G26 



RUBIACE,E. CLXXXVIII. DIODIA. CLXXXIX. TRIODON. 



faces ; bristles of stipulas longer than the sheath, reflexed under 

 the heads of flowers ; whorles 1 5-20-flowered, nearly in all the 

 axils ; fruit obovate, rather downy, crowned by the 4 calycine 

 teeth. Native of Brazil. Fruit easily separated into 2 parts ; 

 the parts or nuts closed. 



Many-flowered Diodia. PI. 



2.5 D. MURICUIA'TA (D. C. prod. 4. p. 564.) stem ascending ; 

 branches tetragonal, hairy ; leaves sessile, ovate, cuspidate, re- 

 flexed below the whorles of flowers, beset with strigae above, 

 and villi on the nerves beneath ; bristles of stipulas longer than 

 the sheath ; fruit nearly globose, downy, crowned by the 4 caly- 

 cine teeth. If. . \i . S. Native of Brazil, about Bahia, in dry 

 places. Allied to D. mitUiflora. 



Muriculated Diodia. PI. ascending. 



26 D. DI'SCOLOR (D. C. 1. c.) stem suffruticose, downy, rather 

 ascending, tetragonal ; leaves lanceolate, acuminated at both 

 ends, glabrous, rough, canescent beneath ; bristles of stipulas 7- 

 11, ciliated ; fruit hairy, brittle, crowned by the 4-5 hispid teeth 

 of the calyx. Tj . S. Native of Surinam. Spermacoce dis- 

 color, E. Meyer, nov. act. bonn. 12. p. 786. Flowers white. 

 Allied to D. radula, but distinct, ex Cham, et Schlecht. in Lin- 

 naea. 3. p. 342. 



Discoloured-lemed Diodia. Shrub 1 to \\ foot. 



27 D. HISPI'DULA (A. Rich, in herb. mus. Par. ex D. C. prod. 

 4. p. 565.) stem erect, tetragonal, glabrous ; leaves oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, acute, glabrous ; bristles of stipulas 7, stiff, straight, 

 longer than the sheath ; spikes many, interrupted, at the tops 

 of the branches, with hardly any leaves ; flowers 2-4 in a kind 

 of whorl, sessile at the stipulas ; tube of calyx scabrous from 

 bristles ; lobes of calyx 4, 2 of them longer than the other 2 ; nuts 

 or mericarps rather membranous, closed, one of which bears 3 of 

 the calycine lobes, and the other only one. Native of Brazil. 



Hispid Diodia. PI. 1 to 2 feet ? 



28 D. RADI'CANS (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnsea. 3. p. 350.) 

 stem radicant, oppositely branched, tetragonal, glabrous ; leaves 

 lanceolate, acute, obliquely nerved, smoothish, pale beneath ; 

 fruit ovate, sessile, crowned by the 4 lanceolate lobes of 

 the calyx. fj . S. Native of St. Domingo, where it was col- 

 lected by Poiteau. Spermacoce radicans, Willd. herb, but not 

 of Aubl. Flowers large, axillary, solitary, white? 



Rooting Diodia. Shrub creeping. 



* * * Calyx 5-10-toothed. 



29 D. RA'DULA (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 3. p. 342.) 

 stem herbaceous, weak, tetragonal, smoothish ; leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, acute, lined, scabrous above, and downy on the 

 nerves beneath ; stipulas downy, ciliated ; whorles 6-10-flower- 

 ed ; calyx unequally 5-10-toothed, ciliated; fruit didymous. 

 1(.. S. Native of Brazil, in the provinces of Para and Rio Ja- 

 neiro. Spermacoce radula, Willd. in Rcem. et Schultes, syst. 3. 

 p. 531. This probably belongs to a different genus from the 

 calyx. 



Rasp-\esned Diodia. PL 3 feet. 



SECT. II. DASYCE'PHALA (from Saave, dasys, thick, and/ce^aXij, 

 keplmle, a head ; the flowers are disposed in dense thick heads). 

 D. C.- prod. 4. p. 565. Capsules membranous, having the 

 mericarps or nuts probably subdehiscent inside at length. 

 Flowers disposed in heads. This is probably a section of the 

 genus Borreria, or a proper genus. 



30 D. PALU'STRIS (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 3. p. 347.) 

 stem herbaceous, glabrous, erect, simple, tetragonal, with winged 

 scabrous angles; leaves elliptic, rather cuneated, obtuse, but 

 apiculated; bristles of stipulas 7-9, long ; head* of flowers axil- 

 lary, rather pedunculate ; limb of calyx 4-toothed. If. . S. Na- 

 tive of Brazil. Flowers white. 



Marsh Diodia. PL 1 to 2 feet. 



31 D. DASYCE'PHALA (Cham, et Schlecht. 1. c. p. 348.) plant 

 glabrous, herbaceous, ascending, rather woody at the base ; 

 branches tetragonal ; leaves lanceolate, on short petioles, rather 

 glaucescent, with scabrous margins ; bristles of stipulas 5-7, 

 hardly longer than the sheath ; heads terminal, globose, girded 

 by 4 leaves ; calyx hairy, bidentate. I/ . S. Native of the south 

 of Brazil. Flowers white. 



Thick-headed Diodia. PL \ to 1 foot. 



32 D. ALA V TA (Nees et Mart. nov. act. bonn. 12. p. 11.) stem 

 erect, glabrous, dichotomous at the base, tetragonal ; angles 

 membranous, spinulose ; leaves ovate, cuspidate, glabrous, with 

 scabrous edges ; bristles of stipulas 7-8, long; whorles of flowers 

 terminal, naked, globose; fruit obovate, crowned by the 2 ob- 

 long-lanceolate teeth of the calyx. 0. S. Native of Brazil, 

 about the river Ilheos. Probably a species of Borreria. 



Winged-stemmed Diodia. PL 1-j- foot. 



33 D. BOGOTE'NSIS (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 3. p. 347.) 

 plant suffruticose ; branches quadrangular, scabrous ; leaves ob- 

 long-lanceolate, glabrous, serrulated on the margins, and on the 

 middle nerve beneath ; heads of flowers terminal, rarely nearly 

 axillary ; fruit glabrous, obovate, crowned by the 4 scabrous 

 teeth of the calyx, f? . S. Native near the town of Santa Fe 

 de Bogota. Spermacoce Bogotensis, H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. 

 amer. 3. p. 347. Willd. in Rcem. et Schultes, syst. 3. p. 530. 

 Corolla white, having the throat, and upper part of the tube 

 bearded. 



Bogota Diodia. Shrub procumbent. 



34 D. INDECO^RA (D. C. prod. 4. p. 565.) plant decumbent 

 or ascending, much branched, glabrous ; stem tetragonal, sca- 

 brous along the angles ; leaves oblong-linear, acuminated, gla- 

 brous, opposite, or falsely verticillate ; bristles of stipulas longer 

 than the sheath ; heads of flowers terminal, girded by 4 leaves ; 

 fruit oval-oblong, glabrous, crowned by the 4 teeth of the calyx. 

 -Native of Mexico, at the Cordillera de Cuchilagua, where it 

 was collected by Berlandier. Perhaps the immature fruit is 

 indehiscent. Perhaps a species of Borreria. 



Indecorous Diodia. PL decumbent. 



Cult. For culture and propagation see Borreria, p. 618. 



CLXXXIX. TRrODON (from rptic, treis, three, and oS 

 oSovros, odous odontos, a tooth ; the axis remains after the nuts 

 of the fruit have fallen, and is tridentate at top). D. C. prod. 4. 

 p. 566. Diodia species, Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 3. 

 p. 343. 



LIN. SYST. Tetrdndria, Monogy'nia. Calyx with a turbinate 

 tube, and a 2-4-toothed limb, and sometimes with accessory 

 teeth. Corolla short, funnel-shaped, 4-cleft. Stigma bifid. 

 Capsule chartaceous, 2-celled, crowned by the calyx, containing 2 

 indehiscent 1-seeded nuts ; having the axis, along with the lateral 

 nerves, remaining after the nuts have fallen, and therefore the axis 

 appears tridentate. Much branched glabrous shrubs, natives of 

 Brazil, with acutely tetragonal branches. Leaves opposite and 

 falsely verticillate, oblong or linear ; floral ones small. Flowers 

 axillary or terminal at the tops of the branches, small, disposed 

 in spikes or fascicles. It differs from Diodia in the axis of fruit 

 being permanent and tridentate ; and in habit. 



1 T. ANTHOSPERMO!DES (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 3. p. 

 343. under Diodia) shrubby, much branched, glabrous, downy 

 at top while young ; branches acutely tetragonal ; leaves sessile, 

 linear, acute, opposite, or falsely verticillate ; bristles of stipulas 

 longer than the sheath ; flowers usually by threes in the axils of 

 the upper leaves, and appear almost spicate from the upper leaves 

 being nearly abortive ; calyx hairy, with many teeth. ^ . S. 

 Native of Equinoctial Brazil. 



dnthospermum-like Triodon. Shrub. 

 1 



