached ahove the middle of the corolla-tube ; anthers 2-celled, 

 subincluded ; cells elliptic, distinct, more or less divergent, glabrous 

 or ciliate, muticous or minutely spurred. Ovary with 8-10 ovules 

 in each cell, stigma Bhoitly 2-lobed. Fruit an ovoid pointed capsnle, 

 bearing the seeds below tbe middle. Seeds small, ellipsoid or sub- 

 globose, smooth, not supported on retinacula. A single species,- 

 occurring in S. E. Asia, Africa, and Australia; also in America 

 where it has probably been introduced. 



N. campestris, E. Br. Prod. 481 ; F. B. I. iv, 394 ; Prain Beng. PI. 

 797 ; Coo'ke Fl. Bomb, ii, 345. Justicia lamifolia, Koen.; Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 

 134. 



Stems short, branches trailing. Young parts more or less densely clothed 

 with white hairs. Leaves elliptic-oblong, entire, the lower 4-8 in. 

 long and with long petioles; upper subaessile, ^-2 in, clothed with 

 grey woolly pubescence. Flowering spikes ^-2 in. long, ovate or cylin- 

 dric ; bracts herbaceous, - in. long, ovate, subobtuse, softly pu- 

 bescent, bracteoles represented by 2 opposite tufts of hairs situated below 

 the calyx. Calyx in. long, strongly nerved. Corolla in. long, pur- 

 plish. Capsule ovoid-conic, 8-12-seeded, glabrous. Seeds broadly ellip- 

 soid, yellowish with brown granulations. 



Dehra Dun and in the Sub -Himalayan tracts of Rohilkhand, N. Oudh and 

 Gorakhpur ; also in Bundelkhand. DISTRIB. Throughout India, except 

 in the desert tracts, up to 4000 ft. on the Himalaya and in Ceylon;, 

 extending to S. E. Asia, Australia, Africa and America. 



4. STAUROGYNE, Wall. 

 UNDER EBERMAIERA IN FL. BRIT. IND. iv, 395. 



Herbs or small undorshrubs. Leaves opposite, rarely alternate 

 Flowers in terminal or pseudo-axillary simple or compound dense 

 or lax racemes or spikes, bracts usually leaf -like ; bracteoles 2, near 

 the base of the calyx, smaller than the bracts. Calyc deeply 5- 

 partite; segments obbng or linear, subequal or one larger than the 

 others. Corolla 2-lipped, tube long or short, cylindric or somewhat 

 f iinnel-shaped ; lobes 5, short, spreading. Stamens didynamous, 

 usually included, filaments usually hairy ; anthers with 2 ovoid 

 muticous distant cells. Disk inconspicuous. Style linear, glabrous, 

 with 2 lobes, the lower one often again 2-lobed ; ovules numerous- 



