190 



ends, serrulate, ciliated ; flowers sessile in the axils, verticelled, blue, 

 surrounded by rigid spines. In swampy places, very common. 

 Syn. Barleria longifolia, Linn. Amcen. Acad. iv, p 320; VVilld. sp. 

 iii, p 375. It is a kind of religious service among the Hindoos 

 to collect a lac of these flowers to present them to their idols. 

 The ceremony is called " Lackotee." The seeds have considerable 

 diuretic powers, and are called " Talimkhana." 



19. NEURACANTHUS, N. ab E. 



1. SPH^EROSTACHYUS, Dalz. in Hook. Jour. Bot. ii, 140. Stems 

 many, from a perennial root, erect, simple, obtusely quadrangular, 

 pubescent and scabrous ; leaves opposite, oblong-truncate or sub- 

 cordate at the base, obtuse at the apex, pubescent and scabrous 

 on both sides ; spikes in the opposite axils sessile, globose, densely 

 silky and tomentose ; bracts orbicular, suddenly acuminate, reticu- 

 lately veined ; corolla blue, subentire ; the limb ventricose and rotate. 

 Malabar Hill; Island of Caranjah, &c. Syn. Lepidagathis sphaero- 

 stachya, N. ab E. in DC. Prod. 11, p 254 (?) ; IN lawii, Wight 

 Ic. t. 1532. 



2. TRINERVIUS, Wight Ic. PI. t. 1532. Branches round, 

 glabrous, and shining; leaves shortly-petioled, subobovate-mu- 

 cronate, glabrous ; spikes axillary, secund, dense, terminal one as 

 long as the leaves ; bracts ovate-acute, coriaceous, densely hairy, 

 3 to 5-nerved ; calycine lobes lanceolate, pubescent ; corolla 

 obsoletely 5-lobed ; flowers small, blue. Hills near Alibaug, &c. 



20. LEPIDAGATHIS, Willd. 



1. GRANDIFLORA, Dalz. in Hook. Jour. Bot. ii, 138. Stem 

 erect, suffruticose, quadrangular, glabrous, 3 to 4 feet high ; leaves 

 ovate-acuminate, entire, glabrous, attenuated into the petiole ; 

 spikes axillary and terminal, simple or trifid, long, slender, densely 

 woolly ; bracts, bracteoles, and upper lip of calyx of the same shape, 

 obtuse, 3-nerved, reticulately veined, woolly; corolla deeply bilabiate, 

 large, blue, with 2 lines of yellow hairs in the throat. The Ghauts. 



2. PROSTRATA, Dalz. loc. cit. Stem shrubby, creeping and 

 rooting, glabrous, obtusely quadrangular; younger branches softly 

 tomentose ; leaves small, sessile, opposite or tern, elliptic, spinous- 

 pointed, younger ones tomentose ; bracts, bracteoles, and calyx 

 segments lanceolate, spinous-pointed ; spikes rarely axillary, more 

 frequently terminal and simple at the apex of short ascending 

 branches. Mai wan. 



3. LUTEA, Dalz. loc. cit. Stems several, erect, filiform, dicho- 

 tomously branched from the base, velvetty and tomentose ; leaves 



