Ammanm'a.] LythraceCB. 2 2 



J 



superior (in Axinandra inferior), i-6-celled, with numerous (i in 



Axinandrd) ovules in each cell, style simple; fruit a capsule, 



often included in cal.-tube, variously dehiscent, rarely inde- 



hiscent ; seeds numerous, sometimes winged, embryo straight, 



rarely bent, no endosperm. 



Herbs i. Ammannia. 



Shrubs or trees. 

 Stam. 12. 



Capsule irregularly dehiscent . . . .2. WOODFORDIA. 



Capsule opening by a cap . . . .3. Pemphis. 



Stam. 8 4. Lawsonia. 



Stam. indef. 



Fruit a 6-valved capsule 5. Lagerstroemia. 



Fruit fleshy, indehiscent . . . . . 6. Sonneratia. 

 Stam. 10 (A?iomalous Genus: ov. inferior) . . 7. Axinandra. 



Most of our 15 species are low-country plants; indeed, Woodfordia is 

 the only hill species. The Ammannias are paddy-field weeds. Lawsonia 

 is confined to the dry region, and Lagerstroemia and the anomalous 

 Axinandra to the moist. The Sonneratias inhabit mangrove-swamps, 

 and Pemphis is a seashore plant. 



1. AMMANNIA, L. 



Annual herbs, 1. opp. (rarely alt.) or whorled, fi. small, 

 axillary ; cal. more or less deeply campanulate, segm. 3-5, 

 often with intermediate teeth ; pet. 3-5 or o, inserted between 

 cal. -segm.; stam. 2, 4, 5, or 8 ; ov. superior, 1-5-celled, the 

 septa often becoming absorbed, ovules very numerous on 

 axile placentas ; capsule membranous, enclosed in' (though 

 free from) persistent cal., dehiscing by valves or irregularly 

 circumscissile, seeds minute, very numerous. — Sp. 30; 18 in 

 FL B. Ind. 

 Fl. solitary in axils (Rotala). 



Stam. 4 1. A. PEPLOIDES. 



Stam. 3 2. A. Rotala. 



Stam. 5 3. A. PENTANDRA. 



Fl. in axillary cymes or clusters. 

 Stam. 4. 



L. oblong-linear, obtuse 4. A. baccifera. 



L. oval, cordate at base 5. A. cordata. 



L. spathulate-oval, tapering to base . . . 6. A. lanceolata. 



Stam. 8 7. A. OCTANDRA. 



1. A. peploides, Spreng. Syst. Veg. i. 444 (1825). 

 Amclctia indica, DC, Thw. Enum. 122. C. P. 1546. 

 Fl. B. Ind. ii. 566. Wight, Ic. t. 257. 



Stems 6-12 in., usually decumbent at base and rooting at 

 the lower nodes, with numerous ascending quadrangular 



