4: NYCTAGINACEM. 



met with as an escape. The structure of the flowers is very similar 

 to that of Boerhaavia. The leaves and flowers are used in native 

 medicine under the name of gul-abbas. 



BOUGAINVILLEA SFECTABiLis, Willd. A robust thorny extensively 

 climbing shrub with softly pubescent branches and leaves. It 

 bears masses of flowers during the hot season, and at that time be- 

 comes a very beautiful and conspicuous object by reason of its large 

 and brilliant purple -coloured bracts. A very handsome variety 

 known as B. lateritia, with crimson or brick-red bracts, was introduced 

 into India about 30 years ago, and from the two original plants, now 

 at Saharanpur, the gardens in other parts of India have been sup- 

 plied. 



B. GLABRA, Choisy is also largely cultivated in gardens. It is less- 

 robust as a climber, and almost devoid of thorns ; the branches and 

 leaves are glabrous and the bracts are magenta-coloured. It flowers 

 more or less throughout the year. 



XC. AMARANTACE^E. 



Herbs, rarely undershrubs, erect or with climbing branches. 

 Leaves opposite or alternate, exstipulate. Flowers small, usually 

 2-sexual, (rarely dioecious or polygamous), arranged in terminal 

 simple or panicled spikes cymes or clusters, the outer flowers of a 

 cluster sometimes deformed ; bracts hyaline or scarious, never leaf- 

 like bracteoles 2, scarious. Perianth dry, persistent, usually of 

 5 free or slightly connate hy aline or scarious segments, imbricate 

 in bud. Stamens 1-5, opposite the perianth-segments ; filaments 

 usually connate below or united with intervening membranous 

 staminodes in a hypogynous cup ; anthers l-or-2-celled. Ovary 

 1 -celled ; style sometimes simple or obsolete and with a capitellate 

 or small stigma, or 2-3-fid. with acute stigmas, or styles 2-3, erect 

 or recurved and stigmatic on the lower face ; ovules 1 or more, 

 amphitropous, erect or suspended from free basal funicles. Fruit 

 a membranous utricle, rarely a circurnscissile or irregularly bursting 

 capsule, very rarely a berry enclosed in or supported by the persis- 

 tent perianth. Seed inverted or erect, orbicular ovate or renifonn, 

 compressed, testa crustaceous ; embryo horseshoe-shaped or 

 annular, surrounding the floury albumen. Species about 500, 



