518 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1892- 



this plant. Acanthus ilic if olius (MarandO, one of our pre-eminently pretty salt- 

 marsh plants, not unlike the English Holly in its leaf,- bears au eseeeilingly pretty 

 j)urplish-blue flower. Here is au illustration of it. The flowers of Strobilanthes 

 callosus are equally lovely in the richness of their purple hue and strobiliform 

 arrangement of their showy pink bracts. Barleria prionitis is another of our 

 jungle beauties. It is also to be seen in abundance along our hedges and 

 bushes. Popularly known as koranti, the flowers are of varied hue from pale blue 

 to buff, and are of extremely delicate texture. The common Aboli [Justicia ivfun- 

 dibuUformis) is a favourite with our villagers and Bombay Hindu ladies who 

 weave the flowers into venis (garlands") for their hair though absolutely devoid 

 of any kind of smell. Their pink and light blue colour is, however, pleasing to 

 the eye, for I may add that pink goes very well with the dark glossy hair. 

 Beaumontia grandiflora, a gigantic creeper from Nepal, thrives well in our gardens^ 

 throwing out large show'y white flowers, 8-9 inches long, which are noted for 

 their delicacy and softness. Among the Verbenas the Teak tree {Teciona 

 grandis) claims our attention. The wood of the sag is popularly said to he 

 worth its weight in gold, and it is said very truly, for the teak tree is univer- 

 sally acknowledged to be the unrivalled king of our timber trees. But it is its 

 bold inflorescence that claims our attention here. Its huge terminal compound 

 panicles rise high in air and often remain standing even after the seed has matured. 

 The flower has no particular beautj"-, but the inflorescence is striking on account 

 of its dry persistent spongy woolly calyces which cover the hard nutty fruit like 

 inflated bladders. The light purple tiny flowered compound terminal panicles 

 of Vitex Negundo and Vitex trifoUa (which both go under the name of Nirgundi) 

 are pretty when examined closely, though from a distance they are not attractive. 

 The scarlet flowers of Lai Chitrak {Plumbago coccinea) and the pale lavender- 

 coloured panicles of Plumbago Zeylanica are also striking for their beauty and 

 delicacy. Among the Solanaceous plants, the largest flower is borne by an exotic 

 from Peru, Brngmansia Candida. It is a grand garden beauty throwing out large 

 white drooping tubular flowers as much as even a foot in length. The white and 

 deep purple flowers, often double, of Datura fastuosa and Datura alba are also 

 noted for their large size. Let me not omit to mention the prickly straggling 

 weed of our jvragles and marshy places, Solanuin Jacqmni (Kate-Ringni), which is 

 perpetually covered with beautiful purple flowers set off by the bright yellow 

 double-barrelled anthers characteristic of their order. Among the flowers of the 

 Nyctaginacece stand pre-eminent the'QovneYsoi Mirabilis Jalajja (Gul-bas). I do not 

 know if in the whole range of the flowering plants there is a single plant or species 

 which is capable of producing so many tints in the flowers of one and the same 

 individual, nay on one and the same bratich. Indeed there are no two flowers that 

 can be called alike in their tints or petal-markings. Their colours are bright and 

 range frovn white to yellow and deep crimson, with all the delicate shades between. 

 They begin to open at 4 o'clock (and henee the plant is called the "4 o'clock plant ") 

 and fade the following morning. The plant is also known as the "Marvel of 

 Peru" in our gardens, but we may well call it the "Marvel of the World," with 



