84- 



43y. Ankilema pkoteissum, Wall. 



Herb with weak stems, about 2 feet tall, glabrous. Leaves lau- 

 ceolate acuminate acute, narrowed gradually to the petiole, 

 quite glabrous, 4-6 inclies long, ^-1 inch wide; petiole ^ inch 

 long ; sheath tubular, ^ inch long, the mouth ciliate, otherwise 

 glabrous. Panicle very lax spreading, widely with branches, 

 very slender, 4 inches long, quite glabrous. Lower bracts 

 with a narrow^ oblong limb. Upper bracts cup shaped, acute 

 ovate, iV i^*^li long, persistent. Sepals ovate obtuse, not 

 reflexed, small. Petals three, orbicular clawed, pure white. 

 Stamens five, two with linear yellow anthers and wdiite glab- 

 ■ rous slender filaments one anther, reuiform, and two with 



a slender brown filament, bifurcating and ending in two glo- 

 bose yellow balls. Pistil densely grey hairy. Style simple 

 acuminate, minutely capitate. Fruit subgiobose, narrowed 

 below, densely covered with grey-hooked bristles and strongly 

 adhesive, ^^ inch through. Seeds three, oblong convex on 

 the back, angled within, white, transversely rugose. Telom 

 in damp spots by the river. 



Distrlb. — Of type India, Sumatra and Java. 



I have considered it best to describe this plant under the name 

 of A. jjrotensuw , Wall., as it certainly closely resembles 

 Wight's figure, t.c. 2071 ; but his figiu'e and description of the 

 stamens do not coincide with those of the Telom plant. The 

 figure in Clarke's Commelinacete, t. 24, of A. irrotensuiti, does 

 not bear the least resemblance to either the Telom plant or 

 to Wight's figure. It represents a whole plant and seed and 

 a copy of Wight's drawing of the flower. The Telom plant 

 is quite glabrous, and the panicle is not viscid as described 

 in A. ^yrafevi^v)!}. None of the describers mention that the 

 fruit is anned with hooked bristles, making it very adhesive, 

 but Wight's figure shows something like this. A. scaberri- 

 niicni, Kuutl). (CoiuineUna scaberriina, Bl.), docs not fit it in 

 the least. 



440. FlOSCOPA 8CANDENS, Lo>(l\ 



XJlu Batang Padang. Common all over the Peninsula. 



441. FORRESTIA GLABRATA, BL 



A stout, tall, almost comjtletcly glabrous herb. Stems ~ inch 

 through, Leaves lanceolate acuminate with a long point and 

 gradually narrowed to the sheath, 8 inches to nearly 12 inches 

 long, 2 inches wide, completely glabrous, except for the scanty 

 marginal hairs, sheaths 1-1| inch long, finely ribbed glab- 

 rous, except some white cilia at the edge. Capitula compact, 

 1 inch through or less, quite glabrous. Sepals oblong obtuse, 

 I inch long, keeled, quite glabrous. Fruit elliptic oblung 

 Avith a rounded top, ^ubtrigonous pale, much shurter than 



