MonocJioria.'] po^^tedeuace.e. 375 



Racemes appearing to proceed from the side of a petiole, 1 to 2 in. long, erect 

 at first, afterwards reflexed, bearing 6 to 12 blue flowers. Perianth-segments 

 abont 5 lines long, the outer ones oblong, the inner obovate. — Poutederia va- 

 ffinalis, Eoxb. PI. Corom. t. 110. 



In a ditch in the Happy Valley, IVilford. Commou in India and the Archipelago. 



2. M. plantaginea, Kmith, Enuni. iv. 135. An annual, much smaller 

 than the last. Leaves lanceolate, scarcely cordate, 1 to 1| in. long. Eacemes 

 loosely 1- to 3 -flowered or very rarely 4 -flowered. Plowers deep blue, rather 

 smaller than in M. vaginalis, the inner segments rather narrower than the 

 outer. 



Hongkong, Wright. Common in India and the Archipelago, extending northward to 

 Amoy. 



Order CXVIII. COMMBLYNACEiE. 



Flowers hermaphrodite or rarely polygamous, usually slightly iiTcgular. 

 Perianth of 3 outer (sepals) thin but calyx-like segments, rarely united at the 

 base, and 3 inner (petals) very delicate petal-like segments or lobes. Stamens 

 6, or fewer by abortion. Anthers 2 -celled, or some deformed or barren. Ovary 

 3 -celled or rarely 2 -celled, with 1, 2, or more ovules in each ceU. Style sim- 

 ple, with an entire or 3-lobed stigma. Fruit a capsule, or rarely indehiscent. 

 Seeds peltate or angular, the testa usually Avi'inkled. Embryo small, partly 

 sunk in a cavity in the apex or side of the fleshy albumen. — Herbs, often 

 creeping at the base. Leaves parallel-veined, with sheathing petioles. Flowers 

 usually blue, pui-ple, or white, in panicles, umbels, or clusters, either terminal 

 or issuing from the leaf-sheaths. 



A considerable Order, chiefly tropical or subtropical, common to the New and the Old 

 World. 



Stamens 6 or 4, of which one half differently shaped and barren. Ovaiy 

 3-celled. 



Flowers few, enclosed in a folded cordate or peltate-tm'binate oblique 



bract or spatha. Capsule 2-valved 1. Commelyna. 



Flowers paniculate. Bracts small. Capsule 3-valved 2. Aneileaia. 



Stamens 6. Anthers all with 2 parallel cells. 



Perianth-segments free. Bracts small. 



Ovary and capsule 2-celled, the cells 1 -ovulate 3. Floscopa. 



Ovary 3-celled. Ovules numerous. Fruit globular, indehiscent . 4. Pollia. 



Periantii-segments united in 2 series. Bracts usually falcate, en- 

 closing the flower 5. Cyanotis. 



1. COMMELYNA, Linn. 



Perianth irregular, 2 sepals larger than the third, and one petal differently 

 shaped or more sessile than the 2 others. Stamens 6 or rarely fewer, of which 

 3 fertile, one of them larger than the others, 3 barren, with deformed anthers. 

 Ovaiy with 1 uniovidate and 2 biovulate cells. Capsule 2-valved. — Flowers 

 few, on 2 peduncles enclosed in a folded cordate or peltate-turbinate oblique 

 bract or spatha, which is usually pedunculate from a split leaf-sheath opposite 

 the blade. 



A considerable genus, common to the New and the Old ^Vorld. 



