BUELLIA. ] ACANTHACEJE. 187 



8.RUELLIA, Linn.; Fl, Brit. Ind. iv, 411. 



Herbs or undei>hrubs. leaves opposite, entire. Flowers sessile- 

 or subsessile, solitary or in clusters or racemes ; bracts none ; bracteoles 

 large, usually exceeding the calyx. Calyx 5-partife or 5-fid.; lobes 

 subequal, narrow, acute. Corolla more or less oblique, tube ventri- 

 cose ; lobes subcqaal, rounded, twisted to the left in bud, spreading 

 in flower. Stamens didynamous ; filaments glabrous or hairy at the 

 base ; anthers subequal, 2-celled ; cells oblonjr, muticous, glabrous. 

 Ovary glabrous ; ovules 3-10 in each cell ; style linear, hairy, un- 

 equally bifid. Fruit a clavate cylindric or ellipsoid capsule, seed- 

 bearing above the solid base. Seed* large, thin, discoid, margined, 

 hygroscopically hairy ; ret.inacula larjre, b coked, strong. Species 

 about 200, in sill warm regions. The above generic description refers 

 only to the section Dipt er acanthus t to which all the Indian species 

 belong. 



Stems prostrate or climbing-, woody ; leaves 



ovate or elliptic, acute, glabrous or slightly 



hairy ; flowers greyish- purple ; capsule 



pubescent . . . . . - . 1. R. prostrata. 

 Stems erect, woody ; leaves ovate, obtuse, 



rather densely pubescent on both surfaces ; 



flowers greyish-purple, capsule glabrous 



below the tip . . . . . 2. R. patula. 



Stems annual, erect from a woody rootstock ; 



leaves nrarowly elliptic, subobtuse, villous 



on both surfaces ; flowers white ; capsule 



glabrous 3. R. suffruticosa. 



1. K. prostrata, Lamk. Encycl. vi, 349. VAR. dejecta, Clarke in F. B. I. 

 iv, 412; Watt E. D.; Prain Beng. PL 803 ; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 355. 

 E. ringens Roxb. FL Ind. Hi, 44. 



A small diffuse undershrub. Stems 6-18 in. long, prostrate or climbing, 

 amongst bushes, much branched, internodes long, the nodes more or less 

 haiiy and often tinged with purple. Leaves |-3 in. long, ovate or elliptic., 

 acute at both ends, entire, glabrous or slightly hairy, petioles, g-f in. 

 long. Flowers subsessile, solitary or few together ; bracteoles similar 

 to the leaves but snmller. Calyx % in. long, divided to below the middle ; 

 segments linear-subulate, acute, hairy. Corolla pale greyish-purple, H in. 

 long, caducous, pubescent outside ; tube narrowly cylindric below, 

 funnel-shaped above ; lobes subequal, obovate-oblong, rounded. Cap- 

 sule f in. long, clavate, pointed, pubescent. Seeds 16-20, subglabrous 

 but with a dense fringe of hygroscopic hairs on the margin. 



