404 USEFUL PLANTS <)K GUAM. 



olate, acuminate, i)ro(lufe<l liclow into an acuminate ai)pen(lage, rachis of the 

 leaflets S to 12 mm. long, leaflets very shortly stalked, linear-lanceolate or lance- 

 olate, arnlf, often unequal-sided, jrlabrons, ri<rid, dotteil with hlack glands beneath; 

 bracts inclosing tlie flowers ovate, acute, reticulate-veined, leaf-like, persistent, 

 often ciliate, dotted like the leaves, arranged in stiff, erect, very lax axillary spikes; 

 flowers with minute calyx having the upper segments connate, the petals exserted, 

 and the stamens monadelphous; pod jointed, easily separable into flattened, inde- 

 hiscent 1-seeded joints, either (piite inclosed between the bracts or slightly exceed- 

 ing them; surface of the joints set with numerous short, straight spines. 



A connnon weed growing in waste places and on the sites of abandoned clearings. 

 Rkfkkexces: 



Zornia diphylla (L.) Pers. Syn. 2: 318. 1807. 



Hedysarum diphyllum h. Sp. I'l. 2: 747. 1753. 



Zostera tridentata Solms. Same as Ilalodule uninervis. 



Zygomenes cristata. Ckested spiderwort. 



Family Connnelinaceae. 

 A common weed growing in open places, with 3-petaled flowers in terminal scor- 

 pioid, bracteate cymes, inclosed in large falcate, imbricating, 2-seriate bracteoles. 

 Stem creeping below, branches ascending; leaves ovate-oblong, sul)acute; the petals 

 and stamens alone are exserted beyond the bracteoles; sepals 3; corolla with a 

 funnel-shaped tube and a spreading, equally 3-lobed limb; stamens 6, bearded; 

 ovary 3-cel led; cells usually 2-seeded; style thickened at tip; seeds striate and jjitted. 

 A plant widely spread in the Tropics. 

 References: 



Zygomenes cristata (L,.) 

 Commelina cristata L. Sp. PI. 1: 42. 1753. 

 Cyanotis cristata (L.) D. Don, Prod. Fl. Nep. 46. 1825. 

 Tradcscantia cristata L. Syst. ed. 12. 233. 1767. 

 Salisbury's name, Zygomenes is thirteen years earlier than Don's publication of 

 Cyanotis. 



