236 SCITAMINECE. 



style filiform, stigma with a semilunar marginally ciliate foveola ; 

 ovules many, superposed. Fruit a globose or ovoid capsule, 

 finally dehiscing on one side between the ribs. Seeds obovoid 

 or subglobose, aril short. Species nearly 100, in the tropics oi 

 both hemispheres. Many of them are cultivated for their hand- 

 some flowers. 



C. speciosus, Smith in Trans. Linn. Soc. i, 249 ; Eoxb. FL 

 Ind. i, 8 ; F. B. I. vi, 250 ; Walt E. D. ; Prain Beng. 

 PL 1045 ; CooJce FL Bomb, ii, 736 ; Kanjildl For. FL (ed. 2) 406. 

 Vern. Kust. 



An erect herbaceous plant, 4-6 ft. high. Stem somewhat woody at 

 the base. Leaves subsessilej arranged spirally, 6-12 in. long, oblong 

 or oblanceolate, acute or acuminate, often cuspidate, glabrous above, 

 silky -pubescent beneath, base rounded ; sheaths coriaceous : ligule 

 none. Flowers many, in dense terminal spikes 2-5 in. long ; bracts 

 bright red, f-lj in. ovate, acuminate or pungently mucronate ; 

 bracteole solitary, f in. long. Calyx 1J in. long, deltoid- ovate, 

 cuspidate. Corolla-tube as long as calyx ; lobes ovate-oblong, 

 apiculate, lateral lobes about If in. long, dorsal one rather shorter ; 

 lip. suborbicular, white with a yellow centre, 2 in. or more in diam. ; 

 concave, plicate, crisped ; disk pubescent and with a tuft of 

 hairs at the base. Stamen IJ-lf in. long, with a tuft of hairs at the 

 base of the filament ; connective petaloid, J in. broad, pubescent, 

 produced into two glabrous appendages about as long as the linear 

 anther-cells. Style slender, 1 J in. long ; stigma with a semilunar 

 ciliate mouth. Capsule f in. in diam., globosely trigonous, red. 

 Seeds black, with a white aril. 



Dehra Dun and Siwalik range, common in sal forest, and eastwards 

 along the Sub-Himalayan tracts of Kohilkhand and N. Oudh, usually 

 in moist shady places. Flowers during the rainy season. DISTEIB. : 

 Outer ranges of Himalaya, up to 4,000 ft., and more or less through- 

 out India ; also in Ceylon, Malay Pen. and Islands and in China. 



The following non-indigenous plants belonging to this family 

 are occasionally cultivated within the area of this flora : 



KCEMPFERIA GALANGA, Linn. Sp. PL 3, Roxb. ; FL Ind. 15 ; F. B. I. 

 vi, 219 ; Watt E. D. ; Prain Beng. PL 1038 ; Cooke FL Bomb, ii, 

 726. Vern. Chandra-mula. A stemless herb. Leaves appearing 

 with the flowers, sessile, suborbicular, 3-6 in. long, spreading flat 

 on the ground. Corolla-segments lanceolate ; lip white with lilac 

 throat. Lateral staminodes cuneate-obovate. More or less through- 



