BOTANY OF THE LACCADIVES, sutwe NATURAL 
HISTORY NOTES FROM H. M. 1. M. SURVEY 
STHAMER “INVESTIGATOR,” Commanver 
R. F. HOSKYN, R.N., COMMANDING. 
Series II, No. 5. By D. Prain. 
(Continued from Vol. VIL., page 486.) 
Incomplete. 
NYOTAGINES. 
122. IMlirabilis Jalapa Linn., Sp. Pl. 177; Roxb., Hort. Beng, 
16; Watt, Dict., v., 258. The Marvel of Peru. 
Akati ; cultivated, Meming ! Muinikoi ; cultivated, Pleming ! 
Native of America, but widely cultivated throughout tropical Asia on account 
of the supposed. purgative properties of its root, and as a garden plant. 
123. Beerhaavia repens Linn : Hook. f., Flor, Brit. Ind., iv, 709. 
var. typica. Boerhaavia repens Linn., Sp. Pl., 3. 
Akati ; Mleming! Améni Hume ! 
A weed of fields, waysides and wasteplaces, cosmopolitan in tropical and sub- 
tropical countries. The more usual form of this species in India (var. pro- 
cumbens Hook. f., Hor. Brit. Ind., iv, 709 ; Boerhaavia procumbens, Banks in 
Roxb. Flor. Ind., i, 146) does not appear to occur in the Laccadives ; the 
present form is that characteristic of the drier parts of India, of Beluchistan, 
Arabia and North-East Africa. 
var. diffusa Hook. f., Flor. Brit. Ind., iv, 709. B. diffusa Linn., 
Sp. PL. 3. 
Bitrapar ; on the shore, Hume / Anderut ; on the beach, Alcock ! Kadamum ; 
Fleming ! Minikoi ; Hleming ! 
A littoral plant, cosmopolitan on tropical sea-shores, The sea-shore form 
differs so markedly in appearance from the usual inland forms and agrees so well 
with the description of var. diffusa Hook. f., that it might be convenient to 
restrict the varietal name “‘ diffusa” to it alone. It does not, however, deserve 
specific rank, for, as is pointed out in the Hora of British India, it is impossible 
by their morphological characters to draw a line between the various forms. 
Byen if recognised as a species, it could not be dealt with as 5. diffusa Linn. 
since the probability is that Linneus based his descriptions, at least in part, on 
the examination of inland specimens. 
The ‘weed’ has probably been introduced unintentionally by man. The 
“ shore” form very probably owes its introduction to the agency of sea-birds, 
though it may have been introduced by ocean-currents. 
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