270 PONTEDERIACE&. [ MONOCHORIA. 



blue, tl e others yellow. Ovary ovoid, J in. long ; stigma obscurely 

 3-lobed. Capsule f in. long, ellipsoid. Seeds ^ in. long, rounded at 

 each end, pale, with many fine brown ribs. 



Abundant within the area in streams and tanks. DISTKIB. : Thiough- 

 out India and in Ceylon, extending to the Malay Islands and China. 



2. M. vaglnalls, Presl Reliq. Hoenk. i, 128. F. B. I. vi, 363 ; 

 Prain Beng. PL 1079 ; Cooke FL Bomb, ii, 777. Pontederia vagi- 

 nalis, Burm. ; Roxb.FL 2nd. ii, 121. 



Rootstock short, suberect, spongy. Leaves very variable, 2-4 in. long,, 

 from linear to ovate or ovate- cordate, usually acuminate ; petioles 

 of lower leaves long, stout, terete ; the peduncles emerging from the 

 sheaths of the uppermost leaves. Flowers blue, usually spotted with 

 red, in sub-spicate racemes globose in bud and then elongating as the 

 flowers expand, the terminal flower opening first ; pedicels -J-J in. 

 Perianth campanulate ; segments about f in. long, three of them 

 narrowly obovate, the other three much narrower. Filament of 

 large anther ^ in. long, with an acute horn on one side, those of the 

 smaller anthers filiform. Ovary -fa in long, ellipsoid, glandular ; 

 stigma 3-lobed. Fruit less than \ in. long, glandular outside, Seeds 

 rounded at each end, pale^and with many brown ribs. 



Abundant within the area in rice -fields, and on the margins of tanks. 

 DISTEIB. : Throughout India from Kashmir to Assam and south to 

 Travancore ; also in Ceylon and extending to the Malay Islands, 

 China, Japan and Trop. Africa. 



VAB. plantaglnea, Solms-Laub. ; F. B. I. vi, 363 ; Prain Beng. PL 

 1079. Pontederia plantaginea, Roxb FL Ind. ii, 123. A much 

 smaller plant with narrower leaves and fewer flowers on the racemes. 

 Found at Moradabad by T. Thomson and by Mrs. Bell at Banda, 

 but is probably plentiful within the area and in other parts of India. 

 Outside India it occurs in Java and China. 



CXIIL COMMELINACEJE 



Herbs, prostrate or erect, rarely climbing or shrubby. Leaves 

 costate, with sheathing bases, nerves parallel. Flowers more or 

 less irregular, usually 2-sexual, often cymose ; cymes scorpioid, 

 straight or reduced to one flower, sometimes panicled, often enclosed 

 in spathe-like bracts ; floral bracts usually small, opposite the 

 pedicels or obsolete, sometimes herbaceous and distichously im~ 



